How to get user inputs from an ordinary phone

This has little to do with web sites, but you're looking for Interactive Voice Response. There are a ton of vendors out there, with everything from hardware you attach to a PC (and a phone line), to hosted services.

At the lowest level, you can get hardware you can send sound files to, and you get back input related to the DTMF tones from the telephone keys.

Thanks, Rob. I believe Interactive Voice Response and VoIP basically fit my needs.

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VoIP has nothing to do with it. You need to talk to the phone line.

Have you never actually phoned somewhere and get greeted by

"Press 1 for Sales Press 2 for accounts Press 3 for Customer services"

Interactive Voiec Response is the technique used by systems that have phone lines directly or indirectly attached.

I suggest you look up existing systems first.

While I'm not aware of anyone who does IVR stuff using VoIP, I've also not paid any real attention to that area in several years, so that means nothing.

But it would not surprise me at all that someone supports that - at the end of the day, VoIP is just another way to get a phone line. IOW, you'd get a pure software "phone" with the usual IVR interface features, and you'd subscribe to a VoIP service provider instead of a local traditional phone company.

I didn't consider VoIP when I wrote my response to the OP, but it seems an obvious feature for an IVR vendor to add.

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VoIP comes in basic categories of

1/ Internal only - VoIP run on internal netwrok from PABX to telco standard lines (most DSL enabled countries don't need this), this is more useful for structured cabling uses Same Cat5/Cat6 used throughout building(s) and run through same network switches etc.

You rarely have access to VoIP stream and packets as PABX people don't want you talking to their PABX without paying HUGE amounts of money. That is the PABX world.

2/ External VoIP types pay VoIP provider on TOP of your comms link usually a phone line.

a) VoIP Router with phone. Usually small domestic/commercial usage Router has standard phone sockets and you get extra phone lines.

No access to VoIP stream.

b) Dedicated VoIP phone with access via existing routers and infrastucture.

No acess to VoIP stream

c) Specialist routers - usually to talk to specific servers to act as PABX, often this how PABX sellers sell new VoIP PABX, either to provide internal call transfer functions and abaility to mix VoIP and standard phones

Rarely do you have direct access to VoIP stream.

d) Software only - usually only for PABX peeps to talk to VoIP services and know all the protocol extensions and vendor specific add ons they use. Usually big bucks

Normally you have access to a simple phone port, to get software access has to often be negotiated with every VoIP provider to ensure you are using their protocols etc. Just in the same way to use Skype you have to download their software to talk to Skype, or use phones that state Skype compatible.

The joy of standards as not all VoIP services use exactly the same set of protocols. Or even easily provide ways of accessing the protocols, mainly extensions.

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Are there any non-smart phone that can display a web page ??

Can you display/run a web page on a line line phone ??

CALLER: dials phone number "web page" Hi we're from the 1980s, please press '1' for a description of how this web page looks.

doh

I'm pretty sure that the Skype-compatible software that's available for Linux boxes is open-source. If so, then you could intercept the audio stream and decode key presses. I don't know how much _work_ it would be, but you could do it.

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Take a look at Asterisk,

Although I have only a peripheral awareness of it I believe it'll do everything you want.

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Very thoughtful. Thank you all.

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This is a troll, right?

When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. When all you know is HTML everything looks like a Web page.

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