Modem Reviews

Recommended modems are reviewed below. Due to a number of modems becoming obsolete recently, there is currently only one recommended modem. Before getting to the reviews, here is some general information you may find useful when looking for a modem.

Voice Features
If you wish to use CallStation or the Auto-Hang-Up feature on IDentify! or Phone Plus, then your modem must have voice capability. Voice modems are able to play and record audio over the phone line. Some voice modems also have speakerphone support which allows you to have telephone conversations using a microphone and speaker connected to the modem. Speakerphone capable modems used to be quite common, but it has become increasingly difficult to find modems with this capability.

Caller ID
If you want to use IDentify!, or the optional Caller ID features found in Phone Plus or CallStation, you must have a modem with Caller ID capability. Many modems do not have this capability, so make sure that the modem you buy specifically states that it has Caller ID support. Also, it must support the Caller ID standard used in your country.

VoIP Phone Services
Be aware that modems can have compatibility problems with the telephone adapter boxes used by VoIP phone services. These adapters typically put out lower signal levels than you would find on a normal telephone line. Modems can be sensitive to low signal levels and they may not detect when the phone is ringing, or the Caller ID may be unreliable.

Windows Vista
All Impulse Technology products are fully compatible with Windows Vista, however, there is a bug in Vista which can prevent applications from playing audio through the modem to the phone line. The caller will only hear silence. This bug mainly affects modems with Conexant chipsets. The modem reviewed below has an Agere chipset and is not affected by the Vista bug. Some older modems such as those with an Intel chipset may also work on Vista.

	Rosewill RNX-56AG PCI Data/Fax/TAM Modem
Interface:	Internal PCI bus
Chipset:	Agere (software modem)
O.S. Support:	Windows 2000, XP, Vista
Cost:	$6.99 plus shipping at Newegg
Drivers:	The drivers provided for this modem are not TAPI compliant and do not support voice or Caller ID. Download the drivers provided here instead. A Readme.txt file is included with installation instructions. 32-Bit Drivers: RNX-56AG_32bit.zip 64-Bit Drivers: RNX-56AG_64bit.zip
Note:	Two other modems are basically the same as this Rosewill modem. Although they have not been tested, they should work with the drivers above. These modems are the TRENDnet TFM-PCIV92A and the HiRO H50006.

The Good
This modem has excellent Caller ID detection, probably the best I've seen on any modem. The Caller ID comes up almost instantly, and it worked every time (even when the modem was connected to a Vonage VoIP phone adapter).

Voice playback and recording worked very well for the most part. The recording level was rather low, but that is typical of most modems. Simply configure the CallStation "Record Boost" option to +10dB to compensate. This particular modem is not affected by the Vista "voice playback bug", and it worked on Vista just fine.

When it came to dialing phone numbers in Phone Plus, this modem performed beautifully. The dialing sounds are actually routed through your sound card instead of playing the sounds through a tiny speaker on the modem like most modems do. The sounds were very clear and easy to hear. Also, when dialing a busy number the busy tones were detected very quickly (in about three seconds).

The Bad
There is a 60 second limitation when recording audio through the modem. For some reason, the modem just stops recording after about a minute. This seems to be a common problem with Agere based modems. If someone tries to leave a message longer than 60 seconds in CallStation and the max recording time is set to 2 minutes or more, this will result in the modem becoming stuck off-hook due to the audio stream being cut off. To avoid this problem, simply configure the max recording time to 30 seconds.

A new version of CallStation will be released soon with a new option to limit recordings to 55 seconds. This will allow callers to leave the longest message that can be recorded safely.

The 60 second limitation also applies to the CallStation Conversation Recording feature. This will prevent you from recording long conversations, however, the feature may still be useful to record some limited information during a conversation.

Dialing phone numbers in CallStation did not work as well as it did in Phone Plus. When dialing a number, the dialing sounds could not be heard. This is apparently related to the fact that Phone Plus dials in "data" mode while CallStation dials in "voice" mode. CallStation will, however, indicate when the dialing has been completed and you should pick up the receiver on your phone.

When using CallStation to dial phone numbers, it also took longer to detect a busy signal (about 10 seconds). If you are using the Auto-Redial feature, set the "If no busy is detected for" option to 12 seconds to allow more time to detect the tones.

Other Comments
Whenever this modem connects to the line, it somehow changes the Windows Power Options so that the monitor powers off after 20 minutes of inactivity. It also checks the "Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby" option on the Advanced tab. This is a very strange problem. These settings will change anytime CallStation answers a call, or if you dial a phone number, or even if you use the Auto-Hang-Up feature. If you don't put your computer into standby or hibernate, and you don't mind your monitor turning off after 20 minutes, then this may not be a problem for you.

Conclusion
This modem is recommended for use with all three programs, but be aware of the power settings issue. If you are using CallStation, you should also be aware of the recording limitation.

The reviews on this page are the opinion of Impulse Technology. Your results may differ.