Realizm

Ok so it looks like there's no good PC-to-Phone Software/Web services that are free..


but what about another method of accomplishing the same thing?


Say.. you give your friend (who has a broadband connection) a computer dedicated for the task.

This computer has a modem inside (for connecting to the Phone) and then a network card (for connecting to the broadband).

Using some software (I suppose this is what I'm looking for..).. you can connect to the IP of this dedicated computer and dial up the phone connected directly to it, and then talk over your computer to the person on the phone connected to the computer.


Surely it's possible to do this (on such a small, individual basis).. but does anyone know where to look? or of something already like this?

I don't mean something like Skype.. More like VoIP, I guess..

Realizm

heh, maybe Skype IS what I'm looking for... although what I still want to be able to do is call a conventional phone for free.

Cynthetiq

ummm... not without some good coding. IF you write it yourself you'd probably charge people to use it too.

VoIP phones aren't truly conventional phones, they are in essense phones connected to a computer switch backend.

There isn't anything that I know of that allows for that... if there is the Telecom industry is suppressing it since it's a killer application.

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Realizm

Ok then. I will get right on that, with my amazing HTML skills.

Honestly though I think I might just have enough time on my hands to dive into some programming books and figure this out. Hmm.

Prince

I've been looking for something like this myself. Surely there has to be a way to do this. You could start a project on Sourceforge for this, I bet it'd be pretty popular. I know I'd join in a heartbeat.

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Thraeryn

Hmmm. Nice thought.

I still don't have enough folks that I actually talk to to use it, though. Just never been much of a phone person.

Realizm

It seems so simple to me that I can't imagine it not existing already.. the idea about Tcom keeping it under wraps seems plausible.

I talk to oh so few people (maybe one, two different people) on the phone on any kind of normal basis. I don't need to connect over some large network that will let me call dozens of other people.

Just need an app to happily let me use my own little cable modem.. Time to start reading..

charliex

I'm not quite sure why you'd have a phone connected to the computer instead of just a headset directly to the PC with a voice chat ? whats the phone part for ?

Realizm

A phone is already available, versus having to buy a headset. (Save Money)

Plus, the phone is cordless... where can you find a good cheap wireless headset? Nowhere.

Sion

Realizm, there already is something like this. check out www.vonage.com.


this is the only way I can see how it could work.

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Prince

I'd prefer the phone to a headset as well. It is way more convenient...

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charliex

modems don't actually connect to a phone, just the phone line, unless you mean the old acoustic couplers

typically modems aren't able to convert a signal from an internet connection to a regular telephone for one, so you'd need extra hardware, so you'd end up with


broadband modem -> pc+modem+special interface to the phone / specialized modem -> phone

radio shack have good cheap wireless headsets, at least in comparison to a phone, which is very low quality audio.

Realizm

Hmm. Software PSTN'ish stuff it sounds like