MagicJack Interfacing

[crashsite]

I bought a MagicJack (you're probably familiar but, it's a VoIP telephone adapter that plugs into USB). Anyway, the jack gives you a "real" telephone number and connects either to a regular telephone set (or via your computer's headphoone and mic). In my case, I'm on DSL so, I also have the Qwest phone service and I use the MagicJack for long distance (as I've been using Skype for the past couple of years).

But, since it's a separate phone line, I need to have two phone systems. I'd like to have one phone (a cordless with multiple handsets) and a way to share it between the two lines. It's likely that this device exists but, I haven't found it yet if it does.

It needs to have some sort of "code" to select either the Qwest or MagicJack line, when dialing out, that can be entered from the phone keypad. It also needs to recognize which line is ringing and, when the phone is answered, to notify which phone system the call is coming in on (perhaps different ringtones). Of course, it has to also have the ability to notify of an incoming call on the other line if one comes in during a call.

Since it wouild have a DTMF decoder, it would also be nice for it to be able to serve as a remote controller (to set alarm systems, close the garage door, cycle the water heater, set the thermostat for the furnace and A/C, set notification timers for cooking/watering/appointments/etc, control lighting, auto-call friends with recorded reminders for events, and so on).

It should have password protection (especially if it will be used for security purposes.

So, anyway...there's a lot more for it to do but, you get the idea and, if these functions are not already available in a commercially produced unit, maybe it gives you some ideas about how to implement it.

 

[Super_voip]

Try something like a Linksys SPA3102 for the voip problem, and if your mobile is 3G or better why not use a web based micro to handle the other inputs, this solution could also allow the micro to send emails when problems arise.

 

[crashsite]

Techno-jargon

Try something like a Linksys SPA3102 for the voip problem, and if your mobile is 3G or better why not use a web based micro to handle the other inputs, this solution could also allow the micro to send emails when problems arise.

You'll have to speak, "English"....not all of us are telephone gurus. Actually, I believe that the basics of a telephone system are generally understood by the folks who frequent this forum but, I confess that I don't know what the Linksys device is/does or what 3G is.

By talking about it by function rather than inference by citing specs and devices, I think it will help us ignoramuses understand what you have in mind better.

Also, I'm not sure what the "voip problem" is. My post addresses the connectivity and use of local telephone sets and assumes that the MagicJack people had sorted out the voip issues (which they seem to have pretty much done).

It does sound like you have some intriguing ideas and I'd like to hear more.

 

[arhi]

MagicJack is a cheep usb sound card that allows you to attach ordinary phone to a computer, the whole service is software based. The software is actually a software voip phone (SIP) that connect to the MagicJack gateway where you can have phone number assigned and that will allow you to make a call at lower rates. There is a bunch of services like that (sip services) both on the software and on the hardware side... (voipstunt for e.g. is the most popular one). If you want to attach the regular phone, and you have adsl, the mest solution is to by stand alone ATA box (30-40US$) that connect's to your lan and to your phone, most of them have connection to the existing landline so from your phone set you can you can choose if you want to dial out using your land line or using the voip line... the benefit of the ata box is that you do not need to have you computer powered on to make a call. As for the "service" there is bunch of voip gateway's all around, you do not have your location punched in so I cannot tell if I know any provider in your area but you can use any of the voip services from the net if you prefere them over your local voip provider (as i said, voipstunt is kinda most popular).

as for devices like this magicjack, there is whole chabeng of devices like that, some of them allow you to attach external phone, some are the phone .. but all of them in general present a cheep usb sound card with the software running on desktop that drives the whole thing.. ata box (for e.g. in a store next to me this one https://www.planet.com.tw/en/product/product_spec.php?id=3644 cost approx to 30$) is stand alone device that does the same thing, but without need to have the computer turned on in order to receive / make a call

 

[crashsite]

MagicJack is a cheep usb sound card that allows you to attach ordinary phone to a computer, the whole service is software based....

That's good information but, the MagicJack is the first one I've seen that brings it all together. Skype can bring it together, for example, but keeps charging more and more money (Skypeout and Skypein) and D-Link makes an adapter to allow sharing a PSTN telephone set with Skype. But, it doesn't bring it all together at one price, in one package.

