bw23198 Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 I'm looking for ideas on how to configure whole home caller ID announcements. I currently have a HTD 6 zone Lync system which is fully controllable through ISY. I also have a dedicated PC connected to one of the Lync audio inputs. Furthermore I have the ISY configured to change all the household zones to the PC audio input based on a configurable event, then put all the household zones back to the zone they were previously set to. Oh, and I have the phone line run to an input on my Elk security system (connected to ISY) so the ISY "knows" when the phone is ringing. So I feel that I'm 75% of the way there. I just need a way for the PC to announce who is calling to complete the setup. I have Spectrum home phone service so technically my home phone is VOIP. However, I don't think Spectrum supports or provides their VOIP caller ID app any longer. So I'm thinking of just getting a modem to connect to the PC and run the phone line through the modem. I just don't know where to go from there. Ideally I'd like to use something like AWS Polly to speak the caller ID information, but I'd be happy with any type of voice making the announcement. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions to get me started? -Brian
stusviews Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 If your phone service does not support Caller ID, then nothing can make it appear, not even a modem that supports it. I happen to have a two landlines, one with caller ID (provided by the telco, and one that does not, same telco). I also have two identical voice modems. The modem connected to the line with caller ID shows the caller's number. The modem connected to the landline that does not have caller ID does not show the caller's phone number even though the option is set the same on both modems. A search indicates that you can have the caller's ID appear on your TV if you have Spectrum TV and their phone service. OTOH, if Spectrum actually supports caller ID with your VOIP phone line, then there are several options. You may want to check with Spectrum and post back what you find.
bw23198 Posted February 25, 2018 Author Posted February 25, 2018 Thanks stusviews. I should have mentioned that I do have caller ID service on my line. (My cordless handsets display the caller ID information for incoming calls.) I no longer have the Spectrum TV service, though. I dropped it a while back since the family seemed more interested in Hulu/Neflifx/YouTube instead of live TV. I'm left with their phone and Internet service. I may end up calling them to see if they have anything (application) that could work. -Brian
stusviews Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 If you have any device that displays incoming calls, then you have all the phone service you need. One solution is a voice modem that supports caller ID and the appropriate software. With the advent of cell phones, both are difficult to find at a reasonable price. I'm currently using SuperVoice with a Motorola SM56 Speakerphone modem on a dedicated Windows 7 Professional computer. I also have a bunch of Telnote caller ID displays, available used on eBay. They're somewhat costly. I won't pay more than $100 for one, I try for $80. I currently have 2 extra large red ones (TL 1215), 3 large red ones (TL 1225) and 1 small blue display. These prices are what they cost when new!!! But, I can see who's calling from nearly every room. Also difficult to find are devices that clearly announce the caller. I have 5 CenturyTel Caller ID units and 3 Philips VoiceAnnounce CallerID's. I found the plentiful Emerson Talking Caller ID box inadequate. Finally, I'm also using a couple of Amazon Echo Connect devices-easy to find and it has a reasonable price, $35. Although the Connect indicates that it needs to be connected to a landline (with Caller ID), I find that it also works with my Consumer Cellular Home Phone Base (cell phone service connected to my landline phone).
bw23198 Posted February 26, 2018 Author Posted February 26, 2018 Cool. This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I haven't heard of Echo Connect before. That sounds interesting. -Brian
toflaherty Posted February 26, 2018 Posted February 26, 2018 34 minutes ago, bw23198 said: Cool. This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I haven't heard of Echo Connect before. That sounds interesting. -Brian I have a single echo connect hooked up to my voip.ms service. One of my echo dots is connected to the whole home stereo system, so when somebody calls it announces the caller through every echo device as well as all the house speakers.
bw23198 Posted February 27, 2018 Author Posted February 27, 2018 With the Echo Connect...If someone calls that isn't in your address book (associated with your Amazon account), what does the Connect announce? Does it read out the number and name displayed on the landline phone's caller ID? -Brian
stusviews Posted February 27, 2018 Posted February 27, 2018 Yes it does. The address book is used only for placing calls, not receiving them.
bw23198 Posted February 27, 2018 Author Posted February 27, 2018 I think this may do exactly what I'm looking for then. And it's a lot less complicated and less expensive than I thought it'd be. Thanks again! -Brian
toflaherty Posted February 27, 2018 Posted February 27, 2018 11 hours ago, bw23198 said: With the Echo Connect...If someone calls that isn't in your address book (associated with your Amazon account), what does the Connect announce? Does it read out the number and name displayed on the landline phone's caller ID? -Brian Yes, it will announce the full phone number for a number that isn't in your address book. I forget the details of other options to set it up, but mine is set up with my cell phone address book, so it announces the name when someone calls the landline as if that number was calling my cell.
bw23198 Posted March 7, 2018 Author Posted March 7, 2018 For anyone else looking to go down this path, here's something to consider... If using Echo Dots connected to external speakers via Bluetooth, when the Dot announces incoming calls, that announcement goes out of the Dot's internal speaker rather than the Bluetooth connected speaker. If using Echo Dots connected to external speakers via physical audio cable, when the Dot announces incoming calls, that announcement goes out of the externally connected speakers. This may or may not be a big deal for others but I thought I'd point this out.
toflaherty Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 1 hour ago, bw23198 said: If using Echo Dots connected to external speakers via physical audio cable, when the Dot announces incoming calls, that announcement goes out of the externally connected speakers. Correct. At least in my case, however, the dot that is connected to external speakers via the line out jack is significantly time shifted vs. the other dots. I would love the ability to configure which echo's announce an incoming call, as the reverb is horrendous.
bw23198 Posted March 7, 2018 Author Posted March 7, 2018 You can always put a device in "do not disturb" mode to disable it from announcing callers.
toflaherty Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 1 hour ago, bw23198 said: You can always put a device in "do not disturb" mode to disable it from announcing callers. and everything else too, though
Recommended Posts