It's mid-2012 and in order for me to submit claims to Medicare, I've been forced to use a MODEM.  No... not a DSL Modem but a Modulator-Demodulator; one of those boxes that actually uses sounds to transmit data over the telephone lines.

Of course, my house is technically update with Voice Over IP (VoIP) lines.  It's been about 8 years since I've had a Plain Old Telephone (POTs) line and replaced it with Ooma.

The problem...  MODEM and VOIP do not play well together!  In order to get data sent over VOIP line, you must slow your MODEM's communication speed down to 9600 baud.  It took me 3 hours to find the right modem string to limit the modem to 9600 baud.  It is:

• AT +MS=V32,0,9600

Of all the web pages I scoured, this one came the closest to providing me the answer:

• How to set the PC modem to 9600 baud

Once I had the actual command, I was able to search Google for "+MS=V32,0,9600". I see there are a lot of pages with good information about setting your modem speed.

Specifically for the Ooma, you have to do two more things to make your MODEM work over their VOIP:

1. Your MODEM must be connected directly to the back of the Telo.  They say this in their manual.  I tried piping the MODEM's analog signal around my house and it just wouldn't work.  I had to plug directly into the back of the Telo for my connection to get established.
2. You must change the Compression/Decompression Module (CODEC) on the Telo.  The CODEC that it defaults to when you talk does not do well when when making a fax or MODEM call.  To switch to the CODEC for MODEMs, be sure to put a *99, (star-nine-nine-comma) before the phone number.

Good luck and I hope no one ever has to use MODEMs again!