call blocker device suggestions?

[Don Y]

On 3/29/2015 12:18 PM, Mark Lloyd wrote:

On 03/29/2015 12:34 PM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:

[snip]

Assuming USA, assuming landline.
Add sit.wav to the beginning of your answer message.
It cut robo calls by about 30%. Some robo calls go right
to a recorded message and never hear the sit.wav though.
Or just use sit.wav as an answer message and nothing else.
Doing that not only confuses robo machines but confuses
humans, too, and they hang up.

And you don't get calls from real people you want or need to talk to.

People who *know* you and your practices adapt easily.

Where you get screwed is the folks who contact you only occasionally.
Or, who may "vary" with each contact (e.g., someone calling from
your doctor's office, the public library, a friend who's forgotten
this idiosyncrasy, etc.)

That;s why its better to engage them interactively. Someone
from your doctor's office is more likely to "comply" with some
minor inconvenience in contacting you ("Please press 3")
than they would "remember" the service disconnected message.

Anyway, I've been hearing about this use of SIT for a long time now. Wouldn't
the robocaller machines been adapted already?

If you answer on a low ring count, there's no real way they can
differentiate between a genuine message and a spoof. And,
what do they do if they *suspect* it isn't genuine? Remain on the
line and see if the message repeats? Or, if the connection is
dropped?

Ideally, you are "listening" during the outgoing message (announcement)
so legitimate callers can short-circuit the message and get to
the *real* answering machine (or, cause a ring-thru).

While most of these firms are annoying, it really wouldn't be *smart* for
them to persist. If you've gone to these lengths, it's because you are
UNLIKELY to ever accept any of their "offers".

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

Mark Lloyd wrote:

On 03/29/2015 12:34 PM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:

[snip]

Assuming USA, assuming landline.
Add sit.wav to the beginning of your answer message.
It cut robo calls by about 30%. Some robo calls go right
to a recorded message and never hear the sit.wav though.
Or just use sit.wav as an answer message and nothing else.
Doing that not only confuses robo machines but confuses
humans, too, and they hang up.

And you don't get calls from real people you want or need to talk to.

Correct. Inform the few that you really need or want to talk to.
The rest can hang up. Those that know me can call my cell phone.

Anyway, I've been hearing about this use of SIT for a long time now.
Wouldn't the robocaller machines been adapted already?

Yes. Many just start in with their message and the answering
machine starts recording. That includes my dentist's office as I
found out last week. However, it knocked out about 30% or so of
the junk calls and all calls from real live beggars.
I have the answering machine to not ring at all.

 

[Vic Smith]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:12:53 -0400, bill ashford <billa!x@top.com>
wrote:

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

Why would nobody be on the line? Doesn't make sense unless it's
harassment.
Change your phone number.

 

[Dave Platt]

In article <ySTn02F3I$FVFwxf@soft255.demon.co.uk>,
J. P. Gilliver (John) <G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk> wrote:

If it isn't already, you could pester your councillor/senator/whatever
to have similar legislation passed there.

Such call are, in general, already illegal in the United States, and
have been for some years.

Robo-dialing and the playing of automated announcements are not
permitted. Making marketing calls to people who have registered their
phone number on the "Do Not Call" list is explicitly illegal.

The law has next to no teeth, though. It is rare for the authorities
to actually prosecute cases - it takes a *lot* of complaints to
pressure them into doing the "legwork" needed to trace back these
sorts of calls to the originator(s), and gather the evidence needed to
secure a criminal conviction or a civil fine.

If I recall, the law does give the offended consumer (who receives
such calls) the right of private action - i.e. the right to file a
lawsuit in civil court against the marketer. Unfortunately (as with
junk fakes) it is both difficult and expensive to track down the
offender, collect proof that s/he was the one who called, identify the
business or business owner, file suit, serve the suit, go to court,
make your case, win, get a judgement, and then actually collect.

