# Caller ID on-screen



## Stanley Rohner (Jan 18, 2004)

Does the Series3 TiVo display caller ID information on the screen when a call comes in ?

I think I heard it didn't do that.

When these first came out they were $1000 to buy and it didn't have something so simple as screen caller ID displayed when someone calls you ?


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## TerpBE (Jan 23, 2003)

Stanley Rohner said:


> When these first came out they were $1000 to buy and it didn't have something so simple as screen caller ID displayed when someone calls you ?


My car was more than ten times that price, and it didn't come with caller ID either.


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## Martin Tupper (Dec 18, 2003)

Stanley Rohner said:


> Does the Series3 TiVo display caller ID information on the screen when a call comes in ?
> 
> I think I heard it didn't do that.
> 
> When these first came out they were $1000 to buy and it didn't have something so simple as screen caller ID displayed when someone calls you ?


Seriously, I have half a mind to pick up the toaster right now and call customer service to complain.


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## rdrrepair (Nov 24, 2006)

No caller ID. I think it would be a good feature to toggle on and off. I would be willing to hook up my phone just to see who is calling. I wouldn't use it to call out as I have the wireless.


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

rdrrepair said:


> No caller ID. I think it would be a good feature to toggle on and off. I would be willing to hook up my phone just to see who is calling. I wouldn't use it to call out as I have the wireless.


Same here.

I use ethernet for my updates... but I'd love to hook up a phone line so the Tivo would show me who's calling on my TV.

Other devices of this nature do it... I'm surprised the Tivo doesn't.

I never had a S2 box... did they do it?


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## jes218 (Feb 10, 2005)

TerpBE said:


> My car was more than ten times that price, and it didn't come with caller ID either.


Mine did!


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

TerpBE said:


> My car was more than ten times that price, and it didn't come with caller ID either.


My 600 dollar nuvi 360 GPS did


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## NJChris (May 11, 2001)

You guys still use the land line on your S3???


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Not worth connecting another cable just to get caller id. I already have 3 cordless phones with caller id.

I like the connections the way they are with only three. The power cable, network cable, and HDMI cable.


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## Martin Tupper (Dec 18, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> Not worth connecting another cable just to get caller id. I already have 3 cordless phones with caller id.
> 
> I like the connections the way they are with only three. The power cable, network cable, and HDMI cable.


No cable or antenna feeds?


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## ohendo (Jun 27, 2005)

Martin Tupper said:


> No cable or antenna feeds?


That would add an annoying cable. He just likes the three mentioned.


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## John Slider (Apr 16, 2006)

I think it would be a nice feature to have, if you're watching something and it pops up on the screen, or on the box, you can decide if it's worth pausing the show and getting up to answer it. Damn, society just keeps getting lazier and lazier, no?


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## Carsten (Feb 5, 2007)

You can do it on any S1 or S2. 

I know you can do it w/ the S3 if you mod your EEPROM so you can run unsigned stuff..


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

http://www.ahernstore.com/brightider.html


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Martin Tupper said:


> No cable or antenna feeds?


  doh!! I guess I forgot aboutt those!


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

I used to have a "caller ID on TV" box that did just that. There used to be a caller ID hack but that was a long time ago and I haven't heard of it on the Series 3's.

I recently bought one of those cordless phones that have a Base and 3 handsets. I keep one of the handsets in the drawer next to my chair in our living room. When the battery gets low I simply swap it for the charged one in the cradle in the kitchen. Best Caller ID solution yet. :up:










Amazon.com has them for about $85.00


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## drew00001 (Jan 13, 2007)

I didn't think you guys had any friends. I'm sure your Mom wouldn't appreciate you screening her calls.


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## CTLesq (Jan 19, 2003)

My TiVo won't pop popcorn.......what am I to do?


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

TiVo likes to differentiate themselves from competition. Not having PIP, CID and FSI makes TiVo stand out as one and only.


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## Omikron (Feb 27, 2006)

In case anyone is wondering, the CallerID hack does indeed work on the S3 units, but requires a hacked PROM.


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## rdrrepair (Nov 24, 2006)

Omikron said:


> In case anyone is wondering, the CallerID hack does indeed work on the S3 units, but requires a hacked PROM.


I understand it to be just one line of code too.


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## ScubaCat (Jun 26, 2003)

Count me as one more who would love to see that option on the S3.

