Phone automation

["paul gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

Another recent spate of ******ing nuisance phone calls has got me into
thinking again about my plans for phone automation based on Caller-ID.

I've just had a quick look at what's available on Letsautomate.com under
the
phone automation category, and came up blank with anything that would come
close to doing what I want.

Can anybody suggest any product(s) which will allow me to put together a
highly-customisable automated voice-call handling system, based on
Caller-ID
info, and various other factors (such as time of day, "do not
disturb"
commands and so on....

The sort of features i'm envisaging are:

* Incoming call with caller-ID withheld = diverts instantly (without
ringing
internal phones) to voice-mail box where they hear a message explaining
that
I do not take calls with the ID withheld (which are usually the ***ing
salesmen!), and allows them to leave a message.

* Incoming call with caller-ID available = Well, they passed the first
test!
- usual things, look up the number in my database, if it's from someone on
VIP list, then connect them immediately etc.

* As above, but person is not on my VIP list, then check several things;
first, check the time of day, - is it within the time I have set for
accepting calls (I would want to say for instance, that between 11:30 PM,
and 06:00AM I will accept no calls, except from my VIP list.) - If the call
is rejected for this reason, the caller will be diverted to a voice-mail
box
where they hear a message telling them that "I don't accept phone
calls
during unsociable hours..." and allows them to leave a message)

Also check whether I have set a "Do Not Disturb" status, for
instance if I
am watching a movie (or getting a bit of the other!!!  ;-))), then all
incoming calls get diverted to a voice-mail box, where they hear yet
another
message, saying "call back in 2 hours" (or 2 minutes :-() -
whiechever is
appropiate... and again, lets them leave a message.

You get the idea of the kinda stuff I'm after. I don't mind doing the
programming myself, as long as its made pretty simple - I'm not a coder by
trade, and I'm certainly not a code-warrior, although I can turn my hand to
most things in the various flavours of VB....

What I really need, is a Caller-ID device that can make the data available
to a programming language, and a programming environment designed for
voice/messaging applications that has all the functions already wired-in
for
this kinda stuff....

Does such a beast already exist? - I know the hardware part is small
potatoes, but what about the software to utilise the commonly-available
hardware in the way I have described above?....

Here's hoping....

Paul G.

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