Meteor CID PC Interface

It’s priced at 80 UKP (+ VAT), which is pretty expensive considering you could get hold of a Pace modem with UK Caller ID for not much more, but it has the advantage of pulling it’s power from the PC (As I guess, would an internal Pace, but I’ve got a thing against internal modems!).

I’ve had one for over two years now, and it’s worked solidly 24/7 for all that time (nothing much to go wrong with it I guess!).  It comes with software which announces the caller’s number via the PC Speaker, although it uses .WAV files for each number, rather than a “proper” text-to-voice system. You can also buy an additional ActiveX control, however it doesn’t work with Delphi! (there’s something funny about ActiveX controls written in older versions of VB which Delphi doesn’t like!). I’ve written software which sits on the server, monitors the Meteor, and puts all call information into an Access database – By default, the machine will announce the callers number, and the area the call comes from (by looking up the STD in the database).

However you can assign names and announcement messages to each number, and henceforth, the PC will speck the announcement message when a call comes in (“Don’t answer the phone, it’s the office” for example!). All voice announcements use MS-Agent. The server software has no user interface as such, but I’ve also written a couple of ASP web pages which can be run from IIS4 or 5 under NT4/2000 (and presumably PWS on Win/95/98/ME, although I only use NT). I’ll attach a screen shot of one of these web pages for your interest! (although, for security reasons, the numbers and names have been partially blanked out!).

The advantage of using a web-based interface, is simply that it means I can view the list of calls from my main PC (as well as from the PC which is piped down to the TV downstairs via the Matrox G400 Max). As I said in the Homeseer review, I keep thinking I should make a half-hearted attempt at marketing it! – But the biggest problem is the cost of the Meteor in the first place.

I’m not sure may people would want to fork out 80 quid for it! – Plus they’d be the cost of my software on top of that! 🙂 Anyway… I’ve got carried away! – Sorry to go on so much! 🙂 Approximate Price £93.94 Available From Crucible

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