Impulse Technology (http://www.imptec.com/download.htm) has a free product (NetCID) that can receive caller ID info from their Identify! product over the network and display it on the screen - problem is, it doesn't pop up over MC!. This is a great solution for someone that doesn't have a phone jack near their HTPC - I  have it running on my main PC upstairs, and it would be awesome to have it send the caller ID info to my HTPC downstairs to see who is calling. For anyone willing to tackle this, here are the specs. You can download a trial of Identify! to test with:

IDentify! broadcasts the information using UDP. There are 7 different kinds of packets that IDentify! can send. Each packet starts with a 4 digit identifier followed by a space and the data. Here they are with examples:

 

NAME Doe, John                // Name to display
TTSN Call from John Doe     // Name to speak
NMBR 801-555-1234          // Phone number
TYPE U                           // Call type (see below)
STAT Rings: 2                  // Status information
RING                              // Ring indication (no data)
IDLE 05/18/09 01:19 PM    // Indicates that call has gone idle (no longer ringing and modem is on hook) plus this packet contains the date and time of the call

 

The TYPE character will be one of the following:

 

B = Blocked
O = Out of Area
U = Unknown caller
K = Known caller
P = Priority caller
X = Unwanted caller
H = Auto-Hang-Up
N = No Caller ID

 

You should be able to parse this information and use it however you want.

 

This is basically the same way TapiRex and VistaCallerID work. There is a server component that can be on any PC and then the clients can all listen. And there are VMC plugins for both of them available.

Sorry -  didn't realize that (feel like I've been Snopsed!)

djsecrist:

This is basically the same way TapiRex and VistaCallerID work. There is a server component that can be on any PC and then the clients can all listen. And there are VMC plugins for both of them available.

Will they pop up over Media Center when it is full screen? Are there any plug-ins for Media Center that offer this client/server architecture?

djsecrist:

This is basically the same way TapiRex and VistaCallerID work. There is a server component that can be on any PC and then the clients can all listen. And there are VMC plugins for both of them available.

And I cannot see where VistaCallerID is a client/server app - maybe I'm just missing it. You ARE talking about this product, correct - http://www.vistacallerid.com/about-caller-id

IF they won't pop up over a full screen MC, then they are useless.

 

djsecrist:

This is basically the same way TapiRex and VistaCallerID work. There is a server component that can be on any PC and then the clients can all listen. And there are VMC plugins for both of them available.

I see where there is a MC addin for VistaCallerID - but I still can't see where it can receive data from another PC with a modem. It does have a feature to allow archiving calls to WHS, but that is all I can find.

OK - found this app with client/server with a VERY similar name!

http://vistamccallerid.oabsoftware.nl/

However - Identify! offers SO MUCH more, such as the ability to page/email on a received call, ability to play a wave file and hang up on unwanted calls, etc. That's why I would like to see a client app for this product for Media Center - I would not give up these features just to get caller ID on my HTPC.