My Dish Network controller box has caller ID. When I upgraded from TiVo S2 to S3 and had to move to cable, I was going to get rid of the Dish Network box but then I realized I could keep it plugged in and simply hit the source button on my TiVo remote to switch to the Dish box and see who was calling. It's not an elegant solution, but it works.

Still, I'm looking into other options. This unit looks attractive, reasonably priced and functional.


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## lcann44 (Apr 15, 2007)

Do people still use their phones to hook up their S3? How 20th Century.  

I saw this thread last night and I kind of thought it would turn out fun. First I couldn't connect my S3 through my phone because I use Vonage (yes, I know there is a way to do it but I can't, long story) and second I just can't imagine having a house anymore without a wireless network.

And have we really gotten so lazy that we can't pick up the wireless phone that is sitting next to the remote and look at the display there?


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## Georgia Guy (Feb 21, 2003)

lcann44 said:


> And have we really gotten so lazy that we can't pick up the wireless phone that is sitting next to the remote and look at the display there?


Heck, we are so lazy at our house that we only watch the next show listed on our "now playing" list, just to avoid those tiresome extra button pushes needed to move farther up & down the list.


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## ScubaCat (Jun 26, 2003)

lcann44 said:


> ...And have we really gotten so lazy that we can't pick up the wireless phone that is sitting next to the remote and look at the display there?


My phone is in the kitchen or bedroom. I don't have it right by my TV chair. Even if I took it off the charger and set it by my remote, it's hard to read in dim light. I would probably have to get up and turn on the light to read it. Sometimes even when I dash to the kitchen and read it, the stupid thing just says "Ringing". Duh! I know that! So I guess I either have to buy a better phone or get one of the caller-ID boxes listed above.

I would prefer it if TiVo would make it easy for me (being the lazy person I am  ). But since they have not done so, I just placed an order for the caller ID box linked in my previous post.

And yes, my TiVo is connected to a wireless network.


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## beerkensp (Dec 29, 2003)

> My TiVo won't pop popcorn.......what am I to do?


That is what the kick start code 111 is for. I heard that 8.4 will add a new Amazon service that will allow you to download the corn directly to your tivo.



> Kickstart code 6 2 - initialize E-SATA drive
> Kickstart code 5 1 - software upgrade
> Kickstart code 5 2 - emergency reinstall
> Kickstart code 5 3 - BER testing
> ...


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

ScubaCat said:


> This unit looks attractive, reasonably priced and functional.


Just ordered one. About 1/3 the price of the Ahern unit. Plus doesn't show the date (who needs the date displayed in their den?).

I'll post back here when I get it.


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## Noircogi (May 10, 2007)

I picked up this phone system a few days ago to use in my upstairs rooms.

Panasonic 5.8GHz Cordless Phone System with Digital Answering System and 4 Handsets 
Model: KX-TG6074B

(Sorry, I don't have enough posts to provide the URL)

It was very surpising when I found that it uses voice synthesis to speak the incoming caller-IDs. (All of the handsets do this, not just the base)

That seems a lot better than having it pop up on your Tivo to me.


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

Here's a device that overlays the Caller ID info into the video signal on your TV:










http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Phone-Accessories/Item/CTV/

...but it works over composite. This wouldn't work so well with the HD S3, obviously, but I liked the concept.


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## flipit (Aug 30, 2006)

Noircogi said:


> It was very surpising when I found that it uses voice synthesis to speak the incoming caller-IDs. (All of the handsets do this, not just the base)
> 
> That seems a lot better than having it pop up on your Tivo to me.


I have these Panasonic phones as well. I found that "voice caller ID", though interesting in theory, wasn't that great in practice. You'll likely be amused by some of the pronunciations...


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## Noircogi (May 10, 2007)

flipit said:


> I have these Panasonic phones as well. I found that "voice caller ID", though interesting in theory, wasn't that great in practice. You'll likely be amused by some of the pronunciations...


No kidding, my wife's been cracking up at how it pronounces the
NVIDIA CORP
that shows up when I call on my company-provided mobile phone.