A lot of these calls come from "boiler room" telemarketing operations,
which can set up and shut down on a moment's notice. By using Voice
over IP they can make calls to anywhere, from anywhere, with excellent
anonymity. And, a fair number of such calls are now originated from
outside the U.S., so applying the TCPA law becomes almost impossible.

In the meantime, I presume
there _is_ at least some mechanism for reporting "nuisance callers",
though like here it was probably set up to deal with heavy breathers and
the like. Otherwise, the suggestion of an answerphone set on speaker
sounds like a good compromise for now.

A couple of years ago, I switched my wife's business landline over
from a dedicated hard-line to a voice-over-IP provider. The incoming
call comes to an Asterisk server I run. It has a multi-layer defense
against junk calls:

- Any call which is on our private "blacklist" is immediately
rejected with a "CONGESTION" error.

- Calls from outside our local area codes go to a "Please wait to
be connected" voice message, and then a 10-to-15 second delay
before the phone / answering machine are rung. This gets rid of
a lot of junk calls - they don't hang on the line long enough
to get past the delay.

- I can dial "666" from any of our VoIP phones, and the system will
read back the number of the last call on her line. I can then hit
"6" to add it to the blacklist. If I head a ring-no-answer from
her office I call 666, write down the number, run a quick Web check
to see if there are telemarketing complaints against it, and if so,
call back and "6" it to the blacklist.

I'm strongly tempted to add an automatic Web lookup to the
"telemarketing complaint" web site, while the call is still in
progress (or immediately after) and blacklist numbers that have been
mentioned repeatedly or recently.

Unfortunately, none of the above helps with our main home land-line,
which is still olde-fashioned analog (I don't want to get rid of it as
it's pretty certain to work even during a power failure or Internet
outage).

 

[Frank]

On 3/29/2015 9:40 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:

On 3/29/2015 9:09 AM, Frank wrote:
On 3/29/2015 8:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Mention of Verizon (and $) suggests you are in US, so this probably
won't help, but: in UK, silent calls are illegal, and the originator can
suffer quite a large fine.


Apparently very bad in UK too.
Guy there told me he had his number changed it was so bad.


What advantage is that? The machines will call
the new number, also.

-
.
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
. www.lds.org
.
.

That's right, eventually.
Robo dialers just call everybody.

 

[Tim Wescott]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 13:23:57 +0100, N_Cook wrote:

On 29/03/2015 13:12, bill ashford wrote:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where
no one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many.
Then there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the
person being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag
seems a bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I
just use DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will
have to work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there
any number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

An answerphone message machine, just set on outgoing message and
speakerphone mode for any incoming call, and tell your friends about it,
so they can ignore it and not hang up, but keep the line open until
someone gets to the phone.

+1. Get the kind that plays the incoming caller on a speaker, and listen
for valid calls. The only feature that I'd want to add to such a setup is
a "hangup" button, although most robo-calls detect answering machines and
cut off.

Our current cordless phones also read out the Caller ID. The voice
synthesis is awful, but after a while you get to understand their mangled
version of the names of various friends and family members.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

 

[Mayayana]

| But there are other choices, even less expensive than what you pay.
| For example I use PhonePower and pay them about $5 a month.
|

That's VoIP. We're talking about real phones.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 10:10:13 -0400, "Mayayana"
<mayayana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

| in UK, silent calls are illegal, and the originator can
| suffer quite a large fine.
|
| If it isn't already, you could pester your councillor/senator/whatever
| to have similar legislation passed there.

We actually have pretty good protection in the US,
in theory.
A few years ago there was a federal Do-Not-Call
list and also a state version where I could register
a complaint. Advertisers were not allowed to call
registered numbers. Now the state version is closed
and the federal version seems to be a joke, with no
enforcement. I probably get 2-3 junk calls per day.
I gave up complaining about them. I just use an
answering machine with Caller ID.

That was just a small portion of the "Change" that Obummer has given
us that we didn't want.

