Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook Talking technology, computers, and the Internet… for the average computer user

I’ve been using this computer software program for about a month, and it is amazing! Truly, this is one my indisposable programs. And it’s free! It’s called PhoneTray Free.

In a nutshell, PhoneTray Free enables me to monitor all incoming telephone calls through my computer. For a few years now, I have been PLAGUED with telemarketing calls. It got to the point where whenever I heard that blasted phone ring, my blood pressure would skyrocket. We screened our calls through our answering machine, but the telemarketers would either say “Hello? Hello?” and hang up, or they would disconnect right as my answering machine picked up– which would cause the loud “off the hook” dial tone to record on my machine. It was so frustrating, I was near the point of tearing out the phone.

So we changed our phone number. Didn’t work. Unbelievably, I was getting telemarketers THAT DAY. Wow. I think that telemarketers just use programs to randomly call numbers?! Because we were getting the SAME stupid “car warranty” solicitation on all our phones, including all the cell phones.

So I heard about PhoneTray Free from another blogger, and read up on it. Unfortunately, to use Phone Tray Free, your computer needs a data fax modem (like the telephone/dialup modem) with Caller ID equipped. And you must have Caller ID service enabled on your phone service. I had neither. My new computer, a souped up, quad-core behemoth, doesn’t even have a data modem!! I guess they are phasing these modems out?! Anyway, after getting more annoying calls, I decided that I would shell out the bucks to get Caller ID, and I would buy an external data fax modem. It would be WORTH IT just to have that phone SILENT again.

Now– PhoneTray Free will work with a modem that does not have Caller ID capability, but you won’t be able to “read” the calls. In other words, when someone calls, their Caller ID information will not show up in PhoneTray Free– the call will simply be “Private Number” or “Toll Free Number.” You can still “zap” the calls or answer them if you want, but you have to wait until your answering machine picks up and you hear who it is before doing so.

But I got a Caller ID-enabled external modem, and it works well. PhoneTray free has a listing of compliant data fax modems that will work. I got the Hiro modem. It works fine with a Vista 64x operating system (although I had to download the proper driver). Here are some screenshots of PhoneTray Free in action.

I just love this program. You can set it to automatically or manually “zap” a telemarketing call.

PhoneTray can automatically ‘zap’ telemarketers with a special ‘number disconnected’ tone. After receiving this tone telemarketer’s computer will delete your number from its database. The program can play Federal ‘do-not-call’ warning forcing telemarketers to remove you from their calling lists – by law!

You can set the program to reject unwanted calls manually or automatically after selected number of rings. If you select to zap the calls manually the program pop-ups a dialog and lets you decide if you want to zap this call or not.

Or you can disable this feature for your list of approved callers that you can store in PhoneTray Free (like a Contacts list). PhoneTray Free also has cute ringtones that can be assigned for various callers (such as, Dad gets the JetsonsCar tone).

I love PhoneTray Free! It’s easy to load and use. And if your computer already has a data modem that’s Caller ID enabled, you’re already set. Thumbs up for PhoneTray Free!