Save Money with the Phone Company's
Custom Ringing Service

Would you like to have a dedicated fax phone number but don't have enough fax traffic to justify the additional expense of a dedicated fax line? Fax switches aren't the answer. They don't give you that dedicated fax phone number. They are not graceful in operation -- anyone who faxes or calls you will get the impression that you are a small time operation. They also do not allow you to use the toll-saver feature on your answering machine.

Would you like to have a dedicated data modem phone number, but again don't have enough traffic to justify the additional expense of a dedicate line? Operating more than one business out of your home? Would you like to have separate numbers for each business, but once again can't justify the expense of an extra line? There may be a low cost solution in your area to all of these problems.

Many local phone companies offer a service that may be named "Custom Ringing", "Distinctive Ringing", "IdentaRing", "RingMaster", "Multi-Ring", "RingMate", "Personalized Ring", "SmartRing", "Ident-A-Call", or something similar. Here's how it works: the phone company assigns multiple phone numbers to a single phone line. Each number rings through to that single line, but the ring pattern varies for each number dialed. The ring pattern for your primary number might be "long", whereas the ring pattern for your second number might be "short-short". The service is marketed as a method to determine for whom the call is intended before the phone is actually answered. With the right equipment, hardware can decipher the ring pattern and automatically route the call to the appropriate device.

The right equipment is called the "ASAP RD 4000 Ring Decipher" by Command Communications, Inc. The Ring Decipher listens to the incoming ring pattern for one of the four it knows: long, short-short, short-short-long, and short-long-short. When it identifies the ring pattern (usually after the first ring), it flips a relay and routes the call out via one of its modular jacks in the back of the unit. That device then sees an incoming ring (usually with the second ring) and responds normally. The Ring Decipher has four LED's on the front that show which ring pattern was identified.

The Ring Decipher can make for some interesting telephone connections. If, for example, you wanted to operate two businesses off of one line, each with separate phone numbers, you might connect two different answering machines to the ring decipher (so that you would have a separate outgoing message for each business). But then you may just want to use a single two-line answering machine instead.

AT&T makes a similar device but it's more costly and only decipher's two ring patterns. They make an even more expensive version which handles up to three. Most AT&T phone center stores will deny they make such a widget, but it is available through their 800 mail order catalog service.

We had a devil of a time tracking down this little widget. Most people we spoke to thought we were asking for the more commonplace (and inferior) fax switch. A fax switch operates by answering the incoming call regardless of ring pattern, waits five seconds for a fax carrier, and then switches a relay based on what it heard. It's pretty obvious at the other end of the phone line what's going on, and it smacks of smallness. It's often in a small business's best interests not to appear as small as they really are. The Ring Decipher, on the other hand, offers a clean, professional solution with more versatility.

You can order the Ring Decipher from J&R Music World in Maspeth, NY. Their phone number is: 800-221-8180. Their part number is: CMD RD4000. When last we heard, they were selling it for $79.95 plus shipping and handling.

Command Communications, Inc., Aurora, CO, (303) 751-7000, FAX: (303) 750-6437.

Important Update: Since this article was originally written, we have some new information. First, these ring deciphering devices are becoming more common and are now easier to find. This is good since the long-term reliability of the Ring Decipher (by Command Communications) doesn't seem to be very good. Our unit has progressively deteriorated over the last year and a half. It started with one of the four LED's failure to light (a minor problem). Now two LED's fail to light, and it has been implicated in some modem difficulties we were having. Specifically, we began to experience intermittent problems in connecting or staying connected at higher speeds (i.e. 28.8K baud). When we could connect, it was usually at 21.6K baud or slower. Removal of the Ring Decipher completely eliminated the problem.

Hello Direct in San Jose, California offers alternatives to the Ring Decipher. We have not evaluated their units, so this is not an endorsement of their products. We have ordered from Hello Direct and were pleased with the quality of their customer service. Hello Direct can be reached at: 800-444-3556.