How to Disable Call Waiting in Windows 95/98
Call Waiting is a wonderful feature for getting calls you might otherwise have missed, but computers don't like this feature too much. The tone that 'beeps' you to notify of an incoming call can cause your modem to hang-up! If you have Call Waiting on the phone line your computer uses, you will want to disable it for the duration of the Internet session. It is not as hard as you might think. Here are the instructions:
Note: After completing these instructions, any one who calls your phone line while you are on the Internet with your computer will get a busy signal rather than a ring. If this is not acceptable, you could always get another phone line, one for voice calls the other for Internet access. Or you could use an Internet Call Waiting service. It's cheaper than an additional phone line, and it's cool!
1. Click your 'Start' button, then go to 'Settings' then select 'Control Panel'.
2. Double click the 'Modems' icon.
3. Click on 'Dialing Properties'
4. Check the box labeled 'To disable call waiting, dial:' and verify that '*70,' is selected.
That's it! Click 'Apply' then 'OK' then 'OK' again until you're back to the Control Panel window. Just close the control panel and dial away!
Internet Call Waiting
If you would rather get calls while you are on-line, their are services known as "Internet Call Waiting" their are numerous such services, and they all work in much the same way. They forward inbound calls to the service, and using a piece of software on your computer you are notified of the call. You can at that point decide what to do with the call. Here is a Google search on Internet Call Waiting.
