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Need help turning old payphone into dial-an-mp3 display
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Funvoyager:
Hi all
I hope I'm posting in the right group.
I'm a therapist and want to put an old payphone in my waiting room that "plays" mp3 files through the handset activated either by lifting receiver and or pressing the dialpad numbers.
This is an art project mostly. I'd like patients in waiting room to lift receiver and hear positive affirmations, stories, comedy routines, etc.

I bought a payphone off ebay and I figure id use something like an iPod to store audio files on "shuffle" mode activated somehow to play to each track.  Not sure if I should have a mechanical or electronic solution.  When people lift receiver and listen, it should play a random audio until hanging up or perhaps press any digit to shuffle through random sound files. 
This should be low tech or reasonably doable for a non electronics person (me) to do.
anyone who can offer advice would be appreciated!!!
Thanks?? :)
sled:
Hey there,

most audio players like the iPod have a multi-function headphone jack that allows play/pause, track control and volume to be adjusted. I'd take one of these "headset remote controls" apart and solder extension wires to the buttons on the payphone. However basic electronics and soldering skills are needed, maybe check for a local hacker/makerspace close by that can help you.
Funvoyager:
Wow that's a great idea!

That opens up the possibility of buttons being dedicated to certain functions like "for list of local support groups, press one, techniques on mindfulness, suicide prevention, etc., Press two, humor/positive messages, press three, lectures or podcasts, four..." And so on

If I can figure this out I'll post pics of it in the projects section in case anyone is interested.

 If this is beyond my scope and I have to hire someone to do this, if you or anyone reading this knows where to advertise for unusual jobs like this, please let me know.

I'm in falls church Virginia.

Thanks for those great tips!

Cheers
John

skarecrow:
Was it telco owned phone (Verizon, Bell South, Nynex, etc.) or a COCOT (customer owned coin operated telephone)? That could make a difference in how you should go about achieving your goal.

I've always loved payphones and used to own a COCOT myself until an ex-roommate screwed me over after begging me to let him borrow it. I would LOVE to see the progress of this project.

One idea for you... assuming you can get inside the phone, there should be plenty of room to fit a small DTMF decoder and a Raspberry pi. Have the pi control the functions and playlist. This should be MUCH easier than trying to control it by splicing in one of those button remote things, and it'll keep the true feeling of using the phone. The person would still hear the normal sounds of the buttons. This way your only limits are your imagination. You could even have games on it, let your patients check in or create new appointments, the list goes on. You could even have it do things if someone inserts a coin, as most pay phones send a tone (or series of 2 or 5 tones for dime and quarter) over the line to signal the telco what coin was inserted.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

Funvoyager:
Hey - thanks for those great ideas!  I love preserving the "feel" of the payphone's tones and the ding from depositing coins.  Good idea about the coin sounds.  Probably doesn't have a key though so I'd have to figure out how to return the coin or I could donate the coins to a local charity that appeals to my client base. 

Shipping costs on this payphone were $66.  It's pretty heavy - more so than I expected.  I'll be unpacking it this afternoon so, hopefully, I'll be able to answer your question about which type or company this payphone came from. 

I'll post pics here and if I can figure out how to open the actual phone up, I'll post pics of the guts and subsequent upgrades with some of the suggestions you all are providing.  Now that I think about it, I'll probably have to find some special tools but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

More later...

 ;D
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