I have a dedicated PC ( 233 MMX with 128 megs of EDO and a 6.4 GB ULTRA 33
hard drive) that is my answering machine, fax and scanner server.
If you try to run an answering machine on your day to day workstation, then
you risk being in the middle of something, a call comes in, something goes
wrong, your PC hangs and you miss the call. But on a dedicated PC, once it
is setup, and the bugs are worked out, such a scenario is unlikely. At that
point, you leave it alone, back it up, and then treat it like an appliance.

MY 233 PC is running Windows 98 SE2 which has turned out to be the best OS
for these tasks, and for my drivers. My answering machine and fax server is
running Symantec Talkworks Pro 3.0.  Symantec dropped this software from
their product line over a year ago and stopped supporting it ( except web
support) as of the first of the year. I haven't even heard of any other
answering machine software in years. I am sure you could find a copy of
Talkworks Pro on Ebay.

Talkworks Pro is a very full featured answering system that will perform a
multitude of tricks if supported by your phone company. You can use it as a
full featured phone if you have a supported modem. It will operate as a fax
server, it will send you beeper messages, forward calls, handle two lines
on two modems. You can have multiple mail boxes, different mail
boxes,  different greetings , FAX back. It can make your home office appear
as corporate headquarters. But if you just need a home answering machine
then you don't want this.

The thing I like best about using my PC as a answering machine is that I
can have a archival record of voice messages that I can refer to if there
are future problems with customers

You can download the manual here
  http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/cgi-bin/menu.cgi?URL=%2Ftechsupp%2Ftalkworkspro%2Fdiscontinued.html&continue.x=67&continue.y=2

It supports 98 and NT4 but works best in 98 where all the features are
supported. It works best on a hardware modem, external or internal that
supports voice and a  SB sound card. You most likely will be using your
sound card for speaker and mike.

The negatives are that there are a lot of little bugs and glitches that can
occur and it takes a while until you get the software tweaked and setup
correctly. It will not run particularly well in NT4 and will NOT run in
2000 or XP. It is not a simple solution, and as OS files are upgraded the
program can suffer functionality and reliability. I think this was the big
reason Symantec finally dropped the program.

For a simple PC answering machine your best bet would probably be the one
that came with a new voice modem. Every time I have purchased a new voice
modem they always come with software to operate a simple answering machine
that has been optimized for that particular modem.I haven't bought a new
voice modem in years and they are all pretty much software modems now. But
you can find a lot of quality used hardware voice modems on Ebay.

If you want to use Talkworks, and reliability is important, then here is
how I would do it. I struggled with it running on my NT4 Server before I
decided to run it on a dedicated PC. This approach has worked well for me.

Use a dedicated 98SE2 PC. Maybe give it another job like a scanner server
or some particular office job like a backup drive.
Set things up at default .. install directories... and then "leave it
alone" once you get it working well don't upgrade files, don't change anything.
But keep the data folder on a separate partition. That way if it starts
giving you problems all you need do is restore the C:\ drive with OS and
Talkworks and you are back where you were, ... where everything works well.

I started with Talkworks a long time ago and it took me years to get it to
the point where I know how to use it and where I have confidence in it.
I don't know if I would do it again if I was starting from scratch. If you
just think it would be neat to have your personal PC function as your
answering machine then think again..it isn't worth all the hassle. Go get a
nice digital answering machine at Circuit City.

Rode
The NOSPIN Group



>I'm curious about running PC as an answering machine. Do you have any
>pointers?
>Thanks,
>Changhsu Liu

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