feature request
A.J.Scholl@markov.dur.ac.uk (A.J.Scholl@markov.dur.ac.uk)
Thu, 15 Oct 1998 16:43:34 +0200
Marc Eberhard wrote:
>> [...]
>> >The problem is, that this is at least in Germany not allowed by law.
>> >The modem mustn't pick up the line without a ring signal coming in
>> >from the telco line. Only exception is a dialout by the modem itself.
>>
>> Without doing any patching, how about simply listening to the log
>> file and sending SIGUSR1 to mgetty/vgetty? Something like
>
>Exactly the very same problem. It will not work with approved modems
>in Germany for the same reason. Vgetty will try to pick up the phone,
>but the modem will return ERROR. And that's it: The end.
My (UK-approved!) modem will accept ATH1 - and in the modem manual,
only country is named in which ATH1 is specifically prohibited
(that's right, Germany :-(
>> Actually I have thought for some time about a slightly different
>> feature - that vgetty would pick up the phone if it hears a
>> certain DTMF sequence. This is what my traditional fax machine
>> does - if I answer a call and hear the fax tone, I can key in the
>> code and the machine picks up the line, instead of having to run
>> downstairs... can vgetty detect DTMF at that stage of things?
>
>As I explained, this is at least in Germany not _allowed_ by law. So
>your fax machine probably has no approval for Germany. But apart from
>that, I also haven't seen any non-German-approved modems (like US
>ones), that allow listening to the line without picking up the phone.
>Would be interesting to know, if anybody on the mailing list has seen
>such a piece of hardware. Anybody?
>
>So the sad answer is: What you want is forbidden in some countries
>and at least I am not aware of any modem supporting this feature in
>countries where it is allowed.
One interesting difference in the UK is that caller ID information is
apparently sent *before* the first ring, so any modem which
understands UK-style caller ID must be listening to the line all the
time.... I haven't seen one, though.
Tony