Why there is no answering machine app for PPC smartphones

[Bob Russell]

It's odd, isn't it? One of the most basic applications isn't available on smart phones. You might think it's just because most mobile operators provide their own free voice mail systems. But those systems require you to make a call to get messages, and you can't keep your favorite messages as long as you might like.

It turns out that there's another reason - according to Windows Mobile guru, Werner Ruotsalainen, it can't be implemented.

"Unfortunately, I have bad news for all these people: there is NO way one can implement such software on the current (mostly HTC-manufactured) crop of Pocket PC Phone Edition devices because of the hardware limitations I’ve explained in my article on recording conversations. That is, it’s pretty futile to look for any answering machine software for your Pocket PC phone – unless you have the GIGABYTE G-Smart..."

There's much more info in the rest of his article if you want all the details.

Side note:Those of you that follow Windows Mobile news on MobileRead have probably noticed the fantastic information that Werner seems to keep coming up with. Very few people provide this level of detailed information on interesting Win Mobile topics, and I just want to take a moment here to say "bravo!" Excellent job, and thanks for the remarkable work that you do!

[KevinCTofel]

I completely understand the the technical limitation mentioned. As an effective workaround, I wanted to point out GotVoice.com. I'm in no way affiliated with the company or service, but I did do a review of it and found it to be quite good. Essentially, it's an automated service that calls in to your VM, but it also can send you e-mails indicating you have a message and even embed an .mp3 of the VM in the e-mail, which saves you from calling in to your service. Additionally, you can subscribe via RSS to get your messages, which is very innovative. The basic service is free, with a limited number of VMs. I tested the Premium service at $9.95 a month and use it for both my Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition as well as my Verizon home VM service. Here's a link for those interested in my review. We even have a sample .mp3 VM so you can hear the sound quality, which is quite impressive!

[Bob Russell]

Thanks Kevin. That is a very interesting workaround service.

[arivero]

As far as I know, there is no answering machine for any mobile phone. Am I wrong?

[surur]

The gigabyte WM smartphones features an on-device answering machine, and also allows you to play various effects such as office sounds when you are in the bar, if you want to fool some-one about your location. Symbian devices long had on-device answering machine software.

Surur

[arivero]

Originally Posted by surur

The gigabyte WM smartphones features an on-device answering machine, and also allows you to play various effects such as office sounds when you are in the bar, if you want to fool some-one about your location. Symbian devices long had on-device answering machine software.

Surur

Thanks for the information. I didnt know about Symbian. So can I write a program for a Symbian device having access to the phone part of the device? Or only to the receiving side (IE I can get call events but I can not do a phone call)? Does the java library allows it or should I program in C?


The interesting thing is to be able to program advanced answering machines, for instance one having a emergency password to allow the calling person to provoke the ring of the phone even if you have switched into silent mode. Or to take decisions about how to manage the call depending on the calling number.

[jæd]

Is there anything like this for Palm Treo...?