I checked out the device in your link and, it doesn't bring it all together either. It addresses attaching a phone or phone system to some voip service but, doesn't deal with the service itself (as MagicJack does).

I'm assuming that, at some point, the MagicJack people will "discover" that people don't want to deal with multiple phone systems in their homes and will come up with a "Super MagicJack" that will allow a single phone to connect to either their voip service or their local PSTN line...essentially implementing the capability I was trying to describe in my initial post.

But, since MagicJack is a device for the masses, it will likely not have the other functions (that I touched on briefly) even though they will be easy to add (for fear of confusing those masses and thus scaring them away from the product...much as they would be frightened of the VIP-158 unit). Heck, I'm a little scared of the VIP-158 since I would immediately have to get into the whole voip thing as a separate issue after I buy it!

So, assuming that the MagicJack will be used (or, it could be any voip service that pulls it all together into one "cheap USB sound card", with the switching and phone number assignment), how can the features I described in my initial post be implemented (or what device out there in the marketplace already provides them)?

 

[arhi]

Skype can bring it together, for example, but keeps charging more and more money

(Skypeout and Skypein) and D-Link makes an adapter to allow sharing a PSTN telephone set with Skype. But, it doesn't bring it all together at one price, in one package.

There are some "unnamed" devices that can be purchased in local computer shops that put skype and pstn together ..

I checked out the device in your link and, it doesn't bring it all together either. It addresses attaching a phone or phone system to some voip service but, doesn't deal with the service itself (as MagicJack does).

The link I posted host bunch of cheep ata boxes, some of them have port for PSTN too, some do not, anyhow, you do not have to get Planet device (quite cheep with ok quality), there is bunch of manufacturers of cheep ata boxes... I personally use (40E in local store):

ATCOM AG-188 VoIP SIP / IAX2 ATA Gateway 1 x FXS (RJ-11), 1 x PSTN, 1xLAN 10/100, 1xWAN 10/100 - Infineon Chipset, SIP, Asterisk AIX2 protocol

And I use voip stunt to connect my ata box to. Previously I used some .nl company that I worked for but I moved (due to understandable reasons)

I'm assuming that, at some point, the MagicJack people will "discover" that people don't want to deal with multiple phone systems in their homes and will come up with a "Super MagicJack" that will allow a single phone to connect to either their voip service or their local PSTN line...essentially implementing the capability I was trying to describe in my initial post.

Attaching the PSTN with the VoIP requires bit more hw then just a cheep usb sound card and some tweaked sw sip implementation so I do not personally think that will happen.. anyhow MagicJack site is down, but AFAIK they also have SIP gateway, so using any hardware (like the one I have just described) you can connect to any SIP gateway (inclooding MagicJack one)

additionally - I'm now looking at the ATCOM site and see that this model does not have pstn port .. I have it on my desk, and it does anyhow, the same site, check out the:
**broken link removed**

Also check out this site, USA company, good products:
**broken link removed**
this model especially: **broken link removed**

Basically, there is whole bunch of companies that make this equipment, from Cisco to unknown builders from who-knows-where .. Just go to the local computer parts, or network parts store and check out what they have on stock.. I have 3 or 4 ATA boxes here at home that work perfectly and there is no manufacturer lable on them paid them 20-40$ each (I use them for local asterisk switchboard)

 

[crashsite]

There are some "unnamed" devices that can be purchased in local computer shops that put skype and pstn together ..

Are any of the boxes that you are using a single-point solution. In other words, did you buy the box and it came with everything needed to assign your a "real" phone number and give you the connection via your computer? Do any of the products you listed give you the device and free US and Canada calling for a year for $47 (the box, a year of service and shipping)?

You mention working at a store so, you likely have voip access that I would not have if I just buy the hardware and suddenly find myself with a box that does nothing until I go out and set up the service with some third party vendor.

But, since I have the MagicJack (and associated number and service), I can use it just fine...with a dual telephone setup...which is what I'm doing. I'm not getting a sense that the boxes you are describing will resolve the basic dual phone issue.