She says it's something like: unveedeeeaaa see oh are pee


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

ScubaCat said:


> My phone is in the kitchen or bedroom. I don't have it right by my TV chair. Even if I took it off the charger and set it by my remote, it's hard to read in dim light. I would probably have to get up and turn on the light to read it. Sometimes even when I dash to the kitchen and read it, the stupid thing just says "Ringing". Duh! I know that! So I guess I either have to buy a better phone or get one of the caller-ID boxes listed above.
> 
> I would prefer it if TiVo would make it easy for me (being the lazy person I am  ). But since they have not done so, I just placed an order for the caller ID box linked in my previous post.
> 
> And yes, my TiVo is connected to a wireless network.


The last 3 cordless phones I've owned lit up the display when receiveing a call. I figured all the phones did this. My current cordless phones has a color display a funky animated graphics when you get a call, along with the caller ID.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Stanley Rohner said:


> Does the Series3 TiVo display caller ID information on the screen when a call comes in ?
> 
> I think I heard it didn't do that.
> 
> When these first came out they were $1000 to buy and it didn't have something so simple as screen caller ID displayed when someone calls you ?


Simple??? You want to buy a spool of cable and wire up your telephone to your TiVo so you can get caller ID? How is THAT simple?

Why would TiVo show caller ID? It's not a telephone.... I don't get it...


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

Adam1115 said:


> Simple??? You want to buy a spool of cable and wire up your telephone to your TiVo so you can get caller ID? How is THAT simple?
> 
> Why would TiVo show caller ID? It's not a telephone.... I don't get it...


The TV is the display you're most likely looking at, while in the family/living room. Makes more sense to have caller ID info there, than on a tiny screen on a phone base sitting on a shelf across the room, actually.

That way you can decide if you need to get up off the couch, or pick up the phone.

Pretty simple.


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

My book doesn't have caller ID, which I'm often looking at when the phone rings.

I'd gladly hook up my books to phone lines if they added this feature.


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## paul01463 (Jul 26, 2004)

AbMagFab said:


> My book doesn't have caller ID, which I'm often looking at when the phone rings.
> 
> I'd gladly hook up my books to phone lines if they added this feature.


Mine do - I read most of my stuff off a tablet pc - something like 2000 pieces (and growing) in a library I can take anywhere. Incoming calls are displayed on a pop-up window - the connection comes from the call management feature of my VoIP via 802.11 to my tablet. Now I can see whom I'm ignoring without having to lift my eyes from the page


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Adam1115 said:


> Why would TiVo show caller ID? It's not a telephone.... I don't get it...


That is where you eyes are most of the time. It would be nice to know if the incoming call was a telemarketer or a dear friend without having to pause the TV and get up for the phone. No one is suggesting that it should be a requirement, but we suggest it would surely be nice to have (and perhaps a competitive advantage to the device that can do it).


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Fofer said:


> Here's a device that overlays the Caller ID info into the video signal on your TV:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I use one of those on my whole house video distribution system. Caller ID on every TV in the house except the living room. In the LR we have the sets hooked up via HDMI so instead of changing inputs on the TV we got the Panasonic Talking Caller ID base unit with 3 handsets. I think we have all our Caller ID needs covered now.


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

Adam1115 said:


> Why would TiVo show caller ID? It's not a telephone.... I don't get it...


You probably don't get PIP or FSI either. But you do get yellow star ads, Yahoo weather and the other things that differentiate TiVo from competition, do you?
Simplistic answer to your question - because majority of people want it and because (almost) every single DVR made has it.
And every one of the DVRs that has it allows to to turn it off if for some reason you don't want to use it.


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## davew723 (Sep 28, 2006)

In the series 1 days this was possible. Then they locked things down.

Series 1 CallerID Hack
http://www.bah.org/~greg/tivo/


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## jlc (Jun 18, 2002)

NCID (Network Caller ID) does run on a series 3, but as indicated, you need to replace the PROM with one that was hacked so you could install the software. Information on all of this can be found at the other forum.


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## Stanley Rohner (Jan 18, 2004)

Adam1115 said:


> Simple??? You want to buy a spool of cable and wire up your telephone to your TiVo so you can get caller ID? How is THAT simple?


Most DVRs come with a phone cord so you don't have to buy a "spool of cable".


You connect one end of the phone cord into the phone jack, and the other end of the phone cord into the DVR. THAT's how it's simple.


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

Stanley Rohner said:


> Most DVRs come with a phone cord so you don't have to buy a "spool of cable".
> 
> 
> You connect one end of the phone cord into the phone jack, and the other end of the phone cord into the DVR. THAT's how it's simple.


