ShowCallerID

ShowCallerID

Caller ID Software for Mac OS X

Download (disk image)

Features

Lives in the menu bar
Waits until the phone rings, then shows who is calling. It does this by bringing up a window on each monitor connected to the computer, and on the monitors of any other computers on your local network that are also running this program
Log window shows recent calls
Phone number display normally shows the phone number. However, if a match is found for the phone number in the address book, then the name will be shown instead.
If no match in address book, uses an internal database of area codes to indicate where the call is coming from.

System Requirements

Mac OS X version 10.4
A modem that supports caller id. Most modems built into Macs don't support caller id. Modems that are known to work are:

The modem must be connected to the phone line.
Designed to work with UK style caller-id. May or may not work elsewhere in the world!

Usage

Download the disk image, drag 'ShowCallerID' to your applications folder (or elsewhere if you prefer), then launch as normal. You'll have to use the Accounts area in System Preferences to get it to start up at login.
Click the menu bar icon and choose a modem. All modems found will be listed.
To see if the modem supports caller ID, look in the status window at the modem console. You will see a line 'AT+VCID=1' followed by 'OK' or 'ERROR'.
If you see ERROR then your modem may not support caller id. Your modem may still support caller id but require a different initialisation command. Try typing the following commands into the 'Command' box, pressing 'Send' after each one:

Look out for OK in the modem console and email me with your modem and the command that worked, and I'll update this program to handle it.
Download includes all the source code. Whilst this is an original work, I have taken a lot of code fragments from apple developer documentation. Feel free to submit bug reports, comments, etc - see email address at bottom of page. (And be kind - this is my first proper attempt at cocoa / obj-c development).

Warning

Sometimes the modem doesn't talk to the computer. The phone rings but no notification window pops up.
Sometimes the messages that go to other computers running this software get lost. The principle is that this application uses bonjour to discover other computers on the local network that are also running this application. Then all the computers listen on their modems and if a call comes in, sends the information on to the other computers.
The apple usb modem may be responsible for making the phone line go dead, as if a phone has been left off the hook. I've had this twice and have fixed it by detaching the modem from the computer.

History

When	What
Jan 8 2006	Version 0.1

Edward Brown [Uses gmail, surname dot forename]