[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Moving landline to VOIP
Harry Forsdick
harry at forsdick.com
Sun Oct 15 08:10:39 PDT 2023
Alan,
Wow, I am surprised! I assume since the connection is bluetooth, the right
thing would happen if I am away from the house with my cell phone: it
wouldn't ring on the cordless phones. A nice example where the
"limitations" of a technology play correctly into the solution I want! How
rare.
Not to beat a dead horse, I want to relate an experiment I just did to get
us ready to hear Conor OMahony's three talks about ChatGPT that start this
Wednesday: "A Top Down Look at ChatGPT''. I wanted to see if ChatGPT would
give me the right answer to my slightly complex question. In light of
Alan's answer, I am happily surprised that with some follow-up questions,
ChatGPT got it correct -- although I seriously doubted that it would do
so. I thought it might make something up, and until I read Alan's answer,
I said to myself, "See, it does make mistakes". Boy was I wrong.
Harry: We would like to buy some portable phones installed in various
places around our house so that even if we didn't have our cellphones in
our pockets we could answer the cellphone if we were near one of the fixed
locations where a Panasonic (or any other) phone was located.
ChatGPT: That's a great idea! Having portable phones installed in various
locations around your house can provide convenience and ensure that you
never miss any important calls. To achieve this, you can consider getting a
multi-handset cordless phone system. Companies like Panasonic, VTech, and
AT&T offer such systems with multiple handsets that can be placed in
different rooms. These handsets communicate with the base unit wirelessly,
allowing you to answer calls from any location within range. Here are the
basic steps to set up a multi-handset cordless phone system:
1. Choose a brand and model: Look for cordless phone systems that offer
multiple handsets and have good coverage range for your house.
2. Purchase the system: Determine the number of handsets you need and
buy a package that includes all the necessary components.
3. Install the base unit: Find a central location in your house to
install the base unit. This unit connects to your telephone line and serves
as a hub for all the handsets.
4. Set up additional handsets: Depending on the system you purchased,
each handset might have unique steps for setup. Generally, you will need to
register them with the base unit following the instructions provided by the
manufacturer.
5. Position the handsets: Once all the handsets are registered, you can
place them in various convenient locations around your house, such as
bedrooms, living rooms, or the kitchen.
Remember to consider factors such as range, battery life, and additional
features while choosing the cordless phone system. It's also recommended to
read user reviews and compare different models to find the best fit for
your needs.
I hope this information helps you set up a practical solution for answering
calls throughout your home. Let me know if you have any more questions!
Harry: I want to have calls to my cell phone also ring on my cordless house
phone. Can I do this?
ChatGPT: To have calls to your cell phone also ring on your cordless house
phone, you can use a feature called "Cell Phone Link" or "Cellular Link"
that is available on some cordless phone systems. This feature allows you
to connect your cellphone to your cordless phone system via Bluetooth. Here
are the general steps to set up this feature:
1. Make sure your cordless phone system has the "Cell Phone Link" or
"Cellular Link" feature. Check the product specifications or user manual to
confirm its availability.
2. Activate Bluetooth on your cell phone. Usually, this can be done by
going to the settings menu of your cellphone and enabling Bluetooth.
3. On the cordless phone base unit or one of the handsets, navigate to
the settings menu or the Cell Phone Link settings.
4. Initiate the pairing process. This usually involves putting your
cordless phone system into pairing mode (by selecting a menu option or
pressing a specific button), and then searching for available devices from
your cellphone's Bluetooth settings.
5. Once your cell phone detects the cordless phone system, select it to
complete the pairing process. Follow any on-screen prompts or confirmation
codes that may be required.
6. After a successful pairing, you may have the option to configure the
settings for incoming calls. This usually involves selecting whether to
ring both the cell phone and cordless phone, or only the cordless phone,
when a call comes in.
Please note that the specific steps may vary depending on the make and
model of your cordless phone system. It's always a good idea to consult the
user manual or contact the manufacturer's customer support for detailed
instructions tailored to your specific device. Additionally, not all
cordless phone systems offer this feature, so if your current system
doesn't have it, you may need to consider purchasing a new cordless phone
system that supports cell phone integration.
I still don't believe this, so, I ask:
Harry: Once I have this system set up, what will happen when a call comes
into my cell phone?
CHatGPT: Once you have set up the system to have calls ring on both your
cell phone and your cordless house phone, here's what will happen when a
call comes into your cell phone:
1. Your cellphone will receive the incoming call as usual.
2. Simultaneously, your cordless house phone, which is linked to your
cell phone, will also ring.
3. You can choose to answer the call using either your cellphone or the
cordless house phone, whichever is more convenient for you at that moment.
4. If you answer the call on your cordless house phone, you can continue
the conversation on that device without needing to use your cellphone.
This setup ensures that even if you don't have your cell phone near you,
you can answer the call using your cordless house phone installed in
various locations around your house.
Well, before I read Alan's answer, I was shaking my head, asking the
question "When do I know whether to trust what ChatGPT answers". I think I
now feel more confident in ChatGPT.
