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From: hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net (Toby Nixon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Modem Recognizes Boing?
Message-ID: <15502@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 17 Dec 90 10:47:10 GMT
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In article <15386@accuvax.nwu.edu>, DEVEREJS%RTP@dupont.com (John S.
DeVere) writes:

> Re: Modem wait for Boing, Toby Nixon <hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net>
> writes:

>> I will say that the current draft of SP-2120 [...]
>> includes a proposal for a "$" dial modifier, defined as "Wait for
>> Credit Card Prompt Tone".  I wouldn't be at all surprised if one or
>> more modem manufacturers took this cue and included such a feature in
>> their modems.

> Good idea, except maybe another character would be more compatible ...
> US Robotics uses the $ for help screens on all (as far as I know) its
> modems ... other "Made-in-Taiwan" modems use this symbol as well.

USR has been an active participant in the drafting of this proposed
standard since Day One, and has not objected.  Why?  Because there is a
clear differentiation between command characters and dial-string
modifiers.  It's no problem to use the same character to mean two
different things, because the context is different.  There's already
several characters that are "re-used":

CHAR       Command                Dial-String

A          Answer                 DTMF "A" tone
B          Select Modulation      DTMF "B" tone
C          Carrier Control        DTMF "C" tone
D          Dial                   DTMF "D" tone
S          Select Register        Dial Stored Number
W          Extended Results       Wait for Dial Tone

Of course, some things mean the same in BOTH contexts, such as T, P,
and comma; and some dial-modifiers causes ERROR results if used as
commands, such as "@", "!", "*", "#", digits, etc. (but this depends
on the manufacturer of the modem).


Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer    | Voice   +1-404-449-8791  Telex 151243420
Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax     +1-404-447-0178  CIS   70271,404
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