Screen Poping

[Parkroyal]

Hi everyone congrats on a great group -- most questions just answered in FAQ's or by watching and searching posts.

Anybody know a way of snatching the caller id string produced by a modem?

I wan't to use this to popup a clients record, in edit mode, when the phone rings or if no record, to pop up an empty form in add mode for adding a record to my db on the fly.

If i can capture this info and pass it to Access then the rest should follow with reative ease.

I am using Access 2002 and my modems are all Hayes Accura's set to handle the UK tone system.

Thanks

 

[BNPMike]

People still contact each other by telephone calls? Don't tell them about the Internet - free calls, 10 times the speed.

You may need to tell us more about the software involved from the customer through to what answers the phone to how you connect to Access. Is it Access or is it a Jet database?

 

[Parkroyal]

BNPMike
Thanks for answering my post.

Yes people still do use the telephone and in my business it is essential.

Yes I am using access (office XP pro).

I have a small internal (anolog yeuch!) switch for handeling internal, conventional, phones but each incoming line is being fed through a Hayes Accura modem to facillitate answerphones etc. These modems are passing the orig. phone number to their own software. 3 of these modems feed a PC that is,essencially, a small file server runing SuSe OS with MS Office and a cutdown version of Win98 for the ocasional person that ends up using the server as a desktop. The other 2 modems are feeding into Win XP machines. There are five computers on the local network with a max of 2 more machines that connect via ADSL. But we only use 3 local machines for handling incoming enquiries.

My way of thinking says that there must be a way to capture the string that the modems pass to their software. If windows can display it then it must know where to get it from I just don't talk 'Gates'.

This is a system I'm building for my own business so I don't have some of the restictions involved with designing for a third party although cost is a major issue hence the reason for doing it myself.

In case you are wondering I run a specialist personal chauffeur service. Though, years ago, I used to be in IT

further imput would be apreciated

cheers

Pete

 

[BNPMike]

So you have some sort of voice handling software - like a PBX arrangement? Someone rings in and as you take the voice call you want something to send a message to your pc with the caller line id so you can use it to interrogate and Access application?

 

[Parkroyal]

BNPMike
Basically yes. But I Must point out that the PBX dosn't interface with the computers I have standard modems that do that and each modem has to have it's own peice of software on the computer. (ie i have 5 modems and 5 coppies of the software, very confusing)I can't see a way of using the software that comes with the modems even though it does capture the information meeded. I supose ther may be a way of reverse engineering the software but I believe that (a) that is prob. Illegal & (b) way beyond my capabillities.

If I can pass the caller ID string into Access then I can use that as a search field and Access can either pop up the relavant record or a blank record for an unknown or non existant case.

Cheers

Pete

 

[BNPMike]

Pete

It seems you have two problems. Number One is how to get your modems to send a message with the CLI value in it. Your second problem is how to pass that into Access as a parameter to a query which looks up the customer associated with the phone number and presents that customer's information in your application, if possible.

I don't know how to do either of those. Anyone else seen anything like this? It looks like a basic CRM type of arrangement.

 

[Parkroyal]

Thanks anyway

At least now the question is more defined and I know what I am asking.

What is needed is to get the modem to pass the CLI to Access instead of it's own App. Getting Access to use it once it has it is easy.

Surley if it is already generating this number and giving it to a s/w package then Windows must have it some where? I mean theres a heck of a lot of chips and do-dats under the cover of this machine that have to cooperate in order for that information to be displayed on screen no mater who has designed the software?

It' should be a matter of just pesuading one of these do-dats to give it up!

Hmm!I'm not very good wiv bribes either!