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OBiBT - How to simulate the "Press and hold a key" action

Started by TTCP, December 30, 2015, 05:04:37 PM

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TTCP

I have an OBi 200, and I use OBiBT to connect my cell phone to it. Everything is working fine. I can use the corded telephone connected to this OBi 200 to answer incoming cell phone calls, and to make outgoing cell phone calls.

But there is one thing that I cannot figure out. My cell phone plan has a voice mail feature, and I need to press and hold the "1" key on my cell phone to access this voicemail service. Does anyone know how to simulate the "Press and hold the '1' key" action from the OBi200-connected corded telephone, especially the "hold" action?

The original instruction from my cell phone service provider is:
http://www.chatrwireless.com/web/content/faq/extra_services_faq#how-to-set-up-voicemail

Thanks a lot!

TTCP

So this "Press and hold the '1' key" action looks like a feature exclusively belonging to modern cell phones/smartphones. Maybe some special electronic signal/frequency is sent when we press and hold a key on the cell phone keypad.

Plain old corded telephones may simply do not have this feature at all, as verified by the fact that if I subscribe to a telecom's traditional land-line home phone service with a hosted voicemail feature, then I would  normally dial some digital sequence, like *98, to access the hosted voicemail. I never see any "Press and hold a key from your corded telephone to access your hosted voicemail" instruction from any telecom carrier.

Just wondering whether Obihai engineers can hard-wire some instructions into the firmware so that when some special digital sequence is dialed from an OBI200-connected corded telephone, OBI200 will translate it into a "Press and hold a key" equivalent, and send it out through OBIBT.

azrobert

You are the only person I've seen requesting this function. Even if this is possible, I doubt OBiHai would consider adding this feature.

There should be other ways to get to VM. I dial 123 on my Android and I'm connected to VM. You should also be able to call your own cell number to connect to VM.

drgeoff

Press and hold a digit key has been common on cellphones for ages to call a stored number, ie how they implement a speed dial. AFAIK this has never been used on analogue POTS telephone instruments.

For a cellphone with a SIM it is almost certain that the 'speed dial number' to access voicemail is determined by the SIM and not by the phone itself. Have a look in the SIM's phonebook for the voicemail number or consult your carrier's help pages.

TTCP

Quote from: azrobert on January 06, 2016, 09:31:52 AM
You are the only person I've seen requesting this function.

How come I am the only person requesting this feature? Checking voicemail is a very common very basic thing people do everyday, if not every hour.

It is awkward that I can use OBi200-connected analog corded telephone to receive incoming cell calls, and to make outgoing cell calls, BUT I still have to use the cell phone itself to check voicemail. It is a shame to an otherwise perfect OBi200+OBiBT combination.

I know people will say that you can dial 123 to access your voicemail, blah, blah, blah. But that's not the point. The point is that we are here to address a serious product limitation, and try to add the missing feature in a proper way. We are NOT here to discuss some awkward less-than-ideal less-than-perfect work-arounds. Press and hold the "1" key is the proper way to access voicemail, which is approved & advertised & recommended by the carrier ( It is printed in the product manual and written on the carrier's website ). All other grey-area work-arounds may be frowned upon by the carrier.

drgeoff

Quote from: TTCP on January 08, 2016, 09:25:39 AMAll other grey-area work-arounds may be frowned upon by the carrier.
Nonsense.

They are not "grey area" and they cannot be "frowned upon by the carrier".

The press and hold "1" is merely a shortcut to make the phone dial the number that accesses your voicemail.

Any other method that sends that same number will access your voicemail.  The carrier has NO way of knowing how the phone was instructed to send that number.

Is pressing two digits on an OBi-connected phone really so much more difficult or time consuming than pressing and holding one digit on your cellphone?  If yes, then you have my pity for having to put up with the myriad other little inconveniences that life has already thrown at you and will continue to do so until your breathe your last.  :(


LTN1

Quote from: SteveInWA on January 08, 2016, 04:57:30 PM
See this:  https://goo.gl/xMZKOj

A good reminder of life essentials. The rest are just pampered luxuries for a spoiled culture.