Member Avatar for Tank

Hi all

What I would like to do is be able to answer the phone from my computer with the head set that is conected to my sound card. I have searched the net but all I can find is diagrams for self build interfaces. Is what I want possible with the set up I have? Is it possible at all?

OS: XP pro
Mobo: Gigabyte 7NNXP
Cpu: AMD Athlon 3200
Sound: Creative Audigy2 platinum ex
Modem: Sitecom Advanced pci 56k v92 full duplex,vioce fax data with speaker phone.( this one for phone only)
I connect to the internet through a broad band modem.

At the moment I have two head sets which I have to swap depending on what I am using. There is a mic jack and a speaker jack on the modem. I have connected the speaker jack to my sound card so I get sound out of the speakers, that works fine. What I cant figure out is how to get the mic that is pluged into the sound card to the modem so that I can switch between the modem and the sound card without unpluging any thing.

The other thought I had was is it possible to do it with software, after all the computer is also my answer phone, recording and sending sound through the phone line anyway. (Now I am getting into realms of the unknown for me. )I have searched for programs but the only thing I can find is internet phone programs.

Any help or pointers would be greatfuly appreciated.
Thanks

PS. I posted a thread earlier but it came up as I was not logged in. I have looked and cant find it so if this is a repeat I appologise it was not intentional

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Andy William

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Three practical, low-risk ways to stop swapping headsets are worth considering (short hack, hardware switching, or moving the phone into the PC audio/VoIP domain). ’s wiring idea is the quick hack most people try first; it can work but is fiddly and easy to mis‑route levels or create ground/noise problems. For a reliable, usable setup there are two safer paths: use a true voice/TAPI modem or telephony device with proper drivers and dialer software, or keep the line off the sound‑card and use an external switch/mixer or a telephone hybrid/ATA so the headset stays on the sound card. (en.wikipedia.org)

If the modem route is appealing, confirm the modem really supports voice operation (voice mode and the +V/AT voice commands) and that Windows has a voice/unimodem wave device; voice modems use special AT+V-type commands and present separate wave devices for recording/playback — they also require TAPI/voice drivers or TAPI-aware dialer software to answer and stream audio. That route lets the PC answer PSTN calls into a program, but it depends on driver and software support (this is why some people, like , wrote custom dialers). (manualzilla.com)

For straightforward, hardware-based switching use a small passive A/B mic switch or a tiny mixer/USB interface so the headset mic feeds both systems or can be switched without unplugging. For professional, low-noise, isolated connections use a telephone hybrid or purpose interface (they separate send/receive, provide isolation and proper impedance matching). Never connect the raw telephone tip/ring directly to a PC mic/line jack — POTS ring/battery voltages are high and can damage equipment or be unsafe. (altomusic.com)

If avoiding PSTN fiddles altogether is an option, put the phone on an ATA/VoIP gateway and use a softphone on the PC so the headset is always the active device; small ATAs (single‑port) are cheap and let the PC handle calls like any VoIP client. That is the easiest long‑term approach if your goal is one headset for gaming/chat plus phone calls. (grandstream.com)

Quick checklist: verify voice support (TAPI/AT+V), prefer a small mixer or A/B switch for a low-cost fix, use a hybrid or ATA for reliable isolation, and avoid directly wiring tip/ring to soundcard hardware.

Recommended Answers

All 11 Replies

Member Avatar for Catweazle

Hi Tank,

I don't know if what you describe is possible where you live, but I am aware that it isn't possible to do what you describe where I live. (Australia)

We're quite high-tech here, but the ability to use your PC for voice calls over the existing telephone network is still only vague murmurings, not reality.

Member Avatar for Tank

Thanks for the info Catweazle. As I live in the UK it probably is not possible here as we seem to be lagging behind every where else. I'll just have to keep swaping head sets for now.

Member Avatar for oalee

Tank, do you mean by answering the phone is by using the phone dialer incorporated with windows? if yes, then I think I've probably tried that already before. what i did was make a very short wire with jacks that fit the mic-in of the sound card and the speaker-out of the modem. It worked for me before but i found no sense in doing it since it would still be more convenient if i used the telephone apparatus. But if that's what your trying to do, you can give it a try...

- connect your headset's microphone to the modem.
- your modem's speaker-out to the sound card's mic-in.
- your headset's speaker to the sound card's speaker-out.

just give us a feedback here if this works.. :)

Member Avatar for Tank

Thanks for the reply oalee.

What I am trying to avoid is having to keep changing the mic plug or head set, as I spend a lot of time talking on Team Speak, it would be nice if I could just click the phone utility I'm using to answer the phone and have it connect to my sound card and thus my head set. As my phone utility already uses my sound card when either answering the phone or recording the callers message and has hands free and speaker phone options, I did not think this would be too much of a problem. How wrong could I be.

Member Avatar for oalee

you are most welcome, give us a ringback on what you did and what happened. I don't just try to help those in need, I also want to learn more from others mistakes and accomplishments.. :)

Member Avatar for Tank

I'm still having no luck with this, however I have found out that there one or two software firms looking into bringing out dialers with this feature, so I will have to wait till then.

Thanks to all on this forum for all the info it is proving most informative.

Member Avatar for krikor

Have you found anything? I'm interested too.
Thanks
Greg

Member Avatar for Tank

Hi all

No still no luck Kirkor I'm still looking if anyone else finds anything let us know

Member Avatar for gopinathar

h

Member Avatar for gopinathar

hi how to record a sound from the modum mic

Member Avatar for Andy William

This is a very interesting topic. I wrote a program to do specifically what you are trying to do, however that was a few years ago. And now that you mention about using
the computer sound card and headset with mic linked to the modem, I realize how important this is. I cannot find the original program that I wrote, so I am now re-writing the program with built in dialer and recording capabilities. Once finished, which should not take too long, I will post it on my website Free of any charge and fully functional. And yes, it is 100% possible to do this.
My website is

Email:

Andy William

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