[kdepim-users] Dialling from Kaddressbook

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Saturday 28 June 2008 18:06, Roy J. Tellason wrote:
> On Saturday 28 June 2008 16:26, Stan Goodman wrote:
> > I want Kaddressbook to dial the telephone (not a SIPphone, and not to an
> > ISP, but through an analog modem to an ordinary POTS phone line). Since
> > this utility knows the numbers of all those to whom I dial routinely, it
> > should be superfluous for me to punch buttons manually.
> >
> > The developer(s) of the program have not thought to give it a way to
> > communicate with the modem, but they have provided a hook so that one can
> > point it at an appropriate dialer. This is located at Settings >
> > Configure Kaddressbook > General.
> >
> > I have installed wvdial
>
> I have yet to find that program so far.  I did however find this page:
>
> http://alumnit.ca/wiki/?WvDial
>
> which seems to have some links that may be of some assistance to you.

Looking a bit further,  I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wvdial

(I should've guessed,  they seem to have a page on just about everything! :-)

Quoting from there,  it says:

"wvdial is a Point-to-Point Protocol dialer: it dials a modem and starts pppd 
in order to connect to the Internet."

Which is probably NOT what you want.

"When wvdial starts, it first loads its configuration from /etc/wvdial.conf 
and ~/.wvdialrc, which contain basic information about the modem port, speed, 
and init string, along with information about your ISP, such as the phone 
number, your user name, and your password. [3]"

This suggests that a single phone number or a small set of them will be what's 
available to the program,  rather than a passed parameter.

"Then it initializes your modem (strings are sent to the modem) and dials the 
server and waits for a connection (a CONNECT string from the modem). Any time 
after connecting, wvdial will start PPP if it sees a PPP sequence from the 
server or, alternatively, tries to start PPP. If this fails, If all of this 
fails, wvdial just runs pppd and hopes for the best. [4]"

Not likely what you want at all,  no...

(Snip)
> > What do I have to do to get notice the telephone number when I call it
> > from Kaddressbook, and dial it?
>
> There's a comm program I'm not remembering the name of offhand that's
> described as "telix-like" and it is.  I'd fire that up,  do a
> copy-and-paste of the phone number,  and that should do it as well.
>
> You're not only going to have to figure out how to pass the number to the
> modem,  you're also going to have to figure out how to get the modem to
> hang up after you've dialed and it's ringing,  or it'll stay on the line
> and interfere with your call.

Or find another appropriate program that'll do what you want here.

-- 
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space,  a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed.  --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James 
M Dakin
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