Citizen protection from corporate exploitation
has gone *way* downhill in the US. I just read
the other day that Google lost an effort in Britan
to stop Safari users from suing over privacy due
to Google bypassing all cookie settings to track
people.
http://bgr.com/2015/03/27/google-lawsuit-safari-cookies/

Apparently they hacked a Safari bug to spy on
people. Google claimed that resulting privacy
lawsuits in Britain should be thrown out because
the people spied on didn't lose any money!
I thought that was a great example of the
difference between European civility and American
corporatocracy. It's classic American thinking:
Anything that makes money can't be wrong.

Our allegedly liberal president Clinton pushed
through NAFTA, which boils down to a free ticket
for American corporations to exploit foregin labor
and avoid American labor costs. Our allegedly liberal
president Obama is now pushing a similar agreement
in Asia.
With friends like that, who needs Republican
oligarchs?

You may not want oligarchs, neither do I, but you probably voted for
the all mighty supreme leader who rules without regard for our
constitution, the will of the people or the safety of our country.

We have a similarly problematic sitution with
telephone service accounts. They're no longer regulated
as a utility for all practical purposes. My own phone
company is raising my rate next month. There's nothing
I can do.

Nobody is holding a gun to your head demanding you continue with that
company are they. You are free to choose any provider you wish.

I checked into it last time they raised the rate.
They're free to set any rate they like. In theory I could
switch to another company, but that company is Verizon
and the two companies keep their offerings matched.
As with highspeed cable, there isn't any real competition.

With both landlines and cellphones there's no
longer any way to actually find out what the
plans and prices are. There's no set price. It's all
devolved into a flim flam operation, like used cars.
They charge what they think they can get away
with. Here in the colonies we have to depend on the civility
of European law to police "cowboy" American corporations.
It's our only hope.

You poor, poor, helpless child.

 

[Smarty]

Big_Al <Big_al@invalid.com> wrote:

G. Ross wrote on 3/29/2015 9:06 AM:
bill ashford wrote:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

I have been using This Pro Call Blocker for several years and it works
as long as a phone number shows up on caller ID.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Call-Blocker-Caller-ID-Screener-NEWEST-VERSION-V2-2-N2-/181572369568?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a468e7ca0


I gotta ask, just how does a machine like this 'block' the call. If
this unit is tied in parallel to the phone you have then as the call
comes in, it would ring on both your phone and this unit. Or do you
plug your phone into it first?

And what about the 4 extensions in the rest of the house?

Just curious, I've thought about something like this too.
I've also seen the nomorobo http://www.nomorobo.com/signup for sign up and
http://www.nomorobo.com/ for home page.

Monotonous is excellent and free if your carrier supports simultaneous 2
number ringing AND you can live with a single annoying ring for each
nuisance caller it recognizes.

 

[Smarty]

Susan Bugher <sebugher@yahoo.com> wrote:

On 3/29/2015 8:12 AM, bill ashford wrote:

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

Using a "SIT tone" might help:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_information_tones#Other_uses
"In telephony, a special information tone (SIT) is an in-band
international standard signal consisting of three rising tones indicating
a call has failed. It usually precedes a recorded announcement describing the problem
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_information_tones#Other_uses
"Because many predictive dialers (used in telemarketing) respond to SITs,
consumer devices such as the TeleZapper play an Intercept SIT to trick
the telemarketer's equipment into flagging a called number as disconnected.

Alternatively, the above recordings of SITs could be used on a voicemail
or answering machine, or played manually on a computer, to achieve a similar effect."

Susan
--

Tried this method for a few months with very limited success. Switched to
nomiribo and mostly eliminated my problem. Bought a $90 Teleblocker and
problem totally solved.

 

[David E. Ross]

On 3/29/2015 1:09 PM, Vic Smith wrote:

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:12:53 -0400, bill ashford <billa!x@top.com
wrote:

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

Why would nobody be on the line? Doesn't make sense unless it's
harassment.
Change your phone number.

You did not read my earlier reply.

A robocall is initiated by a computer, not a person. When you answer,
the computer is supposed to connect you to a live pitchman. Sometimes,
however, the call center is understaffed, which means there is no
available pitchman. If you stay on the line and repeatedly say "Hello",
you might eventually connect to a live person.

