PhoneValet & iPhone: Instant Landline Voice Mail

Parliant's PhoneValet has been a valuable part of my automated home for a few years now, but the recent addition of built-in iPhone/iPod touch support has pushed it close to a "must have" tool.

PhoneValet has long had the ability to answer the phone, present a simple (or sophisticated, if you'd like) voice mail system, and record messages. It's also been able to send email notifications of incoming messages and, more recently, offered a web-based interface to view call logs and play voice mail via the PhoneValet Anywhere add-on.

But for me, it took the iPhone to gel all these pieces into a coherent and very useful whole. Now when I'm away from home I get an immediate notification whenever someone calls my office line. If they've left a message, I can listen to it by accessing my home server with Safari. Here's how I have it set up. PhoneValet, with the extra-cost PhoneValet Anywhere plug-in, is running on a Keylime iBook at my home office. This iBook also runs my home automation system and it's always connected to the Internet with a static IP address.

For information on how to configure your network so that you can access PhoneValet Anywhere remotely, see these tips from Parliant.

Getting the network going is, by far, the biggest hassle. Once you've achieved that, PhoneValet makes everything else a matter of selecting the settings that are right for you Here's what I use:

In the Incoming Calls tab, select Send email for Unanswered and voice mail calls.

This setting minimizes the text messaging charges on your iPhone by preventing PhoneValet from sending notifications about calls you answered yourself. In the recipients box, enter the SMS email address for your iPhone. Example: your_phone_number@txt.att.net. Don't select the "with attachment" option, which sends the recorded message from your caller with the email, because the attachment won't survive the email-to-SMS conversion.

In the Other tab, you specify the settings for sending mail. Use the settings provided by your ISP, or a service such as .Mac or gMail. This is for outgoing messages only, so it doesn't have to be an account you have configured on your iPhone.

In the Recording tab, I select the AAC Optimized for iPhone setting. It sounds great when played with Safari, and the small file size means it's completely practical for use when you only have an EDGE network connection.

Finally, choose Server Configuration from the PhoneValet menu, then add a username and password for the PhoneValet Anywhere web application. When you access PhoneValet with a web browser, this is what you'll use to authenticate yourself, so choose something you'll remember and that is easy to type using the iPhone's onscreen keyboard. However, here's a tip from Parliant's tech support. You can create a URL in your iPhone's bookmarks that contains the name and password, which saves some typing at the expense giving up some security. Use this format: http://yourserver/cgi-bin/phonevalet.cgi/Login?username=yourusername&password=yourpassword

Now you're ready to try it out. Call your PhoneValet-monitored phone number using your iPhone, but don't answer the call. When PhoneValet answers, leave yourself a voice message. Shortly after you hang up, if not before, you'll hear the iPhone signal that an SMS message has arrived. It's from PhoneValet, telling you the Caller ID, date and time of the call, and that it has received a voice message.

To listen to the message, use Safari on the iPhone to visit the URL of your PhoneValet Anywhere server. After you enter your username and password, you'll see a list of recent calls.

(Image courtesy of Parliant's web site.)

Tap the cassette tape icon that's next to the call info, and after a brief delay QuickTime will play the recorded message. To quickly return the call, go back to the PhoneValet screen and tap Call Back. (Or, tap the Caller ID phone number in the SMS that you received.)

Of course, even if you don't have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can access your call log and messages using any web browser. But, as I said, for me the fact that I can now do this from anywhere I have cell access is the real "sweet spot" that makes it worthwhile.