Of course it didn't have the wisdom of Stan Rose who suspected that I might
be doing more with my cellphone. Indeed I may experience that same problem
Stan encountered. Here is where it would be good to have a concept of
"getting to know ChatCPT so that it could load a profile of things it knows
about me so that it might anticipate problems its answers might have with
the rest of me.
Oh, that's getting scary...
Regards,
-- Harry
Harry Forsdick <http://www.forsdick.com/resume/>
Lexington Photo Scanning <http://lexingtonphotoscan.com/>
Town Meeting Member Precinct 7 <http://lexingtontmma.org/>
harry at forsdick.com 46 Burlington St., Lexington, MA 02420
<https://goo.gl/xZXT2F>
(781) 799-6002 (mobile) <callto:17817996002>
www.forsdick.com
click <http://forsdick.weebly.com/home/my-websites> to see my other websites
On Sun, Oct 15, 2023 at 10:11 AM Alan Millner <armillner48 at gmail.com> wrote:
> The base is a Panasonic model KX-TGE270. It rings all the extensions if
> the cell phone gets a call. It does not ring the cell phones if the
> landline gets a call.
> I experimented: with the landline disconnected, it still works to ring
> everything if the cell phone gets a call. That’s what you want.
>
> Alan Millner
> amillner at alum.mit.edu
> home 781-862-7893. cell 781-999-4346
> 48 North St., Lexington MA 02420
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 15, 2023, at 9:32 AM, Harry Forsdick <harry at forsdick.com> wrote:
>
> Alan,
>
> Thanks for this information.
>
> Does this ring the Panasonic "landline" phone if a call comes in to your
> cell phone? Or only the reverse -- ring your cell phone if a call comes in
> on the Panasonic "landline" phone?
>
> In our case we don't want to have a "landline". Rather we would like to
> buy some portable phones installed in various places around our house so
> that even if we didn't have our cellphones in our pockets we could answer
> the cellphone if we were near one of the fixed locations where a Panasonic
> (or any other) phone was located.
>
> I suspect this isn't the way these bluetooth Panasonic phones were
> intended to work, but I hope I am wrong.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -- Harry
>
>
>
>
> Harry Forsdick <http://www.forsdick.com/resume/>
> Lexington Photo Scanning <http://lexingtonphotoscan.com/>
> Town Meeting Member Precinct 7 <http://lexingtontmma.org/>
> harry at forsdick.com 46 Burlington St., Lexington, MA 02420
> <https://goo.gl/xZXT2F>
> (781) 799-6002 (mobile) <callto:17817996002>
> www.forsdick.com
> click <http://forsdick.weebly.com/home/my-websites> to see my other
> websites
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 15, 2023 at 8:44 AM Alan Millner <armillner48 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Our Panasonic cordless phone system ( our landline) has bluetooth
>> connection to our cellphones, so we can answer a cell call at any of its 6
>> handsets, if the cell is sitting near the base unit on its charger.
>>
>> Alan Millner
>> amillner at alum.mit.edu
>> home 781-862-7893. cell 781-999-4346
>> 48 North St., Lexington MA 02420
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Oct 15, 2023, at 8:36 AM, Harry Forsdick via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Our solution to this has been to get rid of our “landline” when we got
>> rid of cable and just use our cell phones.
>>
>> It wasn't difficult — it had already started to happen because we
>> discovered that the predominant users of our landline were telemarketers.
>>
>> Now calls come to the person being called. It does require that each of
>> us to carry our phones on our person.
>>
>> I have yet to find a way to combine my cellphone to a fixed wired phone
>> so that each of our phones could be picked up at fixed locations in the
>> house. If anybody has leads on this I would love to hear about this.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> — Harry
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 6:56 PM BARRY HASS via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I have the premium plan which gives me a second inbound line. It also
>>> calls two numbers of my choice for notification purposes when I dial 911.
>>> All voicemails appear on the phone but are also emailed to my wife and
>>> myself. We have the OOMA app on our phones which allow us to call US phones
>>> from anywhere in the world at no cost as long as I have an internet
>>> connection. OOMA premium has call forwarding, and call forwarding on
>>> network or power failure. There are other features which I don’t recall at
>>> this moment.
>>>
>>> Barry
>>>
>>> > On Oct 14, 2023, at 5:41 PM, Shelly Lowenthal via LCTG <
>>> lctg at lists.toku.us> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > I’ve been using OOMA for 12 years. I’ve recommended it and people
>>> have been happy with it. Let me know if you have questions on porting -
>>> very simple. Base plan is $7/month - all of it taxes. They have a premium
>>> plan with more features.
>>> >
>>> > Shelly Lowenthal
>>> >
>>> >> On Oct 14, 2023, at 5:16 PM, Peter Shaw via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us>
>>> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Thoughts on the best options to move my landline over to my Internet
>>> service?
>>> >>
>>> >> Google Voice, Ooma, probably others.
>>> >>
>>> >> I confess, I'm too late to be even a normal late adopter, but that's
>>> where I am.
>>> >>
>>> >> Thanks.
>>> >> ===============================================
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>
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