--
David E. Ross

Why do we tolerate political leaders who
spend more time belittling hungry children
than they do trying to fix the problem of
hunger? <http://mazon.org/>

 

[Dave Platt]

In article <ujmghadklb76hjej8j8rvs2d3c2stf5bn1@4ax.com>,
Vic Smith <thismailautodeleted@comcast.net> wrote:

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers.

Why would nobody be on the line? Doesn't make sense unless it's
harassment.

Quite a lot of these callers are using predictive or "robo-dialing"
systems. Their computer system calls phone numbers, and tries to
detect the presence of a "human answer" - somebody who picks up and
says "Hello?" or something like that.

Only when the computer detects a human answer, does it start playing
its recorded sales pitch, or ring the call through to a human
telemarketer who reads the pitch. If the computer detects what sounds
like an answering machine message, it just hangs up. If the computer
detects a human answer, but all of the human telemarketers are busy
annoying other consumers, the computer hangs up.

In some other cases, the telemarketers seem to be making short calls
(with no content) in the hope that people will see the "missed call"
indication on their Caller ID system, and call back... at which point
the marketer tries their sales pitch. This may be a somewhat feeble
attempt to avoid the Do Not Call list, because the marketer didn't
*technically* make a sales call to the consumer (just a call with no
message) and the consumer ended up calling the marketer back and is
thus "fair game" for a sales pitch.

>Change your phone number.

Since many of these robo-dialers work their way through whole ranges
of phone numbers, doing so won't help much.

 

[Mayayana]

| Nobody is holding a gun to your head demanding you continue with that
| company are they. You are free to choose any provider you wish.
|

No. That's the point. As I explained and you apparently
missed, there are two options. They both charge the same
rate. Like most neighborhoods, there's a duopoly that's
functionally a monopoly. (Many people don't even have that
much "choice".)

There was an interesting article this past week about
a software developer who's selling his new house because
he can't get cable service, despite officially having a
choice of several companies. It throws some light on the
effects of the pro-big-business, anti-citizen position you're
espousing:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/new-homeowner-selling-house-because-he-cant-get-comcast-internet/

An interesting detail of that story is that the man lives
in one of 20 states where lobbyists have managed to
get laws passed prohibiting municipal broadband service
being sold to individuals. It so happens that there is a
municipal line running near the man's house, but it's illegal
for them to give him service. That would be "unfair
competition"!

 

[Gordon Shumway]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 21:14:15 -0400, "Mayayana"
<mayayana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

| Nobody is holding a gun to your head demanding you continue with that
| company are they. You are free to choose any provider you wish.
|

No. That's the point. As I explained and you apparently
missed, there are two options. They both charge the same
rate. Like most neighborhoods, there's a duopoly that's
functionally a monopoly. (Many people don't even have that
much "choice".)

There are more than those two options as others have pointed out. You
said you didn't want VOIP. Well, that was one choice you made. Another
choice you have is to have no phone at all.

Be that as it may, the market will seek it's own level and the
consumers will continue to pay what is charged until they feel the
price is too high. It's the old supply and demand thing.

Previously you complained about Citizen protection from corporate
exploitation has gone way downhill in the US. Cite some examples of
this exploitation. From the current administration I'm only seeing
exploitation from the government. That will change

There was an interesting article this past week about
a software developer who's selling his new house because
he can't get cable service, despite officially having a
choice of several companies. It throws some light on the
effects of the pro-big-business, anti-citizen position you're
espousing:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/new-homeowner-selling-house-because-he-cant-get-comcast-internet/

An interesting detail of that story is that the man lives
in one of 20 states where lobbyists have managed to
get laws passed prohibiting municipal broadband service
being sold to individuals. It so happens that there is a
municipal line running near the man's house, but it's illegal
for them to give him service. That would be "unfair
competition"!

 

[Bob]

On 3/29/2015 12:11, Zaidy036 wrote:

NoMoRobo allows one ring thru and then cancels the call for identified
calls of this type.

