TITLE
    No Modem Dial Tone Due to Voice Mail System
Article ID:
Created:
Modified: 		24780
1/12/99
11/1/00
TOPIC

    This article describes a situation where phone company based voice mail systems may interfere with the operation of an internal modem.

DISCUSSION

    Some telephone companies use an audible message waiting indicator or a stutter tone that you hear when you pick up the phone. The stutter tone will prevent your modem (including the iMac's) from detecting the dial tone.

    There are three possible workarounds:
    • Check your voice mail before attempting to use the modem. The stutter tone should go away and the modem will operate as designed.
    • Delay the dialing until after the stutter tone by adding a comma or two in front of the telephone number. This will cause the modem to pause long enough to allow the stuttering to complete. (A comma tells the modem to wait one second. Hence, three commas will cause a three-second delay.)
    • Selecting "ignore dial tone" in the Modem control panel. This will allow the dialing to proceed without the modem listening for a dial tone.

    In the case of America Online (AOL) and other PPP dialing applications, the Modem control panel is not used. A more advanced workaround may be required. For example, adding the AT command "X1" in the initialization string will enable blind dialing which is the same as "ignore dial tone." AOL users should check with AOL support for additional recommendations on this issue.

    If you do not have voice mail on your phone line, plug in a regular phone to the jack that your modem is using and try dialing. You could have lost service to the jack, in which case you need to contact your telephone service provider.

Document Information
Product Area: iMac
Category: iMac Hardware
Sub Category: Communications; Troubleshooting

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