Date   : Tue, 29 Mar 1989 12:07:14 EDT
From   : <SAGE@LL.ARPA>
Subject: Redialing Phones

   Martin Olivera asked about phones that automatically redial a busy
number.  One of the most famous of these is the Demon Dialer from Zoom
Telephonics in Boston.  It does much more than redial; it is a complete
phone enhancement system.  It is installed in series with the incoming
phone line and thus gives its capabilities to all telephones in the
house or office.
 
   It serves as a repertory dialer (allows numbers to be associated with
abbreviated strings, such as #MOM to call home), it will rapidly retry a
busy number, and it will at intervals retry a number that does not
answer.
 
   One factor you should consider is whether the telephone has busy TONE
detection.  I have what is otherwise a very nice telephone, the AP2002
that you see in the DAK catalogs.  It is the best speakerphone I have
ever heard, has a full typewriter keyboard, stores hundreds of numbers
under alpha codes, and will automatically redial a busy number. 
However, it only knows a number is busy by inferring that from its not
answering after some thirty seconds.  The smart modems, of course, can
detect the busy tone and disconnect immediately.  Listening to the busy
signal for thirty seconds every minute can get rather annoying.  It
would also be nice if the phone would supply a local ring signal to
alert you when the call does go through.  The Zoom Demon Dialer may have
these features, but I am not sure.
 
   Here is the address and phone number of Zoom as I got it from the
phone book:
 
          Zoom Telephonics      617-423-1072 (general)
          207 South Street      617-423-1076 (tech support)
          Boston, MA
 
   They are coming out in the next several months with an even more
spectacular product.  It will be a complete telephone subsystem that can
be controlled from your personal computer.  Demon dialing is only a
small part of its capabilities.  It can handle two incoming central-
office lines and four local lines, which might be connected to voice
telephones, modems, fax machines, and so on.  It does its own touch-tone
decoding and voice synthesis.  Here is a scenario.  A call comes in on
line one.  A synthesized message asks you to press key 1 for the fax, 2
for the modem, 3 for voice.  Suppose you ask for the modem.  It can then
request that you key in a password before it will connect you to the
modem.  Or, wherever caller identification service is available from the
phone company, it will check the phone number of the CALLING party and
act accordingly.  This is where your personal computer comes in.  There
are many interesting possibilities here!
 
   I have no connection with Zoom except as someone fascinated by their
products.  Though I always yearned for a demon dialer, I never did buy
one.  However, this new gadget, I suspect, will be beyond my powers to
resist!
 
-- Jay Sage