I don't know about you, but my house is about as wired as they come... and phone jacks are pretty low on the priority list nowadays. Nothing needs them, except maybe a base phone (if you're even still using analog phones).

This is the silliest thread I've seen in a while...


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Fofer said:


> The TV is the display you're most likely looking at, while in the family/living room. Makes more sense to have caller ID info there, than on a tiny screen on a phone base sitting on a shelf across the room, actually.
> 
> That way you can decide if you need to get up off the couch, or pick up the phone.
> 
> Pretty simple.


Hmm. Well, my uniden cordless phone does a pretty good job of that without interrupting my tv show.. if it isn't someone important as designated by their custom ring, then I suppose I could pick up the cordless phone handset off of the TV tray in front of me and look at it... To have to look at "Unknown Caller" "Unknown Number" in big bold letters on top of the movie I'm watching every time a telemarketer calls, ugh...



Stanley Rohner said:


> Most DVRs come with a phone cord so you don't have to buy a "spool of cable".
> 
> 
> You connect one end of the phone cord into the phone jack, and the other end of the phone cord into the DVR. THAT's how it's simple.


While most home builders probably count on you putting a phone behind your TV, in my home the phone jack is about 100 feet from the TiVo, I don't think the cord supplied is long enough.

I don't know why the TiVo even has a phone jack. If it DID have caller id, it should say "Hello, the nineties are calling, they want their dial-up modem back..."



samo said:


> You probably don't get PIP or FSI either.


PIP- No desire to cut my 42" tv into two 21"'s...

FSI- It might as well say "Unlimited" since I have a terabyte of space.. But if it does get low, I'll know right away when the suggestions start getting low..


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## susani8 (Jan 14, 2006)

I had Dish Network connected to my S2 for a few years and initially had it set up to show Caller ID. However, it only took a couple of weeks to realize that it really wasn't a good idea. It will often take a week or so for me to get time to watch a show that has been recorded. It started to become extremely annoying having "John Doe - 555-1234" (or whatever) show up on the recording - he had called during the recording of the show, and was annoyingly useless by the time I watched it. The only time a caller ID would help is if you always watched real time TiVo - which ignores the best feature (commercial skipping). I'm voting :down: :down: to adding Caller ID!


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

susani8 said:


> I had Dish Network connected to my S2 for a few years and initially had it set up to show Caller ID. However, it only took a couple of weeks to realize that it really wasn't a good idea. It will often take a week or so for me to get time to watch a show that has been recorded. It started to become extremely annoying having "John Doe - 555-1234" (or whatever) show up on the recording - he had called during the recording of the show, and was annoyingly useless by the time I watched it. The only time a caller ID would help is if you always watched real time TiVo - which ignores the best feature (commercial skipping). I'm voting :down: :down: to adding Caller ID!


That's the dumbest implementation of on-screen Caller ID I've ever heard. It recorded the display with the recording???

The way it's worked for every other TiVo implementation (hack, etc.) is that it's just a temporary overlay, over whatever it is you're watching, and it's not recorded.


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## DonDon (Jan 14, 2007)

I had a (3) series 3 direcTivos and liked the Caller ID display that was installed with the zipper Hacks. It really seems silly to me why they would not have this feature, and have the ability to turn it off if so desired. That way EVERYONE is happy.

In my house, you never know where the stupid cordless phone is going to end up after the last person is done with it, so frequently you are having to pause the show, go find the phone, or wait for it to go to voicemail.

The phone base for my cordless system is sitting on the same cabinet as the Tivo, so it is not an ARDUOUS task to run that extra cable 3 feet to the Tivo.

Don


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

I bet you had to do some digging to find this dead thread.


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## JonathanMeyers (Dec 20, 2007)

With all of the Caller ID spoofing that is available now, it can't be relied on anyway.


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## jeffw_00 (Sep 19, 2000)

astrohip said:


> Just ordered one. About 1/3 the price of the Ahern unit. Plus doesn't show the date (who needs the date displayed in their den?).
> 
> I'll post back here when I get it.


These are great. I have one on top of my Big-screen TV. the guy actually provides great support as well. (I had one fail a couple of years back. shipped a new one next day).

CallerTV works, but not well if you're far (miles) from the CX. TV Messenger is better if you can still find one. However, both work only with composite (although CallerTV used to sell an S-Video insertion cable). I haven't found anything that works with Component or HDMI.

