OvoLab Phlink Phone Information System (Mac)

This product is useless. There are problems with the software that prevent it from working with a MacPro & possibly other machines. The product answers calls 4 a few hours or days & then locks up & stops working. At times it even grabs your phone line & keeps it busy 4 hours. The company maintains no staff of technical support people 2 help. It took me three weeks 2 get an acknowledgment of the problem from the company & then 4 3 more weeks no one has gotten back 2 me after repeated attempts. I still have not gotten a refund & the product is completely useless. AVOID!

All this product really does straight out of the box is answer calls, take messages & emails them somewhere. everything else is done by using scripts & you putting together files & folders in a very specific way 2 the program 2 understand what you want it 2 do. now, if you are a apple script programmer this gizmo might be very powerful as you can make it 2 almost anything, but if you just expect it 2 come with a nice interface 2 do this, look elsewhere (phonevalet). i tried the included voice mailbox setup program several times & could not get it 2 jump 2 the appropriae mailbox, nor would it recognize the pin code & jump 2 the main menu. this is such basic functionality that the fact i could not get this 2 work in half a day (and i am a it guy) made me return it.

I downloaded the software 2 see how set up was & found that, while it is powerful software, it is a nightmare 2 set up. I don't want 2 learn programming (applescript) in order 2 have a business phone system. I want 2 buy a car, not a kit car with assembly (and some fabrication!) required! If you want 2 make a career out of setting up a voicemail system this software/hardware this appears 2 be the product 4 you! I have ordered a competing product, Phonevalet, & plan 2 write a review on that product. (they do not offer a download 2 take a look at the software but they do offer a 30 day moneyback guarantee) I hope this helps you.

I've been using a Mac 4 my voicemail since my Performa 6320, & Phlink is the best Mac voicemail product ever. I have it running on an old 600MHz iBook & it works great. The basic functionality (like sending yourself emails of the recordings) is simple 2 set up, & 4 advanced users the AppleScript ability is awesome. By using a simple folder hierarchy, you can create unlimited mailboxes & voice trees 4 companies. The documentation is good & easy 2 understand.

Some third-party products -- like Indigo home automation software -- are already set up 2 tie in 2 Phlink & come with ready-made AppleScripts that you just need 2 drop in the appropriate folder.

The one time I had a problem (a fried telephone adapter, which which was my own fault) Ovolab's tech support was prompt, helpful, & friendly.

What I love about this product:

* Getting emails at work of voicemails left at home
* Having custom outgoing messages based upon caller ID info (great 4 annoying telemarketers!)
* Getting pop-up alerts on other Macs on my network telling me who's calling
* Integrating with Indigo so I can call home & turn lights on & off

So I've been tinkering with this 4 a few hours now, & I have 2 say I was disappointed by how much of the cool functionality appears 2 be dependent on the user's knowledge of AppleScript. I'm a fairly technical person, but I don't have a lot of confidence when it comes 2 tweaking or merging applescripts. This is way over my head, & I've been using a Mac since 1984.

The Ovolab Telephone Adapter is a small USB device which plugs into one of your Mac's USB ports on one side, & 2 an analog telephone cable on the other side. Using the Telephone Adapter, Ovolab Phlink can interface with the telephone line. It also recognizes Caller ID if such service is available from your telephone company. The Ovolab Telephone Adapter also works with Vonage devices & other IP-based services which provide an analog telephone connection. Ovolab Phlink, combined with the Ovolab Telephone Adapter, can answer telephone calls & identify the caller using Caller ID & Apple's Address Book. After answering a call, Ovolab Phlink records a message & stores it on your Mac 4 later retrieval. Ovolab Phlink lets you label & write your own notes next 2 each call, as well as sort & search through them. Phlink is not limited 2 playing prerecorded messages. You can run any AppleScript, or launch any application, by pressing keys on your telephone's keypad. Take a video snapshot & send it by email, turn filesharing on or off, restart a server. The possibilities are endless. Scripts can also send audio feedback 2 the caller by speaking text using Mac OS X's speech synthesis in addition 2 playing back prerecorded sounds. Ovolab Phlink can encode messages at extremely low bitrates & send them as email attachments 2 any address you specify. Create fully automated tone-driven menus Share a single line 4 fax & voice calls Integrates with pagesender 4 receiving faxes on your Mac Create scripts that look up information on the Internet Trigger actions based on who is calling Log incoming calls based on caller ID information Schedule activation & greetings based on the time of the day Speech synthesis 2 provide feedback 2 the caller Address Book 2 identify known callers AppleScript 4 automating actions QuickTime 2 compress & store recordings Rendezvous 2 automati