USB Phone

Want to talk to people through your computer but are sick of using those cheap headsets out there? Do you want that unique, styled, classic look in a USB phone? The standard Singapore-slung mic/line input knockoffs are so unsexy. Look no futher, this how-to guide will show you how to make a Western Electric 2600 headset telephone work with your computer using USB.

Step 1 Dismantle a headset

For this project we used a Logitech PS2 USB headset, available at finer retail stores or eBay. Logitech is very good about making universal drivers, so you can use this on a Mac or a PC in the end. Good to know, ey? Anyways, take it apart by removing the 'feet' of the square unit located on the cord. Use a philips screwdriver to remove the screws from it and take the unit apart with your hands. You will find the chip inside, and this is what we need from this. Cut off the two ends of the cords and ditch the rest of the headset, you won't need it for this project.

Comments

[Finrod Tiwele]

Ok Question for you, could you use this idea to simply put a connector on the end that could plug into any handset? Reason I ask is I have a wired plantronics 900mhz headset that simply plugs into my phone's handset port and I would like to take advantage of VOIP on my computer but not giving up my range for my wireless headset. Bluetooth just doesnt cut it.

[Yerboogieman]

Thats too much work, i'd rather a regular headset than a USB

[ScubaSteve]

Hmm...Im on dial up here. I wonder if i can make a version of this that i can use. Oh yeah. I an fust plug the thing into the freakin modem! no modifications required. Dial up is so dumb.

[cbak]

For less money, work and wire go to thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/8928/ I like to build things to save money :-)

[mac_hackr]

KILLER steampunk invention, man! Genius!

[kokos]

Broadband video phone: Not quite tuchy feely but getting there. Information on <a href="http://phonevideo.net">video phone</a> and phone software video.

[Cbrown]

i want to do this but i don't want to buy a "playstation headset" first! this is not possible because there is a chip of some sort in the headset that my computer will recognize right? if not, why can't we somehow wire the usb into the origional phone's mic and speaker?

[noelix]

Logitech makes their headsets compatible with a lot of platforms, and are pretty good about supplying the drivers. Therefore the logitech board will work when plugged into Windows or Mac. If you wanted to try and connect the usb to the original phone's mic and speaker, good luck! You'd need to construct your own circuit board.

[ssinghal]

It is not reply but a Q Please help I have wired USB Phone model# ex-B, I can use it with SKYPE #xxx xxx xxxx and talk, In yahoo messenger I set to uspb phone I could hear the testing sound but I am not sure it heard my voice. I could not dial from the phone. may be the dialing method is seq different. would you please advise thx.

[eclipse412]

another thought, what if you used the base idea w/ hub in it and took the numbers off the base and replaced it with a external number pad, so you can dial w/ it too.

[eclipse412]

oh like the idea about the base. how about fitting the base with a usb hub that way it could take the thumb drives for the software or what ever else you want. I also like the idea about putting a hub in the hand set, say out the top that way it kind of looks like an antenna.

[radiorental]

Nice work, you may have discovered that MICs can be polarised. Its best to use the mic that came with the logitech board and remove the mic that came with the handset. My gut feeling is the MIC in the handset will generate a much larger signal than the tiny mic that was in the logitech headset, you can certainly tune down the input volume on the OS, but maybe the A2D circuit on the pcb will crap out at some point (when you're shouting at the credit card salesperson to #$% ^off)

[noelix]

We ditched the mic that came with the phone but kept the speaker that came with it. We got a little mic from radio shack that was easy enough to solder on.

[cokebottle tuque]

it might also be cool to shoehorn a usb hub and flashcard in to the handset, then load the flash card up with some portable voip software and drivers for the head set. you would then be able to plug it in to any computer with internet access and place calls.

[DiamondBack]

I LIKE this idea! Do up a how-to, and post it up, here

[Ravensong]

Very Nice! I think it would be cool to keep the base part of the phone, ignoring its contents, and route the usb cable through the base, then to your computer, so it looks like a regular old-school phone sitting on your desk.

[darkmotion]

Sweet idea :)