Can Excel dial a phonenumber from a cell?

[Anders]

Is it possible to make Excel dial a phonenumber from a
cell?

Does it require a special script or macro, and if so,
does anyone know where I can find one?

Best,

Anders

[Tom Ogilvy]

John Walkenback previously posted this :

From: John Walkenbach (jo...@j-walk.com)
Subject: Re: Callable phone numbers in cells
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.excel.misc
View complete thread
Date: 2000-12-22 10:08:02 PST

Here's some code from my "Excel 2000 Power Programming With VBA" book. It
uses SendKeys to transfer a phone number to the Windows Dialer program.

Sub CellToDialer()
' Transfers active cell contents to Dialer
' And then dials the phone

' Get the phone number
CellContents = ActiveCell.Value
If CellContents = "" Then
MsgBox "Select a cell that contains a phone number."
Exit Sub
End If

' Activate (or start) Dialer
Appname = "Dialer"
AppFile = "Dialer.exe"
On Error Resume Next
AppActivate (Appname)
If Err <> 0 Then
Err = 0
TaskID = Shell(AppFile, 1)
If Err <> 0 Then MsgBox "Can't start " & AppFile
End If

' Transfer cell contents to Dialer
Application.SendKeys "%n" & CellContents, True

' Click Dial button
Application.SendKeys "%d"
' Application.SendKeys "{TAB}~", True
End Sub

John Walkenbach
For Excel tips, macros, & downloads...
http://j-walk.com/ss

========<End>======

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

Anders <anders....@get2net.dk> wrote in message
news:012501c39680$66dc74d0$a601...@phx.gbl...

[anders....@get2net.dk]

Hi tom,

Thanks for the script. How do I add it to my worksheet,
and how do I activate it, when working with a list of
phonenumbers?

Cheers,

Anders

>.
>

[Dave Peterson]

Take a look at David McRitchie's site:
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/getstarted.htm
to find out how to work with macros.

short lesson.
Open your workbook.
hit alt-f11 to get to the VBE (where macros live)
hit ctrl-R to see the project explorer
select your project (should look like: VBAProject (yourfilename))
Click on Insert|Module (not class module)
You'll see another window (called the code window) open up.

Paste that macro right in there.
Go back to excel
Save your workbook (just in case)
Select the cell you want to dial and
click on tools|macro|macros...
and run CelltoDialer.

==
You might find this easier for running it:
Freeze row 1 so that it's always visible.
put a button from the forms toolbar in row 1 (so it'll be visible)

When you're asked for the macro name, give it celltodialer. (or you can
rightclick on the button and select assign macro later.)

then just select your cell and click the button.

--

Dave Peterson
ec3...@msn.com

[Tom Ogilvy]

With only your workbook open
in Excel, do Alt+F11 to get to the vbe. then do Insert=>Module,
Paste the code in that module

Now go to your worksheet (Alt+F11 again) and select a cell with a phone
number. Then do Tools=>Macro=>Macros. Select CelltoDialer and click run.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

<anders....@get2net.dk> wrote in message
news:02fa01c39687$48da18f0$a301...@phx.gbl...

[Anders]

Dave,

thanks, I'm almost there now. Everything works, except
for the dialer actually dialing the number.

the dialer opens and gives the "error sound" and nothing
happens. How can I find out if the "%d" is actually the
right command to send the dialer to make it perform what
the script comment calls "click dial button"?

Best,

A

>.
>

[anders....@get2net.dk]

Tom,

thanks, I'm almost there now. Everything works, except
for the dialer actually dialing the number.

the dialer opens and gives the "error sound" and nothing
happens. How can I find out if the "%d" is actually the
right command to send the dialer to make it perform what
the script comment calls "click dial button"?

Best,

A

>.
>

[Tom Ogilvy]

%d is ALT-d

Open the dialer manually and try duplicating what the script is sending and
see if it works.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

<anders....@get2net.dk> wrote in message
news:034901c3968f$c582cfc0$a301...@phx.gbl...

[Dave Peterson]

The %d and %n aren't associated with your number. The % sign is used with
Sendkeys to represent the alt-key.

So %d is alt-d (which is the accelerator key for Dial (inside Dialer)).

But I think I've read posts that some versions of windows didn't like using
dialer (but I could be wrong on that).

Orlando Magalhães Filho posted a windows API version that you may want to try:

http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=eOFAoRbkBHA.2448%40tkmsftngp02

(I use win98 and Windows start button|Run|Dialer pops open the dialing applet.
I could type a phone number there and hit the Dial button to verify that it
actually worked. You'll see the Dial button pop up when you put something in
the number to dial box. Notice the underscore under Dial on the button. %d.)

--

Dave Peterson
ec3...@msn.com

[anon...@discussions.microsoft.com]

Tom,

Pressing ALT-d gives the same "error sound",But I still
have no clue about what shortcut key, or comand that will
trigger the actual dial

A

>.
>

[Tom Ogilvy]

Dave gave you a link to an API based approach that was previously posted.
Try that.

Insert a new module and paste in the code.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

<anon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:035901c39692$121259d0$a301...@phx.gbl...

[Anders]

Tom,

I tried the code Dave sent me, but it turned up an syntax
error. I use Win XP & TAPI 3.0 dialer, maybe the code was
desinged specifically for 98 (maybe it doesn't make a
difference) Anyway, I'm still halfway there, any
suggestions on where to find other sripts, or how to
proceed ?

Thanks

Anders

>.
>

[Anders]

dave,

thank you for the link. unfortunately it has a syntax
error, and doesn't work. I use Win Xp and TAPI 3.0
dialer, maybe that's where the problem is?

Any suggestions on how to find other scripts or resources
that can help me?

Best,

Anders

>.
>

[Dave Peterson]

Look at google and search for "CelltoDialer" and API inside the *excel*
newsgroups.

I got two hits. This current thread and this one:
http://groups.google.com/groups?threadm=OudR3BfzCHA.640%40TK2MSFTNGP12

Which seemed like a very nice quick and dirty method. (Jim Cone just copied the
Dialer.* files from an older version of windows to his pc.)

If that doesn't work, search for "dial phone number". I got 191 hits with that.

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=dial+phone+number+group%3A*excel*

--

Dave Peterson
ec3...@msn.com

[anon...@discussions.microsoft.com]

Dave,

I found a solution in one of your links. Thanks

A

>.
>

[Dave Peterson]

You may want to post back with the URL of the thread. (It may help the next
person.)

--

Dave Peterson
ec3...@msn.com