I do have the D-Link box, used with Skype, that does allow a single phone to be shared between Skype and PSTN but, it doesn't resolve the costs associated with Skype.

I guess what I'm envisioning is a box that does not care what the phone system is so long as it can dial out and receive calls. Something that would work as well with multiple PSTN lines as readily as with voip and PSTN lines.

Maybe I'm overthinking this. Perhaps the answer is something as simple as a two-line telephone. Unfortunately, the inexpensive cordless phones are single line sets.

 

[arhi]

Are any of the boxes that you are using a single-point solution. In other words, did you buy the box and it came with everything needed to assign your a "real" phone number and give you the connection via your computer? Do any of the products you listed give you the device and free US and Canada calling for a year for $47 (the box, a year of service and shipping)?

Yup. But that do not helps you at all as most of the stores here have deal's with local voip providers so you get everything in one place. In general these boxes are hw solution for VoIP, the service you need to get elsewhere.

You mention working at a store so, you likely have voip access that I would not have if I just buy the hardware and suddenly find myself with a box that does nothing until I go out and set up the service with some third party vendor.

Ah, nope .. I work as MySQL Cluster consultant ... nothing to do with hardware and especially nothing to do with store, sales etc

As for the 3rd party vendor .. yes, you are right, but, thing is, I personally like to get the hw that works with all providers and then find provider that I like, and change it if I find better one. In other words, I do not want to purchase a fax machine that works only on ATT .. I want to purchase a fax machine that will work on *any* phone line, and then I'll get my phone from the best phone provider I can find (stuped example for where I'm from as we only have one phone provider here for land lines). I i.e. purchased the best device I was able to find, then changed 3 voip providers in last 5 years. I have UK and USA dial in number and I can dial out to most of the landlines in the world for free. And no, I did not get the "all in one" package.

But, since I have the MagicJack (and associated number and service), I can use it just fine...with a dual telephone setup...which is what I'm doing. I'm not getting a sense that the boxes you are describing will resolve the basic dual phone issue.

If you find how to connect to MagicJack system using hw sip box (just call their tech support and ask) then the devices I described will. For example let's look at:
**broken link removed**

You connect this device to your LAN
You connect this device to your landline
You connect dect phone to this device

You want to dial out using your landline:
- you pick up the dect phone
- you dial *1
- you dial the wanted number
- you talk
- you hangup

You want to dial out using your voip line:
- you pick up the dect phone
- you dial *2
- you dial the wanted number
- you talk
- you hangup

clear? does it solve the problem you want to solve ?
some of these devices can additionally have "routing plan" so you can set that all numbers matching some pattern will go trough landline and all other trough voip line and vice versa, so you can skip the "you dial *1" part of the procedure and the box automatically route your call as per your preferences.

Now this all works only if MagicJack will allow hw sip box to connect to their gateway! I do not see reason why would they forbid/block this as I do not know a single provider (except skype, but they are working on it too, it might be already working) that disallow that.

I do have the D-Link box, used with Skype, that does allow a single phone to be shared between Skype and PSTN but, it doesn't resolve the costs associated with Skype.

Yup, Skype is getting more and more expensive on the both sides (dial in and dial out), but that's a story for different forum

I guess what I'm envisioning is a box that does not care what the phone system is so long as it can dial out and receive calls. Something that would work as well with multiple PSTN lines as readily as with voip and PSTN lines.

Maybe I'm overthinking this. Perhaps the answer is something as simple as a two-line telephone. Unfortunately, the inexpensive cordless phones are single line sets.

Check out the explanation I put there for the grandstream device .. It does just that .. you connect one phone, it will ring when any of the lines (voip or pstn) ring, it will call trough prefered line ...

 

[crashsite]

I'm always wanting more...

Now this all works only if MagicJack will allow hw sip box to connect to their gateway! I do not see reason why would they forbid/block this as I do not know a single provider (except skype, but they are working on it too, it might be already working) that disallow that...

Actually, I see this as an analog function. The digitizing and interfacing to the network is done by the MagicJack. The "selector box" does need to be able to decode DTMF tones to make the selection but, once the selection is made, the phones could be a "candlestick" style telephone sets from the 1920s and still work. That's one thing about the telephone system, it's pretty much backward compatible...not to day one since magneto ringers wont still work...but, certainly back to when batteries started supplying the DC.

