Calling Cards and Dialup: Option 1

Option 1: A human navigates the prompts

Advantages of this method:

You can use this method with any operating system and don't depend on the system programmer to have anticipated the latest changes to your calling card's prompts.

In addition, you understand what the system is asking and how to respond to it in ways the modem cannot.

Disadvantages of this method:

It may be tricky to hang up at the correct moment, after completing the prompts but before your modem has begun the handshake process with another modem.

Also, some modems do not respond well to having a handset picked up after the modem has connected to another modem and is exchanging data. Make sure you hang up before the second modem tries to connect and do not pick up again while the modems are communicating with each other.

Details

Using a two-port modem or telephone splitter, plug both your modem and a telephone handset into the same phone line.

First, cue the modem to dial the 800 number you use to connect to your calling card service provider. Then pick up the phone's handset and respond to the prompts.

As soon as you've finished dialing in the calling card information and the dialup number you want to connect to, hang up the handset and your modem should take over.

If your modem automatically waits for modem-connection sounds before it attempts to connect from its end, you should not need to add commas or other pause codes to the original 800 number it dials. However, if your modem starts trying to connect to a machine while you're navigating the prompts, it will interpret the sounds it hears as line noise or errors and try a slower connection speed.

Since modems do not speed back up once they've been slowed down, you'll want to hang up at the correct moment to keep the modem from slowing down unneccesarily.

Tips

• You can use both phone jacks in the modem to perform the splitting if your modem has two phone jacks. If not, you can also buy a two-jack phone line splitter inexpensively at a department store or electronics store and plug it into your modem. One phone cord runs from the modem/splitter to the phone whose handset you will pick up to dial, and the other from the modem/splitter to the wall.
  
  
• If you're in an office or other place that may have digital rather than analog phones, make sure that you don't plug your analog modem into a digital jack when doing the splitting. (Here's why.)
  
  
• If you're in an office, hotel, dorm room, or other location where you need to dial 9 to connect to an outside line, make sure that your modem dials the 9 before the 800 number.
  
  
• See the troubleshooting section for further advice.