Cutting Edge Technology Speeds Telephone Scanning
Sandstorm's Single Call Detect Revolutionizes Telephone Scanning
Our patented Single Call Detect speeds telephone scanning, improves accuracy,
and increases the capabilities of many off-the-shelf modems.
Single Call Detect overcomes the limitations of traditional telephone
scanning by interfacing with specific
modem chip sets at a very low level. With Single Call Detect, the modem
and the computer actually listen to the phone line as the call is being
placed. If the PhoneSweep hears a person's voice, it immediately hangs
up and records "VOICE."
If it hears a second dial tone, it hangs
up and notes that a "TONE" was heard - most off-the-shelf modems cannot
detect second dial tone.
Busy signals are noted as "BUSY," while
phones that ring without answer are recorded as "TIMEOUT."
By identifying "VOICE", "TONE" or "TIMEOUT" responses in
one call, PhoneSweep with Single Call Detect does not need to call such
numbers again for further identification. In addition, PhoneSweep
allows you to set how many times it will call back any phone lines that
it noted as “BUSY.”
If PhoneSweep hears the tones for a modem, it automatically switches
the calling modem into "Fax" mode to determine if the tones were produced
by a fax machine or a fax modem. If FAX synchronization takes place, PhoneSweep
then schedules a second call to the same phone number in data mode to determine
if the answering device is also capable of data communications.
In this manner, PhoneSweep can use standard hardware for fast voice
detection, detection of second dial tones, and reliable identification
of data modems, fax machines, and fax-modems.
Download the PhoneSweep Demo
Supported Modems
Single Call Detect is available only if you utilize certain modems.
Sandstorm maintains a list of recommended modems. While we try to
keep this list up-to-date, we have found that modem vendors can and do
change chip sets without notice.
The checkmodems.exe program will report whether or not your modems
support Single Call Detect, although in some rare circumstances
checkmodems.exe will report false positives (such as the IBM 56K PC Card
Modem, or Comtrol's RocketModem board).
When is Single Call Detect in effect?
PhoneSweep places calls in Single Call Detect when it is scanning for
both modems and fax machines
If you want to use Single Call Detect while doing a scan for just modems
or just fax machines, please contact Sandstorm Enterprises.
Why is PhoneSweep still placing two calls?
The feature is called Single Call Detect because it makes distinctions
among tone, voice and non-answering numbers with only one call. However,
two separate phone calls are still needed to distinguish between fax machines,
modems, and fax/modems. For most organizations, only one call will be required
to each number, since most phone numbers do not have a fax or data modem
on them.
What other advantages does Single Call Detect offer?
Other advantages of Single Call Detect include improved detection of
second dial tones (such as outside lines and special trunks) and faster
identification of voice--reducing (but not eliminating) the chances of
leaving blank voice mail messages during scanning.
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