Introduction to TAPI

Windows Telephony Overview

Telephony. Isn't that when you know what someone on the phone is going to say before they say it?

Ted Pattison
DevelopMentor

In This Chapter:

The term "telephony" simply refers to the connection of computers and telephones. This kind of connection is useful for all kinds of things - placing, answering, routing and monitoring phone calls, taking information from a caller via touch-tones, voice recordings or voice recognition, et cetera. Many different kinds of applications can be built using telephony features. Personal Information Managers (PIMs) and productivity applications, like word processors and spreadsheets, can provide support for dialing selected phone numbers. A call manager application could provide help for those of us who can never remember how to transfer or set up a conference call. A call manager could be especially smart and use Caller-ID information to show who was calling, even if we are already on another call.

There are also several kinds of applications that don't require a human on both sides of the call. If you like, you can install an application on your computer that will answer the phone when you call and provide access to what I like to call "Excel From Abroad." By using touch-tones or your voice, you can access the data on your computer from any phone in the world. A computer with multiple phone lines can provide an Integrated Voice Response (IVR) application. IVR applications include auto-attendants to route phone calls, voice mail systems to take messages and audiotex systems to provide information from your local bank or newspaper.

Or, we could use the phone as a microphone and speaker without involving the telephone network at all.

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