4 ms·

Don't forget to turn off call waiting. I always forgot to turn off call waiting....

_asummers 7y ago
I'm showing my youth here, but this is a legitimate question. Isn't call waiting just a thing that exists on the line? Did phones used to have a switch to toggle that? And what was the harm in keeping it on? When I had dial up, I don't recall having to consider call waiting.
- uptown 7y ago
  The incoming call tone would disrupt modem traffic so you had to dial a code prior to the number you wanted to dial to disable this temporarily for the duration of your outgoing call.
- xen2xen1 7y ago
  Dialing *67, I think, in the dial string for dialup turned off call waiting for the duration of the call. Otherwise a second call would try to ring through and disrupt your Super Z-modem download.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- function_seven 7y ago
  Call Waiting used to be a feature that you paid monthly for. As was Caller ID, Three Way Calling, Busy Number Redial, etc. It's amazing how much incumbent telcos nickled and dimed little features like this. I think it was a couple bucks a month to have that feature.
- skissane 7y ago
  From my recollection, there were 3 or 4 different * codes. Separate codes to turn it on and off, and also to turn it on or off permanently or just for the duration of the next call. I think at one point it was a value-added service, and you had to pay extra on your phone bill to enable it, but once it was enabled you could turn it on or off at will. When I was a teenager (in the 1990s), our house had three phone lines. One was for voice calls, and it had call waiting turned on permanently. Another was for modems (first BBSes, then dial-up Internet), and had call waiting turned off permanently. A third was paid for by my Dad's employer, he used it for work calls, work faxes, and call up his work's modem bank to send/receive email, I don't know what he did with call waiting settings. My Dad ordered three phone lines, but only had two pairs running in to the house. So they ran another cable, which I think had 12 pairs in it, but only three were ever connected. My Dad was smiling about how future-proof they made it. Nowadays, only one of those pairs is still active, and I expect within the next 1-2 years that pair will be turned off too. Analog POTS phone system being phased out in favour of VoIP (the Internet comes into the house over coax, not copper pair.)
bitwize 7y ago
Wait, you didn't add the disable call waiting code to your dial string?

I'm showing my youth here, but this is a legitimate question. Isn't call waiting just a thing that exists on the line? Did phones used to have a switch to toggle that? And what was the harm in keeping it on? When I had dial up, I don't recall having to consider call waiting.

uptown 7y ago
The incoming call tone would disrupt modem traffic so you had to dial a code prior to the number you wanted to dial to disable this temporarily for the duration of your outgoing call.
xen2xen1 7y ago
Dialing *67, I think, in the dial string for dialup turned off call waiting for the duration of the call. Otherwise a second call would try to ring through and disrupt your Super Z-modem download.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
function_seven 7y ago
Call Waiting used to be a feature that you paid monthly for. As was Caller ID, Three Way Calling, Busy Number Redial, etc. It's amazing how much incumbent telcos nickled and dimed little features like this. I think it was a couple bucks a month to have that feature.
skissane 7y ago
From my recollection, there were 3 or 4 different * codes. Separate codes to turn it on and off, and also to turn it on or off permanently or just for the duration of the next call. I think at one point it was a value-added service, and you had to pay extra on your phone bill to enable it, but once it was enabled you could turn it on or off at will. When I was a teenager (in the 1990s), our house had three phone lines. One was for voice calls, and it had call waiting turned on permanently. Another was for modems (first BBSes, then dial-up Internet), and had call waiting turned off permanently. A third was paid for by my Dad's employer, he used it for work calls, work faxes, and call up his work's modem bank to send/receive email, I don't know what he did with call waiting settings. My Dad ordered three phone lines, but only had two pairs running in to the house. So they ran another cable, which I think had 12 pairs in it, but only three were ever connected. My Dad was smiling about how future-proof they made it. Nowadays, only one of those pairs is still active, and I expect within the next 1-2 years that pair will be turned off too. Analog POTS phone system being phased out in favour of VoIP (the Internet comes into the house over coax, not copper pair.)

bitwize 7y ago

Wait, you didn't add the disable call waiting code to your dial string?