Any phones compatible with OSX?

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Level 2

173 points

Any phones compatible with OSX?

Perhaps a bit OT, but does anyone know of any phones that are compatible with OSX? By phones, I mean a standard old home phone, not Skype, VOIP, Bluetooth by cell, etc, just a plain old home phone system.

I'm in the market to replace the phones in my home, and I'm frankly surprised that none of the phones I've seen (like at Best Buy) show or imply any compatibility with OSX (or Windows, for that matter). I'd like to be able to upload contacts or interact in someway with the phone through the computer.

It's like car stereos - they are so far behind technology, it's almost bizarre. As are home phone manufacturers. Most of them have no way of 'sharing' a phone book across phones, and they have these antiquated methods for entering contacts. Stuff like that.

So, anyone?

Quadcore G5 3Ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Apr 20, 2008 12:36 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Apr 20, 2008 1:19 PM in response to JF

That would likely be because you don't connect a phone to a computer so compatibility isn't an issue. To use a phone with a computer depends upon the type of use. For dial-up internet you connect a modem to the computer and to a telephone jack in your home (no phone needed.) If you wish to make telephone calls through the computer then you need something like a VoIP adapter.

If you plan to use special telephone software to implement telephone answering, faxing, etc., then you need the modem (the telephone isn't important.) Hence telephones don't have to be compatible with any computer.

As for address books and telephone dialers they are computer software and abound. OS X comes with Address Book, for example.

Most multi-handset portable phones do share their data.

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Answer 2

JF Author

Level 2

173 points

Apr 20, 2008 5:25 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks for the technology lesson.

Anyway, I thought I had seen cordless home phone systems that allowed USB connectivity to PC's and gave you the ability to upload your address book from your PC to the phone.

So actually, the phone -would- need to be compatible with the PC.

Anyone else?

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Apr 20, 2008 7:20 PM in response to JF

If you Google what you want you will find that what's available are in fact phones used for VoIP.

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Answer 4

JF Author

Level 2

173 points

Apr 20, 2008 8:01 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks for turning this into a thread full of uselessness. Of course, I did expect this posting to apple.com, but I couldn't resist. It's easy to see how you got 21,000 posts.....

If -you- would use Google before spouting off nonsense, you would find things like the (non-VoIP) Vtech i5871 ( http://www.vtechphones.com/vtechui/store/dsp_product.cfm?itemID=1664), which states in the manual:

+"The VTech Phonebook Manager allows you to download pctures and edit your handset phonebook+
+from your PC. It also allows you to mport and export contacts to and from comma separated text+
+files. This feature allows you to get contacts from your existing PC applications such as Microsoft+
+Outlook® or Palm® programs. "+

So, now that we've cleared THAT up, perhaps someone besides the resident 'helper' might know of something similar that is COMPATIBLE WITH MAC OSX.

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Answer 5

Apr 20, 2008 8:29 PM in response to JF

I dont think there is such a thing that you're looking for. Perhaps there was something in the past, but most phones I've found that connect to computers do so for VoIP services as an optional service. Perhaps one of those will store address book info, and also have regular telephone line support as well. I'd recommend searching for USB telephones at various electronics distributors to see if they support standard telephone services.

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Answer 6

Jun 21, 2008 2:31 PM in response to JF

Now that I am sign up with VOIP I don't want use regular phone stead I would like to use Soft Phone. I am looking Dialectic1.0.3. http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/productivity_tools/dialectic.html which has capability of using landline as well as VoIP, mobil. So perhaps you can check that.

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