ZEUS' WHOZZ CALLING CALLER ID BOX

Product Review

Stuart Warren

Computer Telephony

The Magazine for Computer and Telephone Integration

By the end of 1995, most of the phones in North America will be able to receive the originating phone number as the call comes in. There are a thousand useful uses for this information - from screen popping databases to checking inbound orders for fraud. There are a limited number of Caller ID devices, with more emerging weekly. It also logs DTMF digits sent during the conversation, so your application can find out which mailbox or extension the caller selected.

The Zeus Phonstuff [presently CallerID.com] (Norcross, GA, 770-263-7111) Whozz Calling ?-4 Caller ID box is slightly different from many other multiline Caller ID devices. It's a $495 four-port Caller ID box that connects to incoming phone lines and accepts inbound Caller ID from the central office on any inbound calls. It also logs DTMF digits sent during the conversation, so your application can find out which mailbox or extension the caller selected.

The Whozz Calling?-4 box has a Caller ID detector on each line, unlike many Caller ID boxes. This is important when you don't want to lose Caller ID information when all four lines receive calls at once. Many other boxes can't accept calls on more than two lines at a time, and a third (or fourth) line info will be lost. Multiple units can be connected to a single serial port so that you do not require multiple serial ports for higher line counts.

"...the most capable and lowest cost CID box on the market"

Another unique feature to the Whozz Calling?-4 is that there are eight RJ-11 jacks on the back of the unit. You connect one RJ11 to the line from the CO and another into your PBX or other telephony hardware so no line splitter is needed.

Since it actually feeds the call through the box and out to the outport, it can suppress the first ring and not let the PBX or other hardware pick up the line until the Caller ID data is collected. This feature is important when you have other phone equipment that can't be configured to answer on the second ring. I have a rack of Racal modems that won't answer on anything but the first ring. Most security monitoring systems don't let you set the ring count either. With the Whozz Calling?-4 box, you tell it to suppress first ring and any device connected downstream from the box will not hear the first ring and can continue to work "normally," the way the maker thinks is "normal."

The Whozz Calling?-4 box also reports outbound DTMF digits so it can log outbound Caller ID. It also monitors the line voltages on all the phone lines connected to the box. It automatically senses which lines are live.This can be used for another interesting purpose. A few weeks ago, my phone lines got hit by lightning and blew a sneak current protector on one of our lines.

Fortunately for us, nothing else was damaged in the lightning strike. The problem was that the phone system couldn't detect that the circuit was now open, and all my calls simply rang unanswered. Eventually, I received flame email from Harry about my total lack of communication savvy. I checked and found the problem and resolved it with a new protector. (That was to solve the protector problem, not to solve Harry's/ maybe a high voltage filter?)

Had I been using the Whozz Calling?-4 box, the box would have reported that the line had lost the connection and could have been able to alert me -very useful.

"The Whozz Calling?-4 box can also log outbound Caller ID."

The box also supports a list of passed or blocked phone numbers. By entering a number in the block list, anytime a call arrives from that number, the box won't pass the second ring (and any after that) through to the output port. You know who tried to call, but they don't know they were blocked. All they know is that you never answered the phone. This is great for bulletin board services who have a group of people who may have been "locked out" for various reasons. Currently, the blocked number list only restricts inbound calls, and not outbound calls. If the user list is used in a pass list mode, only those users who are in the list will ever get through. This would be an easy method for restricting access to remote LAN access modem ports and other sensitive security areas.

These are several options available on the Whozz Calling?-4 device. One option is a memory buffer that stores over 4000 call activity records. This is handy when you don't need real-time data but want to be able to collect data once a day (or week) with a non-dedicated PC. A four port box including the memory option costs $625.

Another option that you can add to the memory buffer version of the device is an internal modem. The internal modem allows you to place the box in stores across the country and poll them once a day (or so) to collect call data. The memory buffer is protected for over a year by an internal battery backup. The unit with memory and a modem (called the Scout) cost $765.

The memory plus modem version could be used in any multiple location store where the regional office wants to track phone usage. A PC at the regional office would call in and download the information every day or so and figure out what numbers are being used "too much." They could then alert the manager of the store, or simply block the number in the block list inside the unit. Other uses could be to track sales leads and responses. Since the unit can interpret DTMF digits at any time during the call, each agent could enter a code once the caller hangs up. The end call record would then have some method of tracking the call and what account or task number to assign the call.

"the only box on the market that can take four calls at the same instant, reliably"

"I have been working with the Whozz Calling?-4 Caller ID box for a couple of months now and it is nearly perfect. A minor design change (under way now) will make it the most capable and lowest cost CID box on the market. As far as I can see, it is the only box on the market that can take four calls at the same instant, reliably."

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