Modems with Speaker/Mic Jacks?

[kony]

Hi,

I've been looking at some Windows caller ID modem programs. The one
thing I didn't care for was the way that the audio (SAPI speech) was
routed to the same wave output as everything else. It also wouldn't
merge the voice signals with the running audio if there was an open
application already using the device (Creative 1370 Ensoniq AudioPCI
under Win2K).

What exactly are the audio jacks on some modems for and would they
solve this problem?

They're a direct line out, or can be looped into an input on
your sound card (or integrated motherboard sound). If your
sound card & driver cannot play back a sound card line-in
sound simultaneous to another wave file, you'd still have
the same issue.

Do they become available as an additional Windows
audio output to anything which might need them,

Only if you plug it into a line-in on the sound card, unless
it's a winmodem that also has a digitized audio output to
the system over the PCI bus.

and play simul-
taneously with no effect on the main outs? If so, I'll try to dig one
up. I'd like to get the caller ID on it's own speaker.

There might be a driver setting, different driver, or
windows audio related setting that allows both audio streams
to play back simultaneously. Offhand I don't remember
what/where the setting might be but maybe someone else does?

 

[George]

Hi,

I've been looking at some Windows caller ID modem programs. The one
thing I didn't care for was the way that the audio (SAPI speech) was
routed to the same wave output as everything else. It also wouldn't
merge the voice signals with the running audio if there was an open
application already using the device (Creative 1370 Ensoniq AudioPCI
under Win2K).

What exactly are the audio jacks on some modems for and would they
solve this problem? Do they become available as an additional Windows
audio output to anything which might need them, and play simul-
taneously with no effect on the main outs? If so, I'll try to dig one
up. I'd like to get the caller ID on it's own speaker.

Please reply within the group - and Thanks!
George

 

[Alceryes]

What exactly are the audio jacks on some modems for and would they

solve this problem? Do they become available as an additional Windows
audio output to anything which might need them,

You may be referring to some older modems that had the sound card AND modem
on the same card. That sort of device would not offer any benefit over what
you have now (and in fact would be a detriment since the last one I saw was
at least 5 years old).
--


"I don't cheat to survive. I cheat to LIVE!!"
- Alceryes

 

[Paul Murphy]

Hi,

I've been looking at some Windows caller ID modem programs. The one
thing I didn't care for was the way that the audio (SAPI speech) was
routed to the same wave output as everything else. It also wouldn't
merge the voice signals with the running audio if there was an open
application already using the device (Creative 1370 Ensoniq AudioPCI
under Win2K).

What exactly are the audio jacks on some modems for and would they
solve this problem? Do they become available as an additional Windows
audio output to anything which might need them, and play simul-
taneously with no effect on the main outs? If so, I'll try to dig one
up. I'd like to get the caller ID on it's own speaker.

Please reply within the group - and Thanks!
George

The modems which have these jacks are what is known as Speakerphone Voice
capable and what they are intended for is to plug in a headset mic and to
use telephony software with the modem to make and receive voice calls. This
means you could effectively go without a phone and use your
computer/modem/headset instead (as long as it was all up and running
whenever a call in or out will occur). The caller id information you are
talking about comes as a result of the software verbalising the CID number
which is passed to it from the modem (in numerical not audio form). The spk
and mic jacks have nothing to do with that and this will be purely a
function of the CID software used as well as the soundcard and drivers
installed - as Kony pointed out many soundcards wont allow 2 wav files to be
played at once.

The audio capability on Speakerphone Voice capable modems is only useful
when the modem is running in speakerphone mode and even then, only with
audio down the phone line - they are not another form of general purpose
soundcard. There are a (very small) number of combined modem and soundcard
devices, one of the most well known being the Conexant Riptide as fitted to
many HP/Compaq PCs. I have one of these and it actually works pretty well
but it will not allow you to have the CID number announced over a separate
speaker. The only consumer solution I know of that will permit this are
certain specialised modems such as the Pace Solo here:
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h7.htm which have the electronics and
speaker built into them to do all this in a fully self-contained way. I also
have one of these and its brilliant - it only does this with UK CID through
a BT (British Telecom) line however. I'm unsure if you have anything
comparable in the US.

Paul

 

[George]

Just getting to thank you guys for the replies!

Alceryes- The couple I dug up are actually relatively new, and don't
appear to be a soundcard/modem combo. I had sort of suspected what
Paul said about the jacks being specific to the "voice call" part of
the modem.

Right now I'm running a cheap PCTel PCI modem in the machine I've been
fighting with, and it doesn't have the audio jacks. Most of the
drivers I've run across (for the HSP56 chipset) are for data/voice
modems, but seem to work with this too. I've noticed that I do get
additional "multimedia" devices for the voice jacks though. They
appear to be available to anything with a selectable audio output.
They show up as "voice modem wave #00 line" and "voice modem wave #00
handset". This machine with the PCTel is for a relative, but I'll
probably try one of the ones with the audio jacks here afterward to
see if there's any way it will let me route it. I've also considered
that maybe one of the soundcards here with front and back speaker
jacks for surround could get a separate speech feed going. It's a
shame that it isn't easier to do. It would seem like lots of people
would want their voice announcements up much louder than their main
bus and system sounds.

-Take Care

George

FWIW- I did actually get to see the Ensoniq do simultaneous wave and
speech. It was a matter of switching to a different driver. The
trouble is, that was with 2K. The machine will ideally have 98SE (with
98lite), and I haven't been able to get a mixed audio line on that
yet. The worst part is, the caller ID feature of the modem isn't
happening under 98 either. It worked fine in 2K with a 2K driver.
Under 98, Hyperterminal can get the numbers and names while linked to
the modem's port, but they don't make it to any "TAPI" software. I've
tried a bunch of the ".inf" file edits on the web, but haven't gotten
it yet. Hopefully, it's just a modem driver issue and it'll work when
I hit the right one. There's about 500 different HSP56 drivers out
there on the web and I'm only on my 4th or 5th : (