How does the device automatically route my calls?
There are two ways that these devices route calls:
tone detection and distinctive ringing.
Tone detection: Here the box immediately answers the phone
call but the caller doesn't know it because the switch generates
a ring tone so the caller thinks the phone is ringing but what
the box is doing is listening.
It listens for one of three things: cng tones (the tones a fax
machine identifies itself with), dtmf (touch tones used in routing
incoming modem calls appended to the dialing string), or the lack
of a signal (this is the default port typically used for voice
and/or answering machine). The box listens and quickly identifies
what type of call it is and then routes it to the proper device.
The Stick,
The Stick
II, and Polnet
ACP are tone detection devices.
Distinctive ringing: Distinctive ringing is a service offered
by your local telephone company that you pay about $2.50 a month
per number for (similar to the way you pay for call waiting and
other features). What it does is gives you up to three phone numbers
on one line. Each number issues a different ringing pattern so
if it's a normal ring you know its phone number one, a double
ring is phone number two and so forth.
What a distinctive ringing box does is monitor the line and then
routes the calls by phone number to the specific device for that
phone number. The box never actually answers the phone to listen.
It just monitors the phone company patterns so it just passes
the phone company signal to the correct device and rings it. With
this type of application, you have two or three phone numbers
sharing one line. You actually have a fax number, a voice number,
etc. It is just like a dedicated line except you can't have more
than one call going at a time.
The SR-2,
SR-3
and the Line-Hunter
are distinctive ringing devices.
There are two types of fax/modem/voice switches
available to share devices on one phone line.
- Different phone numbers sharing one phone line
- Different devices sharing one phone number and one phone line
Different
phone numbers sharing one phone line
Most telephone companies throughout the US and Canada offer
an inexpensive service that lets businesses and homes to have
two or three different phone numbers on one phone line. What distinguishes
the different telephone numbers coming in on the same line is
their signature ring, a pattern of long and/or short rings. Each
number has its own special ring.
These "Distinctive Ring" services go by different names
depending on your phone company -custom Ringing by US West, SmartRing
by GTE, RingMaster by Bell South, RingMate by NYNEX, Personalized
Ringing by Southwestern Bell, Multi-Ring by Ameritech, and IdentaRing
by Bell Atlantic.
Once installed on your home or business line, the call processor
"listens" in order to determine the pattern of each
ring. Then they immediately route the call to the phone or device
you have designated for answering that number - without ringing
other phones/devices on the same line!
The SR-2
(2 phone numbers) and SR-3
(2 or 3 phone numbers) are single line distinctive ringing devices.
The Line-Hunter
is a multi-line (up to 4 phone lines and twelve phone numbers)
distinctive ringing device.
Different
devices sharing one phone number and one line
The other type of multi-device call processor is the tone detection
processor we referred to earlier.
It does not require any extra service from the phone company
and routes the call to the proper device by "listening"
for either a CNG tone (the tone that fax machines transmit), DTMF
tones (touch tones made by phone or computer), or the absence
of a tone (voice calls).
You can also manually transfer any call to another device by
pressing a few numbers on your phone's touchpad.
The Stick, Versa-Link ATX
and Polnet
ACP share a single line with multiple devices. The The Stick is our most popular single line sharing product.
Different
devices sharing two phone numbers and two lines
The Stick
II shares two phone lines with up to five distinct
devices. By using the hunt (busy line transfer) feature from the
phone company, if one line is busy, the call rolls to the other
line and the Stick II is smart enough to know what type of call
it is. So even wehn the fax line is tied up with the Internet,
you still get you faxes on the open line.
The BIG Question?
"Why should I buy a modemswitch from modemswitch.com
rather than a cheaper one?"
Short Answer: Good question! The reasons are quality and
reliability. The old adage "you get what you pay for"
is especially true in this business. Your phone system has
to work day in and day out for the life of your business.
Our business quality faxswitches are they type you can depend
on. If your phone system is down one day, that's one day to many.
You easily pay for the small difference in cost with the monthly
savings from your phone bills.
Long Answer: One of the main problems with
faxswitches (and all computers) is system failure. You may have
experienced it on your PC when it "locks up" and you
have to "reboot" your computer to get it going again.
Faxswitches are basically small computers and the same thing happens,
only it sounds like you are not home (or not answering your phone
anyway) in other words the phone sounds like it's ringing to the
caller but you hear nothing. To the calling party it just rings
and rings. On your end, you hear nothing. Someone has to come
by or call you on another line and say "Hey why aren't you
answering your phone?" and you say, "Oh! it's that cheap
faxswitch again. Let me go turn it off and back on." It will
work for a while but eventually it will happen again. Very frustrating
and not very good for business.
Rest assured that this will never happen with any
of our equipment. We invented "watchdog®" circuitry
and other features so this would never happen. What "watchdog®"
circuitry does, is constantly monitor your phone line. If there
is ever a system failure (and eventually there always is) the
box is smart enough to know it and reboots itself. It takes less
than a second and your phones always work. This is only one example
of some of the "extra features" we include to make our
products truly "business quality." We have excellent
toll free factory trained tech support and installation help.
Our factory warranties are the longest and most comprehensive
in the telecommunications industry. We know your business is worth
it and it shows in our products and service.
Other Questions:
