From Hackaday - "Squeezebox Audible Caller ID" project

[ddewey]

"Ben loved using his Squeezebox music streamer, but every time the phone
rang he would have to pause the music. Once the phone call was complete he
wouldn't remember to start the music again. He decided to automate the
entire process. His circuit is a combination of a couple different circuits
he found online: a ring detector, an on/off hook detector, and an audio
interface. Most of his article details how caller ID signals are encoded and
how he decodes them. Now whenever the phone rings the music is automatically
paused. Between rings the Squeezebox announces who is calling. When the
phone is placed back on the hook the music automatically starts again.

http://www.hackaday.com/

[Lowrent]

That's very cool but highly complicated to build.

Wouldn't we be able to achieve the same results with only a 56kbps modem in the PC ??

[CouchPotatoe]

This is already possible with xAP and either a CID modem or the
NetCallerID telephone device. In the UK a Meteor/Pegasus or a Pace CID
modem is supported the former provides outgoing call support too Using
the free xAPSwitchboard you can also have lookup and display on the Slim
music player of the Callers Name and STD locality (UK), this can be
synchronised with your Outlook address books . Also a full web
accessible call log is maintained, you can even click on a contact and
see the callers location in Google Maps.

It takes a few components all working together to get this going but if
people are interested I'll write up a short 'how to', it's fairly easy
once you know how.

K

Screenshot of web interface here
http://www.mi4.biz/modules.php?name=...howpage&pid=38
(requires a Windows PC somewhere on your network but supports all
platforms of SlimServer)

Lowrent wrote:
> That's very cool but highly complicated to build.
>
> Wouldn't we be able to achieve the same results with only a 56kbps
> modem in the PC ??
>
>
>

[jimdibb]

The yac2slim http://www.savardsoftware.com/yac2slim/ package already outputs
caller Id stuff to the SB. It seems like it would be pretty simple to have
the music pause at least. Getting it restarted might still require a button
push.

On 6/6/06, Kevin Hawkins <lists (AT) ukusa (DOT) demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> This is already possible with xAP and either a CID modem or the
> NetCallerID telephone device.




Lowrent wrote:
> > That's very cool but highly complicated to build.
> >
> > Wouldn't we be able to achieve the same results with only a 56kbps
> > modem in the PC ??
> >
> >
> >
>
>

[Lowrent]

Thanks to both of you guys,
I already noticed the two caller-id plug-ins in the plugins page.

Since I don't want to pay for the caller-id service from my phone company, what i'm interesting in is a fade-out-on-call / fade-in-on-hangup feature.

Could I ask the modem if the line is occupied ?
I'll dig some info about that...

Also, it lit up a new idea in my mind : Answering machine on the PC with via a modem and get messages on the squeezebox with delete and archive features. That would be really great... (I'll start a new thread for that)

[jimdibb]

That would be really cool... Don't have much use for it though as the phone
company has my voice mail.

On 6/6/06, Lowrent <Lowrent.28zq2n1149613801 (AT) no-mx (DOT) forums.slimdevices.com>
wrote:
>
>
>
> Also, it lit up a new idea in my mind : Answering machine on the PC
> with via a modem and get messages on the squeezebox with delete and
> archive features. That would be really great...
>
>
>

[grimholtz]

I've already done this in software. Even better, it uses any JSAPI-compliant text-to-speech (TTS) engine (e.g., AT&T Natural Voice, IBM Via Voice, Dragon Naturally Speaking, etc). to read the CID info through Squeezebox. See this thread. It requires:

• CID modem
• Java 1.4 or above (code is written in java)
• Any JSAPI-compliant TTS engine--there are some free ones available
• YAC

That last requirement breaks platform independence (i.e., Windows required) because I've not been able to get JTAPI to read CID data.

The software pauses playback, announces the CID and displays it on the display, then resumes playback where it left off. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with SBs connected to the squeezenetwork--still waiting for a squeeznetwork API for that. It also allows you to specify which players to use.

If anyone wants the software, let me know. I'd be glad to post it on the web somewhere, but haven't been able to find free hosting. It's GPL.

-eric

[twynne]

This is already possible with xAP and either a CID modem or the
NetCallerID telephone device. In the UK a Meteor/Pegasus or a Pace CID
modem is supported the former provides outgoing call support too Using
the free xAPSwitchboard you can also have lookup and display on the Slim
music player of the Callers Name and STD locality (UK), this can be
synchronised with your Outlook address books . Also a full web
accessible call log is maintained, you can even click on a contact and
see the callers location in Google Maps.

It takes a few components all working together to get this going but if
people are interested I'll write up a short 'how to', it's fairly easy
once you know how.

> [/color]

I'd be interested in a xAP solution if someone could put together a step-by-step installation guide (for Windows preferably). I had a look at it at one point but it all looked quite complicated.

I've currently got Caller ID displaying on my SB3's using the Yac2slim solution, and it can (optionally) pause the music. It doesn't restart it though, you need the remote for that. :-)

I've also got an application called TapiRex (http://www.cbuenger.com) which distributes caller ID to other PC's and Media Center. Apparently there's a SDK for TapiRex but I wouldn't know where to begin. It would be nice to just use one solution as a 'server' and have the caller ID sent to media center, other PC's, a macbook pro, and the SB3's. Is this possible with xAP?

[grimholtz]

to begin. It would be nice to just use one solution as a 'server' and have the caller ID sent to media center, other PC's, a macbook pro, and the SB3's. Is this possible with xAP?

This is precisely what YAC does. Why would you be interested in this solution if it can't read callers' names, just phone numbers? Do you have all your friends' numbers memorized? The solution I have announces caller names via text-to-speech.

[twynne]

This is precisely what YAC does. Why would you be interested in this solution if it can't read callers' names, just phone numbers? Do you have all your friends' numbers memorized? The solution I have announces caller names via text-to-speech.

Assuming you're referring to Tapirex, it does have lookup functionality (Outlook or it's own database), but doesn't have a plugin to speak to Squeezeboxes (yet). I use Tapirex to distribute caller ID to Windows PC's including Media Center.

To get caller ID on the Squeezebox I also have Yac and Yac2slim installed.

The point I was trying to make was that I would prefer to have just one application which distributes to all of the above. I'm not too bothered about it announcing the name, so that would be an added bonus. I also like the idea of having access to my call history via a browser when I'm not at home (as per the linked screenshots above).

Does the xAP solution accomplish all of this?