They should build it in. They already have the phone jack...


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## Johnwashere (Sep 17, 2005)

Will this work?: YAC - http://sunflowerhead.com/software/yac/


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## jeffw_00 (Sep 19, 2000)

doesn't look like it supports series 3


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

JonathanMeyers said:


> With all of the Caller ID spoofing that is available now, it can't be relied on anyway.


LOL, yeah. Because so many of us have received so many "spoofed" calls.


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

JonathanMeyers said:


> With all of the Caller ID spoofing that is available now, it can't be relied on anyway.


I've had no problem . . . .the worst I get is "unknown", which are rarely if ever answered and rarely if ever leave a message or have someone live on the other end. Spoof or otherwise, it's easy not to pick up if you don't recognize the name.

Anyway, count me among those who woudl like this feature.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

jeffw_00 said:


> doesn't look like it supports series 3


It doesn't. :down:


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Fofer said:


> LOL, yeah. Because so many of us have received so many "spoofed" calls.


Can't say it's been a major issue for me here.


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## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

my time warner cable box has caller ID


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

SugarBowl said:


> my time warner cable box has caller ID


How can I get one of those?


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## hawj (Mar 19, 2009)

SugarBowl said:


> my time warner cable box has caller ID


Mine does too, I'm interested if it is sent from the headend and paired by TW between the VOIP base for my 2 lines and the cablecard devices in my house, it's definately pulling the informaiton from the coax because my TW supplied DVR I use in the bedroom has no ethernet or phone cable pluged into it, only the coax.

Anyone know the protocol this service runs over? its gotta be a standard that Tivo could start interfacing with.


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## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

My Comcast box has caller ID too and I don't even need to hook up a phone cable to it. 

Actually Comcast also has a program that I can install on my PC that gives me caller ID info so it's probably possible to make a HME app on the TiVo that displays caller ID info, but since HME apps don't overlay on top of live TV or recording playback there really wouldn't be much point.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

My cousin has this feature and no phone line needed as he has the cable system phone and cable service, caller ID comes onto his TV using the cable box, no extra wires, just turn the feature on (or off) on the DVR cable box. Does not get recorded on his cable DVR. He is using a smaller cable co, I don't remember the name (not Comcast or Coxes). This is a very easy way to implement this feature as it no extra cost and works using a HDMI cable connection.


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## kb7oeb (Jan 18, 2005)

Tivo forum is hilarious, every time someone posts a feature they would like to see there are always dozens of posts of why that feature would be stupid and just because most every other DVR has the feature, Tivo is superior in some way by not having it.



lcann44 said:


> Do people still use their phones to hook up their S3? How 20th Century.
> 
> I saw this thread last night and I kind of thought it would turn out fun. First I couldn't connect my S3 through my phone because I use Vonage (yes, I know there is a way to do it but I can't, long story) and second I just can't imagine having a house anymore without a wireless network.


Since the Tivo would only be reading the caller id data it does not matter that you can't call home via vongage.



Fofer said:


> That's the dumbest implementation of on-screen Caller ID I've ever heard. It recorded the display with the recording???
> 
> The way it's worked for every other TiVo implementation (hack, etc.) is that it's just a temporary overlay, over whatever it is you're watching, and it's not recorded.


If the Dish box has on screen caller id enabled and a S2 tivo is recording from it of course it will record the OSD, the satellite DVRs work the same as the Tivo caller id hack.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

morac said:


> but since HME apps don't overlay on top of live TV or recording playback there really wouldn't be much point.


that was a real gap that TiVo did not provide a way to overlay - so much could be done if they had added that feature. TiVoPony did say in some long past post that TiVo looked into that but some issue made them not include the ability in HME.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

JWThiers said:


> I bet you had to do some digging to find this dead thread.


Nope -- all he had to do was hit the "New thread" button and type something about Caller ID as his subject. Then the forum software would suggest various old threads for him to post in instead. It's not a bad idea in general, but it does lead to necromancy.


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

wmcbrine said:


> Nope -- all he had to do was hit the "New thread" button and type something about Caller ID as his subject. Then the forum software would suggest various old threads for him to post in instead. It's not a bad idea in general, but it does lead to necromancy.


I hadn't noticed that, but then again I haven't started a thread in a while.


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## nmccainjr (May 23, 2008)

Why does it have option to turn on or off caller id display in the settings?


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