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From: eli@pws.bull.com (Steve Elias)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Call Forwarding Set From a Remote Site?
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Date: 14 Sep 90 07:24:28 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 647, Message 3 of 9


I haven't seen a device that will do this, but it isn't that tough to
design.  You could program your Watson or other voice mail board to do
it for you.  The major problem is how do you dial into the device to
change the programming, if it's already forwarded and you only have
one phone line at home?

Answer: Have the thing unforward for a short period if it receives N
calls in quick succession.  I used to use this algorithm when I was
dialing home from California on my 800 number.  Usually, I just want
to pick up voice messages, so the forwarding to voice mail was fine.
But sometimes I wanted to talk to the Nice Person staying at my home.
In that case, I would just dial the 800 number three times in a row,
within a one minute period or so.  She would then unforward the phone
and I would get through to her on the third or fourth try.  The
downside was that it took a while to get a call through.  The cost for
the initial two or three calls was tiny, though.  One cent each for a
six second call on US Sprint Fonline 800.  (RAH RAH!)

So, if you have a voice mail type machine in your home, you could
program it to act like I described above.  It could unforward and
answer the phone after a few repeated calls, then you could enter in
the new number you want it forwarded to, and it could hang up and
reforward the line to the new number.

Is this too complicated for a usable product?  I don't know.  Maybe
Hello Direct or Patrick-Tronics or Lippman-Tronics ought to build a
small device that would do this...  "Call before midnight tonight!" :)


eli