When your modem conflicts with a digital phone system

By Andy Walker

Question: You mentioned recently that the best solution to get around a digital phone system at an office with a modem was to find a fax line. Are you sure about that? --Thomas

Answer: Well, there is another solution, but first a correction. My expert advisers smacked my hand when I said plugging a modem into a digital phone won't hurt it. Apparently it will. Luckily, I bought them a round of beers and they went easy on me. So keep your modems away from your digital phone systems, folks.

There's also another solution, but it'll cost you. Reader Gary Maitland suggested an acoustic coupler device that allows a modem on a digital or other distributed phone system. "I have been using a device called a KONEXX 112," he wrote via e-mail. The device goes between the handset and the phone. "To use it, you take the handset 'off-hook' and then use the modem normally," he explained.

Despite some problems with the fax portion of his fax-modem, Maitland is quite pleased with the device. The downside to the gizmo? It requires a separate power supply (battery or AC). You can still find this item by looking here.

It's also not very friendly toward cellular phones and it's another six-ounce thingy to lug around and explain to customs officers. Nevertheless, "many road warriors swear by these units, as there is no worry about digital lines or incompatible phone systems that you may find in faraway lands," said CompuSmart's Reid.