[Mac-telephony-list] Apple USB modem dongle

[Edward Eigerman via List]

Well, there is that. But a lot of companies aren't really interested  
in replacing what they already have. The greatly reduced recurring  
costs of switching from copper to VOIP for telephone access is often  
much more of a driving force then tossing out the old PBX. In fact,  
once you start doing some math, keeping the old copper seems like  
only doing half the job.

Ed

On Dec 20, 2006, at 1:03 PM, brody bernardi via List wrote:

> I am amazed at the lack of consensus on what to me seems should be
> elementary.
> Isn't the sweet spot for Asterisk/OpenPBX the replacement of
> proprietary (Comdial, Norstar, Avaya) business phone systems?
> EVERY business has computers, why not use one to run the phone system.
> If a business could pull the copper pairs out of its phone system and
> plug them into a computer, it becomes a no brainer for the CEO.  The
> software is cheaper(free), the hardware is cheaper(price of PC), it
> eliminates the need for a "phone system x" administrator because it
> pulls the phone system into the realm of the computer network/IT  
> staff.
> The next step from Verizon/ATT/whoever (PSTN) to a VoIP vendor would
> be infinitely easier.  Pull out the copper pairs and plug in the VoIP
> device.
>
> Perhaps I have no right to a voice here as my company neither uses
> Asterisk/OpenPBX nor has contributed money to this project.  Perhaps
> I need to do more research on this project to comment.  Maybe this
> mailing list isn't the correct source to form an opinion.
>
> All I want (and I believe I represent a LOT of Mac users) is a way to
> eliminate my dependance on proprietary phone systems.  Let me
> configure my phone system in an easy and user friendly way (GUI).
>
> I am no phone system expert by any stretch of the imagination, but am
> I missing something here?
>
> Brody
>
>
> On Dec 20, 2006, at 12:31 PM, Edward Eigerman via List wrote:
>
>> I think the confusion is that most of the early voice compatibility
>> was in the form of the "geoport adapter" which Apple didn't  
>> officially
>> consider a modem. It was a DSP system. It's sort of nit-picking, but
>> in a lot of ways it wasn't a modem, because most of the work was done
>> in software. I don't think Apple ever shipped anything else, though
>> Global Village voice modems were very common at one point.
>>
>> Ed
>>
>> On Dec 20, 2006, at 12:24 PM, Benjamin Kowarsch via List wrote:
>>
>>> On Dec 21, 2006, at 2:10 AM, Martin Joseph via List wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Dec 20, 2006, at 8:00 AM, Benjamin Kowarsch via List wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> You have to have a voice capable modem. The first voice capable
>>>>> modem
>>>>> Apple used was the Motorola SM56 which started to appear in late
>>>>> 2004
>>>>> or early 2005.
>>>>
>>>> The above is clearly wrong.  Apple had voice capable modems  
>>>> going at
>>>> least back to the performa 5200 series which included the very nice
>>>> "Megaphone" which allowed for calling and answering voice calls via
>>>> the modem...
>>>>
>>>> Sorry for nit picking.
>>>
>>> You will have to take this up with Apple then. Because the above
>>> statement is from Cupertino and it is official. :P
>>>
>>> I think though that you are referring to what was called Geoport
>>> adapters, which technically could be considered voice modems but
>>> Apple didn't consider them to be modems. Anything inside a Mac that
>>> Apple does consider to be a modem did not have voice capability
>>> before the Motorola SM56. Geoport adapters do not work with MacOS X
>>> at all.
>>>
>>>> I have a USB modem dongle and a couple of working Asterisk installs
>>>> if that helps any for testing the Unicall driver for that item...
>>>
>>> As I had mentioned, we are waiting for some stuff Apple is doing.
>>>
>>> BTW, this is a middleware, not a driver. Apple supplies the driver.
>>> Unicall doesn't know how to talk to Apple's driver. The middleware
>>> will make the link between the two.
>>>
>>> rgds
>>> benjk
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>> -- 
>> Edward Eigerman
>> Principal
>> Eigerman Consulting, Inc.
>> 118A Fulton St. #104
>> New York, NY 10038
>> 212-710-2972
>> http://www.eigermanconsulting.com
>>
>>
>>
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>
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-- 
Edward Eigerman
Principal
Eigerman Consulting, Inc.
118A Fulton St. #104
New York, NY 10038
212-710-2972
http://www.eigermanconsulting.com