Well, after posting the first message here, I did some snooping around and
found that there is a limit to the amount of REN (Ringer Equivilance
Number) that a line can carry. Each phone device lists it's REN on the FCC
decal on the back. (I didn't know any of this until today) You just add up
all the RENs on your devices and get a total. I think the maximum per line
is usually around 4 or 5 REN total for a line but I havent checked with my
local phone company yet to see what they recommend/allow. The phone co. may
also have a solution for when a line carries more REN than normally allowed.
The very interesting response to my first post by TURTLE mentions something
like this. I'm going to call them about this too.

I added up the RENs on all my devices and have a total of 3.5 REN plus
whatever REN is on my 2 WinModems. (I'm still checking on them.) That puts
me pretty close or over the 4 or 5 REN limit. I have disabled some of the
higher REN devices and it seemed to help. I also upgraded the software,
which also helped. I've also emailed IdentaPop tech support and will
probably get a response from them soon. There tech support is pretty quick
to respond.

Some of the RENs were much higher than others. And one, on my main speaker
phone/ message recorder, a very nice Lucent Tech phone, it says very plainly
that it has a REN of 0.0. The two cheapo bedside phones each have a REN of
0.9. The Fax machine, a Brother MFC 8500 (very nice machine too) is 0.2. It
seems the cheaper the device, the higher the REN. The only exception to this
is the DirecTV receiver, a high end Samsung HD reciever, has a 0.9 REN. I
don't think the modems in these Sat receivers do very much so they are
probably very cheap.

I may have to ditch the two cheap phones and get some with lower REN
numbers. I've become very attached to this caller ID software and become
very disturbed when it fails to work. This particular program is very nice
in that the name and number pop up on top of the screen in large letters for
a few seconds then disappears. It doesn't interfere with anything and
requires no action from me. No clicking on anything.

Thanks for your help and interest in this. I am not in the DFW area. I am in
the NOBR area. (That would be New Orleans Baton Rouge )

My next move is to ask the phone company if there is anything they can do,
like they did for TURTLE, if I have used up all my REN ! ! !

Morgan
"MF" wrote in message
...
Have you checked with the software company that furnishes IdentaPop? The
same information is in the data on the phone call, regardless of how many
devices are on it. The software should still work. I would suggest trying
some experiments such as removing devices one at a time until the software
works again. I have a feeling it is not related. I assume you have
restarted
the IdentaPop, and or rebooted your computer to make sure things are
running
clean again?

Let us know how it goes.

If per chance you are in the DFW area, I wouldn't mind helping you out on
this. I love mysteries.

Maury
Wylie, TX

"Morgan" wrote in message
news:zuDLa.26504$ZE.15364@lakeread05...
Awhile back I installed a caller ID program on my computer, IdentaPop,
which
worked great for awhile. Since then I have added other fax machines and
assorted devices to the same phone line, none of which I can do without.
Apparently these devices are causing the caller id info to not be read
by
the software. The other caller id boxes in the house continue to work
fine.
I understand that there is a limit to the number of devices that a phone
line can support.

My question is: Is there anything I can do to increase the number of
devices that my phone line can support?

Thanks

Morgan