Any software alternative to PhoneTray?

I've been using PTF for ages on XP and have never been able to get Windows Fax to work properly with it. I can send faxes just fine, but I can not receive a fax while PTF is running. If I kill PTF, Fax Mgr will answer, but it will not (even if I tell it to!) if PTF is running. PT Pro seems to have a modem sharing feature that is supposed to make it work, but I don't feel like spending $30 to find out. Is there some way to make the free version work with fax?

I've never tried sending or receiving fax from my computer so I can't tell you anything definite. I would suggest that you check that you have the latest drivers for your modem though. This smells more like a modem/driver issue than a Phone Tray issue (though, as always, I could be mistaken!)

Unfortunately, phonetray free won't do fax sharing or to be more specific, line sharing. You will need the pro version.

Here's how to set it up:
To share other programs which utilize the dial-up modem like Windows Fax or other fax software, you need to enable modem sharing on the Settings - Lines screen. (Left navigation panel and then click on the Lines button).

Then, click the Advanced tab and enable modem sharing, Line 1 or Line 2 and check "Enable TAPI mode" box.

Why multiline if you have only one phone number to split between your fax line and incoming calls line? Because one jack on the modem is using the incoming port and the other is using the auxiliary port for the incoming/outgoing fax settings. The TAPI will recognize the difference. However, some fax software may still not recognize this and you may still have a hard time configuring. I got mine to work with minimal configuration after 2 attempts.

More phonetray issues? I will be setting up a topic for this on http://800open.betaboard.net  Its an open forum. I will post screenshots there and list which modems and software worked reasonably well on phonetray.

I am using Phone Tray Free v 1.39 to replace some features Verizon used to provide, but are sunsetting SOON.  So far, it is working well, and there is one feature I haven't yet been able to reproduce:  Sending an eMail message whenever an incoming call rings the phone...

Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas on how to have PTF (or some other app) send an eMail or Text message to a specified address that would contain the date & time of the call, and the CID info?

Thanks in advance!

I don't know about Phone Tray, I use Google Voice to convert the spoken word into text and do the email forwarding (which includes the CID and date/time info). If PT allows you to forward calls to another number, that other number could be GV.

im a pizza shop with 8 lines set up on a digital nortel system. will this work in that environment?

I'm not sure Phone Tray will play well with 8 number call hunting.  Maybe one of its users can chime in here about that.  Google Voice would not be a good choice to use in a call hunting environment.

I have GoogleVoice; however, when a call comes in to ONLY my land-line, it by-passes GV.  These are the calls I want to capture, and send via eMail or Text.

Since that phone line also is connected to PTF (and my computer modem), I am hoping there may be a way to capture the CID info (either from PTF, or directly from the modem), and send via eMail or Text.

Thanks...

Yes it will. Set phonetray up on the primary number and the other rollover lines will be included. I would assume most customers and unwanted calls would call the primary number. However, if an unwanted call shows up on one of the secondary lines, it will still still zap it.

How often does this happen? Is it that frequent that you're sending an email at the very second an incoming call comes in that prevents the email from going out? If you take the call, or if phonetray zaps the call, does the email then exit the outbox immediately thereafter or does it just stay in the outbox indefinitely? What email program are you using? Perhaps the problem lies there.

See the new phonetray topic on 800open.betaboard.net No screenshots yet but I will post some soon to help with these issues.

Hello Herman,
That is exactly my problem.  I block the guy from the first line, then he calls the line to busy it out then gets in on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th line etc.  I have a nortel networks system here set up to hunt for next available number when the first one is being used.  Customer only call our main line.  All others are anonymous and no one knows of these numbers.  Even though they exist as full 10 digit numbers and can be dialed directly, this particular caller calls in using ONLY our main line.  Your saying if I set this Phone tray up to zap the number, it will zap the number on all lines where it sees that number and not only on the first one?

Herman,
The landline receives about 15 calls a month that are dialing that number directly (not roll-overs from Google Voice), and I would like to get eMail (or Text) notices of these calls.  Verizon Call Assistant currently does this, but they have announced their intent to kill this service in 1Q2014.

I do not have a replacement process in place, and I was thinking that maybe an IFTTT recipe could be used to capture the CID & Date-Time info from these incoming calls, and send it out as an eMail message (the messaging would not use the modem, just the current internet connection).

There shouldn't be any conflict with timing, even if I am in my eMail account, and this would be a 'shadow process' that would use IFTTT or PHP, or some other parallel process that would be triggered by the incoming call.  It doesn't even have to use PTF, I was just inquiring if anyone had done anything like this...  As long as the modem sees the call, I would want the process triggered, regardless if PTF Zapped the call or not.

For what it is worth, this provides notifications to me of any call that hits the Landline; I can deduce that any calls that did not also roll-over to my mobile or other numbers, are calls made solely to the landline, and not via GV.  This is information I would not otherwise have if I am traveling. I can then return any legitimate calls, and inform select callers of the GV number for the future.

I'm not sure why phonetray wouldn't be blocking your rollover lines if you set it up on the primary number. I don't have ten but I do have three on my business phone and it blocks the unwanted calls from any of them equally. What I don't have is Nortel and I wonder if something there may be blocking or preventing the subsequent numbers from either registering as a rollover to phonetray or if something completely different is going on. If you wish, post the specs about your network and perhaps there's a technical manual somewhere online which will shed some light on this.

Ahhh, I see your issue. This problem will require a bit of reading for me and I will see who/what will be able to replace the service that Verizon Call Assistant currently provides. I don't want to make any further comment until I've researched this a bit more.

Herman,
Sorry for the confusion, I have yet to purchase the phonetray software.  I was just asking aroung to see if it would work for me.  I will be downloading the free version for now with hopes that I can get it to work, and post any news here.  Thanks.