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Mac Forum / Applications / Mac Applications / June 2008Can any Mac apps dial a phone number?
Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would initiate dialing. Ultimately, the app would work so any number highlighted in any program could be dialed. Of course you'd need a phone modem. If you're dialing lots of numbers a day, and they are all on your computer, this would save time and make life easier I would think. > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > on your computer, this would save time and make life easier I would > think. Sure. Macs have done this forever.  SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group rather than directly to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. You'll need to use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Sure. Macs have done this forever. In Mac Help, ask for "Dial Modem" ... > > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > In Mac Help, ask for "Dial Modem" ... Then? Didn't see anything relating to a modem dialing a phone number that is not referring to faxing or internet connection. Did I miss something? Nothing relevant in Address Book Help for "dialing" or "dial". > Then? Didn't see anything relating to a modem dialing a phone number > that is not referring to faxing or internet connection. Did I miss > something? If you did, so did I. If there's a way to get Address Book to do it, I couldn't see how to, either. On the other hand, Palm Desktop has always supported dialing going all the way back to its roots as Claris Organizer. Signature<http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi> Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/election.shtml> Election 2008 goods. <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi> Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/greet.cgi> Holiday cards with attitude > > Then? Didn't see anything relating to a modem dialing a phone number > > that is not referring to faxing or internet connection. Did I miss [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > On the other hand, Palm Desktop has always supported dialing going all > the way back to its roots as Claris Organizer. Much to my chagrin as a digitally challenged person, I believe Palm lost this ability when it rewrote to OSX. I only switched to address book.app in the last couple of months as Leopard always me now to iSync my Nokia. Was using the Palm desktop up to then though I shitcanned my Palm handheld years ago. SignatureNever believe anything until it's officially denied. > > > Then? Didn't see anything relating to a modem dialing a phone number > > > that is not referring to faxing or internet connection. Did I miss [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Much to my chagrin as a digitally challenged person, I believe Palm lost > this ability when it rewrote to OSX. You mean when they carbonized? AFAIK, they never rewrote Palm Desktop from scratch for Mac OS X. SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group rather than directly to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. You'll need to use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR Haha, brings back old memories. Of course none of this is what we used to use dialers for back in the old days :-) I don't suppose there are a lot of modems waiting to answer the call now. > > If you did, so did I. If there's a way to get Address Book to do it, I > > couldn't see how to, either. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > my Nokia. Was using the Palm desktop up to then though I shitcanned my > Palm handheld years ago. I don't have a modem to test it with, but I have Palm Desktop 4.2.1 installed and it can at least dial through the speaker. It appears that it could be configured to dial through modem, though. Signature<http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi> Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/election.shtml> Election 2008 goods. <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi> Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/greet.cgi> Holiday cards with attitude > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Sure. Macs have done this forever. I couldn't see how to do this in Address Book. Once I had displayed a number I was expecting to see a Dial option when I right clicked it or perhaps something from the Menu Bar that was relevant. Did I miss something? (I don't use Bluetooth which is mentioned in Help.) Can you imagine how nice this would be? You have free long distance dialing and whatever number you see - bam - the computer is dialing it immediately if you want. I take it most of us are in North America and more and more of us have opted for free North American calling on our telephone plans. > > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > more of us have opted for free North American calling on our telephone > plans. I should have been more clear. Macs have done this forever through third-party software. : ) SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group rather than directly to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. You'll need to use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR > > > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > I should have been more clear. Macs have done this forever through > third-party software. : ) Or HyperCard. Signature"Harry?" Ron's voice was a mere whisper. "Do you smell something ... burning?" - Harry Potter and the Odor of the Phoenix > Or HyperCard. I miss Hypercard. Hopefully Mark Aldritt (of Latenight Sofware, author of Script Debugger) will be able to achieve his goals with FaceSpan. I'm hearing VERY good things about the product. SignatureWoodworking links and more at http://www.woodenwabbits.com -------------- I kill all messages from Google Groups. See http://improve-usenet.org for details. > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Sure. Macs have done this forever. Can you please describe how to highlight a phone number in Address Book and have the Mac dial it? 