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From: hpa@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Peter Anvin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Help, Please: Line Multiplexer Unit Needed
Message-ID: <15894@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 8 Jan 91 04:10:56 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 17, Message 5 of 9


Here is a problem that it takes the expertise of comp.dcom.telecom to
solve:

I live with a roommate in a room with only one phone outlet, in a
building only wired for one phone line per room.  I use my modem
frequently, and it has become a problem with the incompatibility of
the modem and a regular telephone; in other words it is easy to pick
up the headset when the phone looks free, just to ruin a modem
connect, and vice versa I don't want autodialing programs, such as my
FidoNet mailer, to try to call out while my roommate uses the phone
(it generates significant amounts of noise if it tries to pick up the
line).

Therefore, I would like to get a "first come, first serve" phone
switch to plug into the single phone outlet, and once *either* of the
two output lines goes off-hook, the other one should be automatically
disconnected from the main line.

ALSO, if possible I would like the device to capture distinctive
ringing and depending on type of first ring ring either the phone
(with answering machine) or the modem (with autoanswer).  This is not
as important, though.

If there is such a device on the market, or if someone knows how I
could build a device like this myself, I would like to know.

I wrote this article offline earlier; I saw something in the last
50-or-so messages about a device to capture Distinctive Ringing.  Could
that device handle the first part of this problem as well?


H. Peter Anvin +++ A Strange Stranger +++ N9ITP/SM4TKN +++
INTERNET:  hpa@casbah.acns.nwu.edu   FIDONET:  1:115/989.4
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