using a retro telephone with voip

Hi there

Im in the UK, new to voip, and out of curiosity I want to use a retro landline telephone that uses the loop-disconnect dialling system. It has the rotary dial, so *(star) or #(hash) cannot be dialled. I have seen this device on amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-St-1200-Internet-Phone-Station/dp/B000ATJ4HG

Will this work with a loop-disconnect phone? as it says I need to dial a *(star) to switch between using voip and normal landline mode. I dont need to connect the phone to a landline, which this device can do. If anyone knows of a device that can just connect this phone to my computer for voip, that would be great.

Thanks,

Picky

Hi

Ok the simple answer is no a rotary dial wont work. but you can use a pulse to dtmf converter then a voip adaptor.

examples of these are rare , one I used to use for customers who had VERY old PABXs was the Mitel Smart1 dialer.

this is a 4 port unit that can convert pulse to dtmf tones.

I still have a few in storage

Ian

I've done some more research and a "rotatone" adapter http://oldphoneworks.com/rotatone-pulse-to-tone-converter.html can be built inside the telephone and make it dtmf compatible, and looks alot smaller than the Mitel SMart1 dialer.

I have only been able to find voip adapters that have the landline option aswell as the voip... are there any that only connect the phone via usb? I want as small an adapter as possible as I'm hoping to fit everything inside the telephone unit, and just have a usb cable from the voip adapter coming out of the back of the telephone.

Also, I imagine the mechanical ringer takes a fair bit of current, is a usb adapter going to be able to supply enough for the phone to ring properly?

Thanks,
Tim

Hi

Looks like it may do what you want except it draws power from the line and they do put this on their site

Quote:

Note to Magicjack users - we have been unable to get any of our Pulse to Tone converters to work with Magicjack.

Ian

I think it might depend on how retro the phone is. I also don't think you will get too far with an old pulse dialer. I have a 45-50 year old red US push button tone dialer with a proper mechanical bell that works with my Voip although dialing is a bit slow. A old UK phone may give more problems not the least power drain might be too high. The device that I have my phone connected on is USB powered, designed for Skype and quite old. There are some reproduction phones on the market that have simulated rotary dials but actually tone dial.

eg. http://www.thesource.ca/estore/product. ... tab=1#more

There are ATAs (analog telephone adapters) that support pulse dialing, but they are difficult to find. My main phone service at home is VoIP with my cable television provider, and it supports rotary dialing. Unfortunately, the Linksys PAP2 I use at home with my VoIP-via-Internet providers does not support it.

picky :

I've done some more research and a "rotatone" adapter http://oldphoneworks.com/rotatone-pulse-to-tone-converter.html can be built inside the telephone and make it dtmf compatible, and looks alot smaller than the Mitel SMart1 dialer.

For the price of this little device, I would just start looking for some ATA devices that can handle a rotary dial.

It's only $39.... not exactly expensive and I doubt you'll get a pulse dial ATA at any price

This unit will allow you to use vintage telephones on Skype VoIP. It is available as a kit or built unit.

www.softwarefun.co.uk

Please see my review here:

http://www.g7fek.co.uk/blogus/newsshow.php?page=Use_your_vintage_pulse_di_30819

Mike.

dibsmft :

... not the least power drain might be too high.

This is an important point. I worked a few years ago with quite a few devices that provided PSTN ports from an ISDN interface, and a fair proportion of these boxes either did not have enough ring voltage, or just couldn't supply enough current for an electromagnetic bell. So the ringer didn't ring when a call arrived. I imagine the same is true for many ATA devices; 99% of people would not complain if the device was broken in this way, because people generally don't use old phone sets.

Im currently thinking fit a dtmf dialler, and install a normal VoIP adapter connected to this, and see if I can fit it all inside the telephone. It would be a shame if the mechanical bells dont ring, but I suspect they wont on the current from the VoIP adapter. Ive just bought the telephone, waiting for it to be delivered. Will update you all if I make any progess!

Re: softwarefun.co.uk that would be great except it uses a parralel port to connect to the computer... No can do.