In Pre-Internet times, when 14.4 and 28.8 bps modems roamed the earth, using modems on telephone lines equipped with Call Waiting Service was an aggravation because the Call Waiting tone would disconnect the modem. As a result, most of today's software includes a *70 dialing prefix option that disables call waiting for the current modem session. Hence, the caller gets a busy signal when placing a call.

However in modern Post-Internet times, this aggravation has evolved into a feature. Many net surfers, who may spend hours on-line came to rely on it to inform them that a call was waiting.

Unfortunately, to operate the newer 33.6 and 56 kb modems at increased speeds, the error correction was improved to the point where the modems now also error correct the Call Waiting tone, making it invisible to the user. Now the caller gets a frustrating continuous ring when placing a call.

To address this dilemma, some modems and WEB-TV, provide software that simply adjusts the S-10 register in the modem, making it more sensitive to noise caused disconnects... noise of all types. This is a marginal approach at best and another Catch 22.

CPS was the first company in the world to provide an external box that actually monitors the line and isolates the call waiting tone from the overlapping modem signals to let you know that a call is waiting. As the boxes add more sophistication and features, they are evolving into personalized call managers for the PC user.

CPS makes a full line of call waiting alert products from the basic Alert box to a full-featured Internet Call Manager.