Jim Gurd
Premium
join:2000-07-08
Plymouth, MI
 ·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Comcast
| reply to Madness
Re: Late to the game like always.
Those things are the exact opposite of the old fashioned touchtone converters that were used when connecting a touchtone phone to a step-by-step switch. A lot of independent phone companies had that kind of setup back in the day.
I can remember being able to use my calling card without operator assistance using one of those payphones. I had to dial an 800 number to connect to my long distance carrier (Sprint). The payphones were post pay and the phone company made any calls starting with 1 go immediately to a reorder. In order access my carrier I had to dial 0+800 instead of 1+800. Once I connected I could touchtone out the number I was calling and the calling card number with no problem. Ahh, the memories.
Now the old steps are gone and replaced with digital switches even in the most remote areas. 
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Calling an illegal alien an undocumented worker is like calling a crack dealer an unlicensed pharmacist. |
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Madness
Like a flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Jim Gurd
OK, that's is a Bell 554 wall phone. Same guts as the 500, though. One would need a pulse-to-tone converter to dial out on VoIP (using the dial!). They're not cheap though!
Of course, one could also use one of those old-school portable tone dialers that are held up to the mouthpiece, But, of course, that takes away the thrill of using the rotary dial. |
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Jim Gurd
Premium
join:2000-07-08
Plymouth, MI
·AT&T DSL Service
·Comcast
| reply to Madness
said by Madness  :A little tip: Assuming you used a Bell 500 set, take the cover off (two screws on the bottom) & turn the phone so the ringer faces forward. Look closely between the gongs & you should see a sideways-G-shaped hole w/ a springy bar sticking out of it -- this is the "biasing spring." If presently set to the bottom of the "G", reverse it (see here: » www.porticus.org/bell/images/bel···_pos.jpg ). Thank you, thank you!! I moved it over like it showed in the picture and now it rings properly when connected to my VoIP service.
Here is a picture I took of it with my cell phone camera a while ago.
It's too bad that VoIP doesn't work with pulse dialing. That phone worked really well with rotary dialing back when I had a POTS line.
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Calling an illegal alien an undocumented worker is like calling a crack dealer an unlicensed pharmacist. |
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Madness
Like a flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Jim Gurd
said by Jim Gurd :said by Enlightener : The only problem was that the old mechanical bell ringer would draw too much power and would barely be audible when a call was coming in. Receiving calls worked perfectly though. A little tip: Assuming you used a Bell 500 set, take the cover off (two screws on the bottom) & turn the phone so the ringer faces forward. Look closely between the gongs & you should see a sideways-G-shaped hole w/ a springy bar sticking out of it -- this is the "biasing spring." If presently set to the bottom of the "G", reverse it (see here: »www.porticus.org/bell/images/bel···_pos.jpg ).
In the old days, this was set by the "telephone man" to high or low depending on how many extensions the customer had. In other words, the more ringers wired across the line, the higher the load. So one of the settings allowed the phone to ring w/ less power. I found this same setting also works great w/ a VOIP terminal. 
FWIW: I'm using a Touch-Tone 2500 phone w/ same guts. |
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