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Rotary/Pulse Dialing for future OBIs

Started by mike444, September 20, 2012, 09:16:26 AM

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mike444

 :) ;D :o
Please incorporate rotary/pulse dialing into all future OBI products as a standard feature.  Many of us like to use rotary phones in addition to our touch-tone phones.  The rotary/pulse feature is simple to incorporate into the Obi product at little to no cost as a standard feature.  Thank you.

jduffy

Rotary phones? When is the last time they made rotary phones? Why would any company want to support a dead technology?

Lavarock7

Just for the heck of it, I did a search and found a website with some stats:

--- Linkedin.com

1988 figures placed rotary dial subscriber lines @ 37.8% of market (FCC)

1992 figures placed rotary dial subscriber lines @16% of market (Marketing online source)

2006 figures placed rotary dial subscriber lines @ <2% of market (Google source citing US Households still leasing telephones)

LifeLine & LifeLink estimates may show a higher number of subscribers and beating the FCC numbers just don't add---

2006 maybe the low end (2%) and 10% maybe the high end.
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jduffy

I think the estimate of under 2% of the market is right on the money. 10% is way out of line.

You do not grow a product line by serving 2% or less of a market.

If you can afford a Obi TA, then you can afford to buy a new touch tone phone. You can buy a basic TT phone for about $5 in some cases. So instead of trying to support outdated "technology", Obihai should spend its money to help the 98% using current technology.

JMHO

Rick

"Many of us like to use rotary phones"...   Really?  What's there to like?  Strengthening finger muscles?   :D

limey

Whilst undoubtedly a diminishing thing, you'd be surprised how much stuff still supports pulse dialing - my Panasonic KXTG1061 base unit has the capability & it's only a couple of years old.

@mike444: I have an old rotary dial phone that I keep because I grew up with the things & like the sound of a mechanical bell - I ended up getting a Pulse to Tone Converter from http://www.dialgizmo.com/ so I could use it with the Obi.

ignatiusreilly

#6
Quote from: jduffy on September 25, 2012, 05:22:32 PM
Rotary phones? When is the last time they made rotary phones? Why would any company want to support a dead technology?
You're missing the point. The OP wants to use an old rotary phone. Yeah, we all get that touch-tone handsets are widely and cheaply available. Do yourself a favor and log into eBay or Etsy and look at the prices that rotary phones are fetching. People grew up with these, and they have aesthetic and nostaglic value. Is anybody going to use ONLY rotary dialling? Obviously not. And besides, most of us have insanely high-tech smartphones in our pockets anyway. No, the point here is that people could very cheaply and effectively resurrect something they find cool and kind of fun to use occasionally without spending a monthly charge with the phone company to do so. I'm in the same boat, would gladly use a cool old vintage phone if I could. If pulse dialling support is an option that Obi could implement on their end or in the product, why not open up the Obi to use with more phones?

Shameless

Good idea, a convenience item, but would be nice. We need a way to mimic the * and # keys while keeping the hook flash as hook flash, and the double hook flash as double hook flash.   Any ideas?

FutureDoc

I know that when you are using a rotary/pulse phone with standard phone service from AT&T you dial "11" where the star would be (eg. *67 would be 1167). Maybe something like this could work. I also think that would be a cool feature, rotary phones look really neat  ;)

Willy-Bill

I second this request.  I'm not crazy about # and *, as I can mimic those with a DTMF app from my cell.  However, for those of us that seem to garner critizism for our enjoyment of rotary phones, it is a much desired feature. 

Yes, forking out $50+ for a rotatone is possible, or $50+ for a dialgizmo, but that is not the point.  If a hook flash can be programmed into the firmware, then there is little left to incorporate an entire 10 digit decadic protocol.

LTN1

I kind of miss the FF model car also. If only Ford can make another model.

Willy-Bill

Quote from: LTN1 on March 21, 2015, 05:42:23 AM
I kind of miss the FF model car also. If only Ford can make another model.

Except the "FF model" car was fictional.  Rotary dials actually existed. 

LTN1

I think the telegraph was real...wonder how Obihai could incorporate it into its next firmware update?