Missing phone calls while online???

[rafala]

I have a dial up connection and I am always missing phone calls. I dont mind missing some of them but some I really need to be able to get. Is there anything I can connect to my computer or phone line so that I could answer the phone see who it is and hang up if I didnt want to talk to them that wouldnt disconnect my connection? I dont have any of the phone company extras, like call waiting or caller id. Any help would be appreciated.

karen - internet junky missing phone calls

[billsmrs]

I use to have callwave before I got call forwarding to my cell phone. You might check into that.

[Jennifer M.]

I wasn't sure if you were wanting to pay for something, but this might work for you!

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[jsalba]

I'm having a blank thought... but I bought the contraption that rings when you're receiving a phone call while on line.. and then you can pick up the phone and it interrupts your internet connection so you can talk.. then you hang up and it resumes your connection with the internet without having to sign off. For the life of me, I can't think of what it's called..

BUT IT STINKS!!!

Yes, I can pickup the phone and talk, but when I go back to resume playing online... I can't. I have to disconnect from the net and then sign back on. So.. it's a waste.

[pandybat]

I used to have callwave until they wanted me to pay $35 a year to have it. And only then could I just see who was calling. I would still have to disconnect from the internet and call them back.

So, I went and bought Catch-a-Call and I love it. This might be the thing that Jeff is talking about. There is another one called Emerson Switchboard. They both do the same thing. You get a call, you pick up and talk and if you hang up within 30 seconds, you can resume your time on the computer without it disconnecting. Jeff says his didn't work that way but mine does. I don't know whats up with that. But just to have it to be able to answer the phone and talk right then and there is enough for me. I don't mind having to reconnect as long as I didn't miss the call.
Catch-a-Call costs a little more than what Callwave would have cost me for the whole year. I think around $40 and I don't have to have a second phone line. If they would just get DSL in my area, I wouldn't have to worry about any of this though....sigh......

[rafala]

I think the ones sandy and jeff are talking about are the thing i was thinking about. where did you guys get them? If it doesnt work like jeff's than i will return it and try the other one cant hurt to try. I think paying $40 once is better than $40 every year since i dont see us getting cable modem any time in the next few years

thanks, knew you guys would have the answer

karen

[pandybat]

I got mine at Amazon just because I happen to have some gift certificates at the time and didn't have to spend any other type of payment. Now Amazon says they have discontinued them.
But you can find them all over the internet. Just do a search on Catch-a-Call or Emerson Switchboard. There are alot of those "As Seen On Tv" sites that carry them. They all seem to run about the same price no matter where you get it.


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[cujo0123]

I have call wave and I don't pay a thing for it. You only pay if you want extras. The person calling leaves you a message and callwave plays it. If you want to talk you call the person back, if not you don't have to do a thing. For a fee you can get caller i.d. and voice mail through them. I don't do that because when someone leaves a message it is kinda obvious who it is.

I have been told by everyone I know who has the switchboard type thing that it does not work like it says. You also have to have call waiting.

Callwave gets my vote!! I have had it for almost 3 years and I have not had any problems. Every once in a while they let you preview the features you have to pay for free for a week or 2. But the free version works just fine.


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[sunspun]

Hi
I have this same problem. We have only one phone line, and I am on the computer ALL the time, and it makes everyone mad, of course. So I thought we should try the free Call Wave Internet Answering Service, but after signing up and installing it and everything I was supposed to do, I had someone call me while I was online, and nothgin different happened at all. It didn't boot me off, it didn't tell me I had a call, nothing at all. Just like every other time before when someone's called while I'm online. They just hear it ringing and ringing on their end.
I tested the CallWave thing, with their tester that's included, and I could hear it fine; I got the message from the callwave guy that says welcome, etc.
I do have call waiting on my phone line.
BUT I am afraid this is the problem: it says on their site that you MIGHT need to have "busy call forwarding" as an option on your line also. And that you have to call the phone company and ask for that to be added and that they might charge you extra, just like an extra added feature like call waiting or caller ID.

So since it might not be free, I haven't called about that and I really hoped it would work as it is, without this other feature. I wouldn't use it if I had to pay more for it.

So my question is for cujo0123 -- did you have to get this feature on your phone line before CallWave worked for you like u say it does? Or is it working without it? That's great, that it worked out so well for you; that sounds like exactly what I am wanting. If I can get it to work.
Thanks in advance for the additional info.
sunspun


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[pandybat]

I had Callwave for almost 4 years. I did have to have the 'Call Forward on Busy' option on my phone but it only cost like 75¢ more a month on my phone bill.
Also since I had call waiting on my phone as well, I had to change my options in my dialing when I connected to the computer. I had to use the *70 in order to turn my call waiting off when I connected to the internet so my Callwave would work. All this is covered in the FAQ's at the callwave site. I hope you can get yours working.
Only reason I quit using Callwave was because I was missing important phone calls. Callers either wouldn't leave a message on Callwave and sometimes it wouldn't get the number so I could call them back. I guess what I hated most about Callwave was having to call them back. With Catch-a-Call, I can pick up the phone and talk to them right when they call. I can usually stay connected if I don't talk too long. I don't mind getting disconnected if it's an important call. It's not that big a deal to me to reconnect.

[cujo0123]

I have call forwarding and I also dial *70 before the internet number but my computer does that every time for me. Call forwarding is cheap. I have several different options on my phone that come in a package so I don't know the specific cost. I get caller i.d., call waiting, call forwarding, *69, and a few other things for about $10/month. When they said caller i.d. alone was $10/mo. I figured the extras would be a better deal. But it is still worth it.

Pandybat was right, when someone calls and does not leave a message and you don't know who it is it is frustrating. But I think some of that is callwave doing it so that you will buy their caller i.d. When the phone rings here I can tell who is calling most of the time before I hear them speak.

I also keep my cell phone on if I think someone may need to get in touch with me in a hurry. (Like when my best friend was pregnant and due.) But most of my calls are not that super important.


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[NaomiMarie]

Call me spoiled, we have a cable modem. I can be online and talk on the phone at the same time. Sweet

[pandybat]

Originally posted by NaomiMarie
Call me spoiled, we have a cable modem. I can be online and talk on the phone at the same time. Sweet

Somebody reach over there and slap her for me, k? lol



They don't have cable modem here either. No DSL, no cable modem. You'd think I lived in the boonies but I actually live in the 3rd largest city in Missouri.

[chippers21]

Cable modem here too. And there is one benefit I did not anticipate: I can stay online all day and my DH can still reach me and he fusses sooooo much less about my being online.
One solution not related to your computer- get the kind of cell phone that I have with prepaid minutes. We use it only for emergencies so it costs alot less than most cell phone plans. Give your cell phone number to everyone you anticipate may need to reach you while you are online, and turn it on and leave it sitting right there next to you. Before cable modem that is how I kept from missing calls.

[NaomiMarie]

Originally posted by pandybat


Somebody reach over there and slap her for me, k? lol



They don't have cable modem here either. No DSL, no cable modem. You'd think I lived in the boonies but I actually live in the 3rd largest city in Missouri.

Yeah, but it's STILL Missouri j/k