You can use Phone Amego with landline phones connected through a compatible USB Modem.
You dial through the modem, but talk through the phone. You can connect upto 8 phone lines at
the same time for Caller ID, and select which one will be used for dialing. You can assign each
landline a convenient label like "Home Phone" by clicking on the Label field to edit and then
pressing Enter.
To add a device, Press + below the Telephone Devices table, select the kind of device you want
to add, and then press Attach Device.
Phone Amego provides on-screen Caller ID and click-to-dial from your Address Book or a phone
number that appears on your screen. You still need a telephone handset to accept or place a
landline call. If you are dialing for a modem connected landline phone, pick up the phone first, or
immediately after dialing while the call is "Connecting".
Click here for more information on compatible USB Modems.
Call Status
Landline phones connected through a USB modem do not provide real time call status when you
answer a call or hang up. Phone Amego can detect when the phone line is in use (off hook) and
update the call status accordingly. To check call status, the USB modem must connect to the
phone line briefly. If you have a telephone answering machine on this line, it may think you
have answered the call and no longer take a message. You can select whether you want Phone
Amego to check Call Status accordingly.
Checking call status through a USB modem can take about 10 seconds to detect Call Answer,
and up to a minute to detect Call End. You can tell Phone Amego a call has ended immediately
by closing the call status window, or choosing Hang Up from the Phone Amego menu.
<None> No call status checking
<Modem> Modem call status checking
If you have a VoIP adaptor or Whozz Calling unit that can detect real time call status, you can
combine this with a USB modem for dialing by selecting the corresponding phone line identifier.
In this case Phone Amego will ignore caller ID from the USB modem and use the call information
from the selected telephone device instead (giving you the best of both worlds, direct dialing and
call accounting).
Telephone Wiring
If you have a single phone jack, either in the wall, or on the back of a VoIP telephone adaptor,
you will need a telephone line "T-Connector" or "splitter" which is widely available from stores
that sell analog phones or electrical supplies. It is not uncommon to find these at your local
hardware or home supply store for under $2.00. Amazon offers a selection of telephone splitters
(search for "telephone splitter" in electronics).
The "T-connector" simply allows you to attach two telephone devices to a single phone line. It
can be plugged in at the wall jack, VoIP adaptor, USB modem, or telephone handset.