[olug] PC ringer for POTS phone

[Rob Townley]

On 5/8/08, Obi-Wan <obiwan at jedi.com> wrote:
>
> I enjoy listening to music at work.  Since I'm in a cubicle farm, I have
> to use headphones.  I usually just use a single earbud so that I can hear
> the phone ring with the other ear.  However, the audio quality of a single
> earbud sucks.  I'd love to use some nice headphones, but I can't risk
> ignoring the phone.
>
> Do any of you know of any desktop app (for Linux, of course -- Ubuntu
> 8.04) that would provide an obvious visual indicator on my screen
> whenever the phone rang?  Dumping a ring tone to the speakers would be
> fine, too.  These are digital phones, but not VoIP.  I'm thinking maybe
> something that I could either run through a modem (so the computer
> could sense the ring) or split & run one line into a modem.  I don't
> really have any need for caller ID, as the phone (which sits 90 degrees
> to the left of my monitor) has that info on it.  All I need is a visual
> ringer.
>
> As common as VoIP and Skype are today, googling for something that works
> with a simpler phone is difficult.
>
> --
> Ben "Obi-Wan" Hollingsworth                             obiwan at jedi.com
>   The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the
>     Giver of all good things, so if I stand, let me stand on the
>       promise that You will pull me through.  -- Rich Mullins
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  Since the phone station is digital, how do you propose to hook it up to an
analog modem?  Is it a single cable with both digital and analog lines like
i believe some Toshiba phone systems are capable of.  Otherwise, to use a
modem, you would need an analog telephone adapter and program the ksu
to ring on both the phone station and ATA simultaneously.

  Dont forget all the new services like GrandCentral, an interface to
asterisk, or the X10 stuff and can only second the HelloDirect
reputation.  A bluetooth enabled earpiece such as the plantronics CS50 USB
should do the trick as well.