Text 9314, 137 rader
Skriven 2010-07-16 14:22:59 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Cellphone woes
======================
Hello Robert,

On Friday July 16 2010 07:45, you wrote to me:

 MV>> My POTS mailer (Intermail) has a menu to select what ring pattern
 MV>> it should respond to.

 RB> Not sure what you mean here. I use CantaLoup and when it gets a fax
 RB> signal, it exits for Frec to receive a fax. But that's all I'm
 RB> familiar with.

That is something else. You have the FAX function and the mailer function on
one and the same telephone number. The selection is made AFTER the modem
answers the call.

What the InteMail ring [attern function is for, is when you have one physical
telephone line with two or more telephone numbers assigned to it. The pone
company gives you different ring patterns. E.g:

Number one:    ring.................ring................ring.......
Number two:    ring.ring............ring.ring...........ring.ring..

The selection is made BEFORE answering the call.

 RB> My understanding of the subject was that you and the others were
 RB> talking about actual audible ring tones or melodies that a person was
 RB> supposed to distinguish and thereby determine who was calling.

Yes, we were. Until John G. threw distinctive ringing in the thread.

So we have two things:

1) Different ring tones depending on who is calling. You find this on many cell
phones.

2) Different ring pattern depending on which number is called of a multinumber
line. Some telcos offer this service for land lines.

 RB> I couldn't and can't imagine such a system, assuming it really
 RB> exists, would be practical for more than 2-3 callers.

Even my 10 year old Siemens M35 had it.

And you are right, it does not work for us old farts with not so good memories
and who only seldom use our cell phones.
.
 MV>>>> Euro ISDN offers up to eight numbers on an ISDN/2 line.

 RB>>> Ten here, final digits zero to nine. Three are standard, but you
 RB>>> can get up to 10 if you're willing to pay additionally.

I think here you get four for free, over that you must pay extra. Unless you
are an early adopter. Kees van Eeten had eight for free IIRC.

 MV>> So you get a block of sequential numbers?

 RB> At least when I got ISDN, sometime in the late 1990s, that was the
 RB> case.

I suppose it has it pros and cons.

 MV>> Here that was abodonned because when knowing one number, one can
 MV>> guess the others. Now the numbers are "random".

 RB> Probably a good idea, but harder for the line owner (you, me) to work
 RB> with too.

Obviously the user has to programm the numbers into the PABXm so that it knows
which number to send weher. But you only have to do tat once.

 MV>> Of course. One of the nicer features of ISDN. You could also
 MV>> assign one of the numbers to your wife.

 RB> Unfortunately, I have a problem there. My phone connection box is in
 RB> the cellar, and I have only four wires from there to my office on the
 RB> second floor, where all the equipment is.

Let that be a lesson. Next time you lay cables, do not just lay a cable, lay a
PIPE. So that when you need more or something else, you can pull a different
(type or size) through the cable.

 RB> I use two wires to bring the ISDN/DSL signals up to the office, where
 RB> I have the NTBA, splitter and TK system (ISDN to analog converter).
 RB> Then I can only send one analog line (two wires) down to the cellar to
 RB> be connected to the line for the phones in the living room and cellar.

Two pairs should be enough for al times. Yeah, I know the feeling....

 RB> If I had more than only four wires from the office to the cellar
 RB> connection box, I could be much more flexible, but unfortunately
 RB> there's no way I can change the situation without fairly massive work
 RB> on the house, which I have never wanted to do. This would originally
 RB> (1984) not have been a big deal, as I was remodelling the house and
 RB> everything was being changed, but at that time I unfortunately didn't
 RB> realize how the situation would change and then the time for simple
 RB> solutions had passed.

640K ought to be enough for everybody....  ;-)

 RB> [P.S. to those who don't know my house and have problems understanding
 RB> the above - the house is solid masonry and old, so there is little
 RB> chance of laying additional wires without tearing up the walls. The
 RB> floors are all reinforced concrete and the metal would block any radio
 RB> signal, so a WLAN solution - maybe a theoretical possibility - would
 RB> also be impracticable.]

Have you tried?

Here are spome suggestions.  For the telephone(s) use DECT. DECT has very good
"punch through". And if ypu don't want to be bothered with charging teh
handset, there are DECT telephones that look like a normal wired desktop phone,
that plugs int the mains power via an adapter.

I don't like bringing this one up, because if you have a neighbour who is a
shortwave listener he mat not be pleased. There is such a thing as bridging
ethernet over the mains. A set consists of two units, that have a mains power
plug on one side and an ethernet connector at the other. Plug them in two power
sockets anywhere in your house and you have a bridge. In three phase
installations, it works better when on the same phase.

Google for "powerline communication", "PLC" or "Devolo" and you will get the
idea. It may solve some of your problems.

 MV>> I have programmed a different ring tone for when Rosa calls, but
 MV>> she does not call often enough to even remember that one different
 MV>> ring tone.

 RB> Is that on the cellphone or the house phone? If it's the cellphone, is
 RB> this the Nokia 1650 you mentioned?

Yes, the Nokia 1650.


Cheers, Michiel

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