What is a voice modem

Voice modem is a device allowing to use a personal computer for telephony. A usual modem was used to modify and transmit digital data via an analogue phone line. It was enough to receive e- mails and view web- pages. Voice modem is capable of recording and playing wave data (human voice and music are recorded and played as a wave of variable length and frequency) with a help of a sound card (wave device). With an appropriate third party software you can turn your PC into a professional telephony terminal. A voice modem allows using VoIP (voice over IP) answering machine functionality, fax receiving and transmitting and of course - voicing broadcasting and client management.

To enjoy the full functionality of a voice modem, you have to make sure it supports speakerphone or full duplex voice utility. Without this you cannot talk and listen simultaneously.

Also it is better to choose internal modem. External modems are more expensive and unpredictable.

Right drivers for voice modems

To make sure your voice modem is good enough for a voice broadcast campaign, it needs to have current drivers and some third party software. It is advisable that you use genuine Windows drivers. Windows OS of versions 98, ME, 2000 and XP have Microsoft Unimodem V drivers preinstalled. They usually work with any type of voice modems. However, some voice modems need to have their own drivers installed. It is important that the driver is able to work in compliance with Microsoft' s TAPI (Telephony Application Program Interface). You also have to remember that Windows NT cannot support a voice modem and maybe the best choice for maintaining a voice broadcast campaign is the good old Windows 98.

How to check if my voice modem is a voice at all?

Click START button, choose "Control Panel", double click "Modems" (Win 98) or "Phone and Modem Options" (Win XP), click Modems tab, select your modem from the list (usually there is only one modem in the list), right-click your modem, choose Properties, click Diagnostics tab, press "Query Modem" button, in the new dialog enter AT#CLS and press OK. If this query fails, your modem is not a voice modem.