MLCallerID is one of the most popular MainLobby suite products. Your whole family
will glance towards the MainLobby in wall touchscreen to see who is calling before
picking up the phone. When they get home, they will get in the habit of scrolling
through that day's calls. If you want to make your home automation sytem "family
friendly", MLCallerID will help you get there.
For a picture to appear for each caller, you just need to name your favorite
picture with the telephone number (ideally 480x640 jpg). Of course, you can
also automate events to occur, specific to each caller. So, if someone from
the office calls, have MainLobby Server 3 shut down the MusicLobby 3 audio system before you
pick up the phone. The in development MLSpeak plugin will also tell you who is
calling via your whole house audio system. Of course, you can also have the MLMusicPlayer
plugin play a prerecorded audio file specific to each caller ("Your Mother's
calling - again..."). The ideas are endless on what you can do.
Now, for a limited time, MLCallerID is included with MainLobby 3 combo free of charge!
MLCallerID requires a Caller ID telephone subscription and phone line caller ID
hardware. The hardware can be either a caller ID compatible modem (Recommended model:
US Robotics USR5633ACCS USB, Best Data 56k v.92/v.44 (#56HP) PCI Windows Internal
Modem) or for a more robust and easier setup, a NetCallerID device (recommended).
Optional MLNetCallerID Plugin
The MLNetCallerID plugin makes the installation of MLCallerID a snap. The plugin
supports the inexpensive but reliable NetCallerID hardware. Installation is
as simple as plugging in the NetCallerID hardware into the phone line and
then plugging in the NetCallerID's serial connection into an unused PC serial (RS232
/ DB9) port. MLNetCallerID plugin supports up to 8 phone lines (one NetCallerID
device and an available com port required per line. USB and PCI multiple com port adapters can be used).
The NetCallerID hardware also provides for caller information even when you are on the phone talking.
So, you can now know whether to pickup the new call if it is an important caller.
Additionally, the MLNetCallerID plugin will create a variable in MLServer 3 when you have
a message from your phone company. MainLobby 3 client comes with a new 0019__home.mls
scene that was modified to take advantage of the Message Waiting function.
MLCallerID and MLNetCallerID require a Call Waiting / Caller ID Service (Type
2 caller ID service) from your local phone company.
How it works: You subscribe to receive caller ID data from your telphone company.
When a call is made, this data is intercepted by the NetCallerID hardware. The
hardware then sends the data to the PC that is running the MLNetCallerID plugin.
This data is then available to the MLCallerID plugin. MLCallerID then inserts
the call into it's database of calls. From a MainLobby client, you can then view
the calls and pictures associated to it. When MLCallerID gets the phone data, you can
also configure it to launch a MLServeCmd to do advanced functions like play a specific audio file.
NetCallerID hardware installation diagram
MLCallerID on a home page