Yes, the selector box you cite is what I was thinking of. I figured somebody had done it and, if the output of the box presents itself as just astandard telephone set, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work between the MagicJack (or Skype or PSTN) lines or any other device that normally connects to a telephone.

But, if *2 selects the PSTN line...why not use a two digit code and have *24 turn on the engine block heater out in the garage when there's a sudden cold snap or *87 start the coffee maker before you get out of bed. In other words, why limit the phone to being just a phone when it could also be the universal remote control for the house (per my original post). And, if it's a cordless phone, do so without the restrictions of an IR remote or the wimpy RF range of most RF remotes.

I was hoping that on a site like this forum, there would be more interest in the design and implementation of these functions.

 

[arhi]

I think you misunderstood the device completely. With device like the cited one you do not need computer at all.

As you want to keep your device, what you actually need is dect phone with 2 lines. That would solve your problem.

Or the device that can "merge" 2 phone lines (as the output of your magicJack device is just another phone line)... Device that can merge 2 phone lines can be found in local hw stores for 20-30$ ... One can build one himself, but I do not see the "benefit" of building such device with dual line phones available on the market... and I never tried those devices so I cannot tell anything from experience
**broken link removed**
(Philips SE659)
**broken link removed**

etc...

If you want the circuit, you can purchase used panasonic 206 (2 input lines, 6 extensions) and use only one extension disrigardin all others for under 100$ (I sold mine 206 for 60E few months ago) or something like this .. **broken link removed**
in general .. old PBX systems with 2 input lines should be widely available for next to nothing...

Id you want to build the 2->1 PBX then you can start here:
http://www.repairfaq.org/ELE/F_ASCII_Schem_Tel.html
but I'm pretty sure that time/money needed to build the analog PBX will be much more then the money you need to spend to get used PBX

 

[crashsite]

I think you misunderstood the device completely. With device like the cited one you do not need computer at all.

Hmmmm...I'm not sure where I gave the impression that I thought that device needed a computer. All it would need is a DTMF decoder and a way to either generate or pass through the "telephone" functions...and, of course the phone line switching.

 

[arhi]

Hmmmm...I'm not sure where I gave the impression that I thought that device needed a computer. All it would need is a DTMF decoder and a way to either generate or pass through the "telephone" functions...and, of course the phone line switching.

might be that I misunderstood you (sorry, English is far from being my first language).. anyhow, the device that would do dtmf decode etc, would have to use your magicJack device (that requires computer)... the device I shown would replace magicJack+computer combo ..

anyhow, DIY build of 2->1 PBX is not something I would involve myself making, but I believe it should not be too complex for someone with analog electronics background and I still doubt it can be made cheaper then the other available solutions. The easiest way to go is to find some second hand pbx and use it for the task in hand (bit overkill but will do the job, and second hand analog pbx can be located on ebay for u under 40$)

 

[Super_voip]

What you seem to be asking for is two projects, (1) a phone line selector and (2) universal home automation. The line selector bought up a few returns on google **broken link removed**.
The linksys SPA (and maybe the Grandstream) allow for all types of sharing eg dial in to your landline from a payphone, dial out on your voip line and this is quite a bit cheaper than some simple line sharers.
If you want to make a line sharer then a micro will be the easiest option, just remember you have to protect the sharer against incoming ring as well.
I have all the parts to make my own sharer, just short on time. BTW I don't think too many candlestick phones came with the DTMF option.

 

[crashsite]

Candlesticks

BTW I don't think too many candlestick phones came with the DTMF option.

This is true. But, I had said:

"...to decode DTMF tones to make the selection but, once the selection is made, the phones could be "candlestick" style telephone sets from the 1920s and still work" (emphasis added).

Actually, as I mull this remote controller thing, it becomes "obvious" that a micro would be most practical for parts of it (I would envision that a true universal unit would have both some ports on the box and a USB interface to a PC). The non-pc part could control something like the old X-10 system (that provided single point control of electrical devices through the household AC power wires). The PC part...well, sky's pretty much the limit there.