TBBS 2.x - Caller ID Support

Contact:   eSoft, Inc. (Makers of TBBS)
           15200 E. Girard Ave., Suite 3000
           Aurora, CO  80014
           (303) 699-6565      Voice
           (303) 699-6872      Fax
           (303) 699-8222      BBS
           support@esoft.com   E-Mail

CALLER ID SUPPORT
-----------------

Many TBBS sysops have asked us whether we can or intend to support the "caller 
ID" feature many modems are now offering.  This tech note is designed to 
explain our position on this subject.

For those not familiar, caller ID is an increasingly popular telephone service 
offered in many areas of the United States and Canada.  The service sends 
encoded information about the calling party between rings during an incoming 
call, allowing this information to be decoded by appropriate hardware 
connected to the telephone line.  The encoded information contains the 
telephone number of the calling party, and in some areas contains an optional 
calling party's name.

The most common caller ID decoding hardware is a caller ID display unit, which 
shows the decoded information (phone number and/or calling party name) on a 
small display unit.

Increasingly, modems are capable of decoding the caller ID data as well.  This 
is done in two generalized ways:

1)  Reported.  The caller ID data is sent by the modem when it is received to 
the serial port on your PC.  Software can then read the information from the 
serial port and handle it.  An example of this approach are the modems from 
Supra that have caller ID support.

2)  Stored.  The caller ID data is stored temporarily within the modem itself, 
where a software program can then read the data using "AT" modem commands.  An 
example of this approach are the modems from ZyXEL that have caller ID 
support.

At the present time, TBBS itself CANNOT handle either of these two approaches 
to presenting caller ID data in any fashion.

The primary problem is that modem manufacturers have not agreed how to 
implement caller ID functionality.  Although it would be theoretically 
possible for TBBS to support a particular technique for caller ID support, 
until modem manufacturers agree on a particular methodology, eSoft does not 
feel it is in the best interest of our customers or our product to add support 
for particular brands and the specific techniques they use for caller ID 
decoding.  

This situation may change in the future.  Until that time, however, TBBS will 
not be supporting caller ID capabilities.

- END -
TBBS0008
Rev. 10/93

Copyright (C) 1994 eSoft, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Permission granted
to distribute this file in its entirety, without modification, to any
interested party.  Any other use requires the written permission of
eSoft, Inc.

IMPORTANT:  The information herein is subject to change without notice.
Please call or write to confirm factual information of importance to you
or your organization.