'Cause i'm not seeing it. MacBook Pro with Apple USB modem... SignatureWoodworking links and more at http://www.woodenwabbits.com -------------- I kill all messages from Google Groups. See http://improve-usenet.org for details. > > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > MacBook Pro with Apple USB modem... You'll need one of these (or something similar): MacDialer <http://www.fromconcentratesoftware.com/MacDialer/> Jon's Phone Tool <http://www.jonn8.com/jpt/> ABDialer <http://www.macronsoft.com/pages/en/abdialer.html> SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group rather than directly to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. You'll need to use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR > > > > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > > > > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > ABDialer <http://www.macronsoft.com/pages/en/abdialer.html> So these can run "on top" of other apps and enable dialing from them? If so, this would be extremely time saving and convenient. And what kind of USB modem would be best? The Apple model is reasonably priced - is there anything better? > > You'll need one of these (or something similar): > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > So these can run "on top" of other apps and enable dialing from them? > If so, this would be extremely time saving and convenient. It appears so. > And what > kind of USB modem would be best? The Apple model is reasonably priced - > is there anything better? I doubt it, but your guess is as good as mine. SignaturePlease send all responses to the relevant news group rather than directly to me, as E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. You'll need to use a real news reader if you want me to see your posts. JR > And what kind of USB modem would be best? The Apple model is > reasonably priced - is there anything better? I tried the Apple model with a 1st generation iMac G5 and did not like the experience. It appears to be a "software" modem. I picked up a Best Data "hardware" modem at Micro Center. In my case the Best Data modem was a better choice. SignatureSome news providers and news readers do a better job at filtering than others. > > And what kind of USB modem would be best? The Apple model is > > reasonably priced - is there anything better? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I picked up a Best Data "hardware" modem at Micro Center. In my case the > Best Data modem was a better choice. Was there any difference in audio quality or handoff speed? (Full duplex audio?) Is it on this page? http://www.bestdata.com/index.php?file=c-all56k&iCategoryId=10 > Was there any difference in audio quality or handoff speed? (Full > duplex audio?) Is it on this page? > http://www.bestdata.com/index.php?file=c-all56k&iCategoryId=10 The best data appears to connect at speeds listed between 48xxx and 45xxx. Looking at that page, I believe that I have the: 56USBMAC - SMART ONE 56Kbps MAC USB Plus V.92 Controller-based DATA/FAX MODEM SignatureSome news providers and news readers do a better job at filtering than others. > > Was there any difference in audio quality or handoff speed? (Full > > duplex audio?) Is it on this page? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > 56USBMAC - SMART ONE 56Kbps MAC USB Plus V.92 Controller-based DATA/FAX > MODEM Remember, connection speeds are not important. Its not being used for internet. Its being used as a dialer, than as a full duplex communication device. > You'll need one of these (or something similar): > > MacDialer <http://www.fromconcentratesoftware.com/MacDialer/> Interesting. Might even work at a Wi-Fi coffee shop that does not have any pay telephone. Slap on your headset, plug it into your USB connector, and you can make a voice call to anyone who has a telephone. ...maybe :) Mark- > Interesting. Might even work at a Wi-Fi coffee shop that does > not have any pay telephone. > > Slap on your headset, plug it into your USB connector, > and you can make a voice call to anyone who has a telephone. All this is probably true, but you can also use Skype for that purpose. Signature<http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi> Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/election.shtml> Election 2008 goods. <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi> Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/greet.cgi> Holiday cards with attitude > > Interesting. Might even work at a Wi-Fi coffee shop that does > > not have any pay telephone. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > All this is probably true, but you can also use Skype for that purpose. But you need to pay for Skype out to do that. Unless you're dialing toll free numbers of course. Then its free. > > You'll need one of these (or something similar): > > MacDialer <http://www.fromconcentratesoftware.com/MacDialer/> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Slap on your headset, plug it into your USB connector, > and you can make a voice call to anyone who has a telephone. I think you're referring to VOIP. This is different. This appeals to people with a computer at home, with a landline telephone line, that use their computer to reference all their phone numbers. Think of the convenience: Whenever you see a phone number on a web page you can just click and dial without picking up the phone. If you have a headset, these apps might even allow using the computer for the entire call instead of just the dialing part. But that is just a bonus. The main thing is the dialing - at least for most of us I think. Once someone answers, its easy to pick up the phone and talk. Labtec had an interesting headset out a few years ago. It connected to both your landline phone AND your audio in/out computer jacks. So you could chat/IM people all over the world, then answer a call from your neighbor just by flipping a switch. Brilliant. Of course it didn't catch on....lol. Too smart for the dullards. They'd rather fumble with phones and headsets and mics and speakers. > They'd rather fumble with > phones and headsets and mics and speakers. Perhaps a wireless headset might appeal to some, that way they would not risk yanking their MacBook off the coffee table when they bounce up to the counter for a refill. One other thing might be worth mentioning. (maybe not) Assume I am at one of those old fashioned rural hotels that do not have any Internet access of any kind, but I absolutely have to get hold of a file on my home computer. The Timbuktu app' has a feature that allows me to connect via a regular telephone connection to the Mac at my house, to heck with the Internet altogether! Slow as molasses, but good enough to retrieve small files. (assuming the hotel has regular telephone connections in every room, and not that darn digital phone system) To check, temporarily connect a telephone handset to the jack, to make darn certain you can call out, otherwise you risk burning up your Macs modem with a hotel "digital" phone. Mark- > Wondering if any apps like Address Book or iCal or non-Apple ones have > the option so you could highlight a number and a keyboard shortcut would [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > on your computer, this would save time and make life easier I would > think. This can be done with a third-party Address Book plug-in called UllaBella. <http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16452/ullabella> |
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