could a web application dial your phone for you?

[brotherS]

Hi and a happy new year! 

A technical question: considering the amount of web-based apps, is it possible for a website/web-based application to dial your (landline) phone for you? I bet it's possible with PC-based phones (*), but what about regular phones that are not connected to a PC?

Maybe there are such phones available already, I just don't know... 

*I'm also interested in such hardware solutions - not hardware that only uses services like Skype though.

[f0dder]

You could always code a web app that generates dialing tones, and holding your phone to your speakers...

[BigJim]

You probably already know that the Skype toolbars for Firefox and IE (as well as Word, etc.) will do that in Skype and that Outlook 2007 will dial your phone from your contacts list, too. So it certainly seems do-able.

[lanux128]

You could always code a web app that generates dialing tones, and holding your phone to your speakers...

brotherS, not sure if this is what you want, anyway, here goes..

DTMFDial

a freeware that emits DTMF tones including A, B, C and D using PC sound card with flexible push button, keyboard, clipboard paste and command line interface - now with programmable memory, last 16 number redial and tool-tray operation. Tone durations, gaps, pauses and a prefix are fully configurable. Single instance operation as shell command line utility.

[attach=#]
• http://www.ordinarysoft.com/downloads/dtmf_download/

[brotherS]

Thanks for your answers. They don't exactly answer my questions, but I already know more than before now. 

[JonTheNiceGuy]

It's not directly possible, unless you can persuade the user to install an activeX control, because...

In order to dial the phone, you need access to a Modem. The modem dials the number, and then the user is told to pick up the phone, at which point, the user would hang up. Old programs which would do this (and I can't remember any off the top of my head) would use this sort of sequence.

1) Do you want to dial the number?
2) User clicks "Yes"
3) Open Serial port (to Modem), send characters AT (response OK), AT DT 0123456789012
4) Pick up the phone
5) After a specified delay, hang up the modem

In order to get access to the modem, you'd need either an activex control or a java app. I don't know enough about either to do this!

Alternatively, there are services (which I can't find with a simple google search right now - but I'm sure if you're creative you'll find them), where a third party server dials the user and the business and then connects the two lines together. The third way is to take that in-house, and make it so that the user enters their phone number into a form, that goes into a queue at the web site, which is then reeled off to the PBX at the webserver end.

Lastly, you could use a VoIP solution like Asterisk, and then establish SIP connections in between either the business and the user, or between two users, well, let's just say with VoIP, the world is your mollusc.

Jon

[BigJim]

You probably already know that the Skype toolbars for Firefox and IE (as well as Word, etc.) will do that in Skype and that Outlook 2007 will dial your phone from your contacts list, too. So it certainly seems do-able.

I take the risk of quoting and thus repeating myself  .

Skype plug-ins will identify phone numbers in many applications (including web browsers) and dial the number in Skype. Outlook 2007 WILL dial your (wireline) phone with numbers contained in your Contacts list using your installed modem. You can hear the other party answer in the PC speaker and when you pick up the phone it takes over the line from the modem. Therefore, I refuse to believe that it's not possible or that someone just a little more clever than I couldn't get the job done.

I have spoken! 

[BigJim]

On the other hand, perhaps I have egg-on-face. BrotherS did, after all, ask for a web-based application. Ooops! 

[brotherS]

It's not directly possible, unless you can persuade the user to install an activeX control, because...

In order to dial the phone, you need access to a Modem. The modem dials the number, and then the user is told to pick up the phone, at which point, the user would hang up. Old programs which would do this (and I can't remember any off the top of my head) would use this sort of sequence.

1) Do you want to dial the number?
2) User clicks "Yes"
3) Open Serial port (to Modem), send characters AT (response OK), AT DT 0123456789012
4) Pick up the phone
5) After a specified delay, hang up the modem

In order to get access to the modem, you'd need either an activex control or a java app. I don't know enough about either to do this!

Alternatively, there are services (which I can't find with a simple google search right now - but I'm sure if you're creative you'll find them), where a third party server dials the user and the business and then connects the two lines together. The third way is to take that in-house, and make it so that the user enters their phone number into a form, that goes into a queue at the web site, which is then reeled off to the PBX at the webserver end.

Lastly, you could use a VoIP solution like Asterisk, and then establish SIP connections in between either the business and the user, or between two users, well, let's just say with VoIP, the world is your mollusc.

Jon

Hi JonTheNiceGuy and welcome to the site!

Using an additional modem might be a solution. Using a service that connects the two lines together is not that good because then the usage of (land line) phone flat rates wouldn't be possible.

On the other hand, going totally VoIP *might* make sense if the price per call is ok because you just need a headset and no external hardware.