Since I started this thread, I'll add my two cents about the points Danr and
Rick Rogers have raised.

1. Voice/Data/Fax modems are multi function devices like all-in-one
printer-scanner devices. Would it make sense for anybody to argue that
all-in-one devices have only one core capability - printing for example, and
then write drivers that ignored scanning because it's not a core capability?
I just don't buy the argument that Voice is an "added" feature, and hence
doesn't merit Microsoft's attention.

2. Voice capabilities in Voice/Data/Fax modems support a variety of
telephony applications that are not supported by any other type of hardware
to my knowledge. As Danr pointed out, it's been a year since Vista shipped
and it's still hard (impossible?) to find a Voice/Data/Fax modem that fully
supports voice features on Vista. I've certainly have had no luck. The
information one needs to make an informed decision about whether voice
features of Voice/Data/Fax modems will work with Vista is either unavailable
or buried so deep that most people will never find it. I've searched
manufacture web sites, forums, and Microsoft's own Vista hardware
compatibility web pages and none tell users what they need to know to make
informed purchasing decisions. The appearance of all this is that Vista is
abandoning voice modems and the telephony applications they support. How can
Microsoft be comfortable with this state of affairs? Thousands of customers
(tens of thousands?) must be confused, annoyed, possibly even angry.

3. I hope one or more Windows Program Managers at Microsoft is or becomes
aware of this situation and takes action. Reasonable alternatives I think
would include 1) getting a developer at Microsoft to fix the "generic" voice
drivers that will get voice features working for most of the Voice/Fax/Data
modems out there - e.g. fixing the Unimodem Transform Module that apparently
is the problem for Conexant based modems might be a good place to start, 2)
provide an incentive to get modem manufactures to update their drivers, or 3)
provide an incentive to get at least one modem manufacturer to develop and
market a new Voice/Data/Fax modem (including drivers) that will work with
Vista.


"Rick Rogers" wrote:

No offense taken. I am only trying to explain why you are running into the
issue, not taking a position or defending anyone.

Microsoft writes the operating system, mainly to take advantage of the
capabilities of the current hardware standards. It's up to the device
manufacturers to write software, including drivers, that adhere to the
standards of the operating system. Microsoft, where possible, includes
drivers in the operating system that will at least provide basic
functionality like a standard VGA driver for video, but it ends there for
them.

Device manufacturers, on the other hand, tend to lag behind in providing
updated software for their devices and a new operating system. Why is this?
Well, for starters, there is no profit in spending time rewriting software
for older devices. They've already made money on them, there is nothing more
to be gained. For them, there's more incentive to concentrating resources
developing new hardware with new supporting software for the consumer to
upgrade to if they want full functionality. Secondly, the firmware on a
device may not conform to the standards for a new OS. When this happens,
either the firmware instructions need to be rewritten or a workaround must
be developed. On the latter, they are getting more difficult as shortcuts
and backdoors are being rapidly closed for security reasons.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"DanR" wrote in message
...
Well, no offence, but I've been observing this attitude at this NG since
around February. That MS is not responsible for 3rd party hardware working
with Vista. Of course MS can do what it likes and indeed does. But you
can't deny that there are many unhappy people out there with broken
hardware. And now that non-geek, normal folks have purchased new computers
like they might buy a new washing machine... because their old one wore
out... they are having problems. A small percentage of them show up here
for help. I'm reading that enterprise might skip Vista completely. If that
turns out to be true it's because of bad word of mouth. And if my new MS
washing machine started chewing up my clothes I'd have a problem with MS
not Levi Strauss.



"Rick Rogers" wrote in message
...
Hi DanR,

The basic function of a modem is to perform the analog/digital
(modulation/demodulation) exchange of data, not to support voice
modulation. That is an added feature of some categories of modems. The
drivers supplied by Vista or any other version of Windows simply allows
for this, not for the added capability. The only way it's going to work
is when the modem manufacturers write and release the necessary
supporting drivers and software.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"DanR" wrote in message
...
Rick... two items in your post.
"for the most part they do not write any of their own other than for
their own hardware, or to provide basic functionality for an industry
standard device"
and...
"and the consumer is left with the option of going without a particular
function, or with purchasing new hardware"
Seems to me an industry standard device is now broken and new hardware
that works with this class of software can not be found. I've been
looking for nearly a year for a voice modem that will work with Vista.


"Rick Rogers" wrote in message
...
Hi,

You're looking in the wrong place for a driver fix. Microsoft provides
drivers that are supplied to them by the device manufacturers, for the
most part they do not write any of their own other than for their own
hardware, or to provide basic functionality for an industry standard
device. They do not and have not written full driver and software sets
to support added device functionality. It's up to the device
manufacturer to fix, add to, or rewrite drivers, then supply it to
Microsoft for distribution on Windows Update. Many do not do this, some
do and just distribute them on their own. Others do not update drivers
for older devices at all, and the consumer is left with the option of
going without a particular function, or with purchasing new hardware.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"clayga" wrote in message
...
Problem: My Rosewill RC-403 PCI Voice/Data/Fax modem isn't working
fully with
a number of TAPI based answering machine programs (e.g. IVM Answering
Attendant, Impulse Technology's CallStation). These programs can pick
up and
record calls but they cannot play a greeting message over the phone
line.
All a caller hears is silence while the greeting is playing. Craig
Duncan at
Impulse Technology has indicated to me in a personal communication (as
well
as on his web site http://www.imptec.com/modems.htm - see Windows
Vista
section) that the problem is caused by a "bug" in Vista's Unimodem
Transform
Module that affects all Conexant based voice modems. Since most
modems on
the market today are based on the Conexant chip set, and since most
answering
machine software on the market is TAPI based, the implication is that
many
people are affected by this. In other words, it's very likely that if
someone wants to use their Vista machine to work as an answering
machine,
they'll run into this.

Questions: Is Craig Duncan right about the Unimodem driver and if so,
does
Microsoft intend to fix this soon? If not, can someone recommend a
Voice/Data/Fax modem that will support full TAPI answering machine
functionality running on Vista?

Note: Here's a link to another reference to this problem in the
Windows
Community Forums:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com...7-5f02dd66a0fd