If youre online using a dialup Internet connection, youll probably want to download one of the free call alert software applications like Callwave or AOL Call Alert that can answer, record, and forward incoming calls to your home, office or cell phone. In fact, if you run a small business, Call Wave also offers a dedicated business fax service too. These software offerings are fully reviewed online at http://www.callalertreviews.com.

Call alerts are important if you live in rural area or simply cant afford access to faster online connection speeds. In that case, you may want to consider using these alert services to avoid the cost of a second phone line while having the power to decide when and how to answer incoming phone messages.

Stay Online and Stop Missing Calls

The real benefit of an alert service is you dont miss important calls especially if you have kids who are constantly online.

Another benefit is that you hear whos calling while you're online without having to pick up the phone.

With alert software on your computer, when a call comes in youll get an alert window on your desktop that tells you when you have an incoming call. Think of this as electronic telegram for phone calls. These alerts can be customized too. You can choose to receive an email alert with the Caller ID of whoever calls so that youre not bothered with alert windows. You can also configure this feature to notify you of calls that came in while you were online. This added feature gives you a list of calls you received.

In addition to having call notifications sent to your email, alert services gives you the choice of sending alerts to your cell phone if its enable for text-messaging.

I personally like the added power of being able to screen incoming messages. I get alerts forwarded to my work email when Im at the office and get a call at home. Its really a neat call service feature that shows the phone number, name and time of when someone called.

Of course, you can also use the alert you download to block telemarketing calls too. The free alert service automatically requests the removal of your phone number from these telemarketer phone lists. This a great free benefit of using these services.

Heres a summary of the alerts core features:

TAKE THE CALL: Lets you take important calls while you're online.

TAKE A MESSAGE: Your callers can leave you a message up to your set message length.

MESSAGE ALERTING AND DELIVERY: Have alerts sent to your email or cell phone. You can even have messages delivered to your email.

PRIVACY MANAGEMENT: Blocks telemarketers, and gives you the power to know who's calling even if their caller ID isn't available.

CALLER GREETING You can personalize your outgoing message by recording your own name or greeting.

How Call Alerts Work and What they Cost

There are free 30 day trials that I encourage you try so that you can decide whether or not you want theses service. After that, most of the call notification services run about $5.95 per month with additional charges of approximately $1.00 from local phone companies for call forwarding.

The technology behind the alerts is actually pretty simple and these software applications works instantly without having to buy or install other hardware. You don't need to be a computer nerd to smoothly run these services. Heres an easy overview:

1. First, get a reliable Internet service provider or ISP. I recommend downloading Netzero or Netscape Internet service.

2. If you already have an ISP, its time to download your free alert software. This takes about 1 to 2 minutes. I recommend Call Wave but you may also want to try AOL alert service too.

3. Restart your computer. The applications will automatically generate a welcome window.

4. Follow the simple window messaging to customize your software.

It's really that simple. So, if youre tired of missed calls, it may be time to do a little comparison-shopping to find the right alert service for you.