In order to use NoMoRobo your phone service needs to have a "follow-me"
where incoming calls will ring on your phone and other predetermined
phones simultaneously. NoMoRobo keeps a database of "undesired" numbers
and when such a number shows up on your caller ID the call gets answered
by NoMoRobo, so you hear only one ring. It doesn't intercept all
undesirable calls, but it's a good start -- and it's free.

 

[ChairMan]

Mark Lloyd <not@mail.invalid> wrote:

On 03/29/2015 08:40 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:

[snip]

What advantage is that? The machines will call
the new number, also.


You'll have to tell some people the new number, and some
people will
give it out so the junk callers will get it.


[sig with INCORRECT delimiter snipped]

it doesn't matter, they are robocalling. They take a prefix
and area code, the computer starts calling all the possible
combos, logs what number answered and what time.
They sell that data and there you have the birth of a
telemarketer

 

[HerHusband]

Hi Bill,

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

First, add your number to the federal do-not-call registry.

Second, see if your phone service provider provides any kind of phone
blocking services. We use 1-VOIP for our phone service. I block all
callers from 800, 888, and 876 numbers. Family and friends will never use
toll-free numbers, nor do any local businesses we work with (banks,
medical, etc.). I also block a few specific numbers from local callers
(local fundraisers and whatnot).

I can also set up my phone filters to only accept numbers from specific
area codes, but so far that has not been necessary.

Using these two simple steps we have not had a junk call in years.

On the rare occasion I get an unknown call I only say "hello" once. If the
person on the other end doesn't say hello back, it's probably an automated
call. If I get a recording or a person that is obviously a sales call, I
simply hang up. I have more important things to do than waste my time
interacting with a call I didn't want in the first place. Rude? Maybe, but
the unwanted call was rude to start with.

Good luck,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

 

[Ashton Crusher]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:12:53 -0400, bill ashford <billa!x@top.com>
wrote:

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

I bought this on Amazon. Works great. $40
Has a white list and black list as well as a screening mode.

SENTRY Dual Mode Call Blocker. Block 100% Robo Calls. Stop All Junk
Calls, Election Calls, Survey Calls. 9999 Number Capacity

 

[Vic Smith]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 16:15:43 -0700, "David E. Ross"
<nobody@nowhere.invalid> wrote:

On 3/29/2015 1:09 PM, Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:12:53 -0400, bill ashford <billa!x@top.com
wrote:

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

Why would nobody be on the line? Doesn't make sense unless it's
harassment.
Change your phone number.


You did not read my earlier reply.

A robocall is initiated by a computer, not a person. When you answer,
the computer is supposed to connect you to a live pitchman. Sometimes,
however, the call center is understaffed, which means there is no
available pitchman. If you stay on the line and repeatedly say "Hello",
you might eventually connect to a live person.

I'm questioning why this would happen "upwards of 10 calls daily."
I get a robocall about once a every two weeks. Charities and
political calls are exempt from the "do not call" list.
Some use robocalling.
I've learned to recognize the soundless delay and simply hang up the
phone. If I'm not quick enough somebody comes on the other end.
The OP is getting '"upwards of 10 calls daily" and doesn't know who is
calling; something is wrong with that from her end.
The "do not call" list has worked for me. In the 10 years or so since
I entered my number unwanted calls are few and far between.
I've told maybe only 2 callers that they've violated the "do not call"
list and they never called again.
This guy's wife is getting thousands more unwanted calls than me.
That's pure harassment in my book. Or bullshit. Shouldn't happen.

 

[N_Cook]

On 29/03/2015 21:42, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 13:23:57 +0100, N_Cook wrote:

On 29/03/2015 13:12, bill ashford wrote:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where
no one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many.
Then there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the
person being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag
seems a bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I
just use DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will
have to work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there
any number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

An answerphone message machine, just set on outgoing message and
speakerphone mode for any incoming call, and tell your friends about it,
so they can ignore it and not hang up, but keep the line open until
someone gets to the phone.

+1. Get the kind that plays the incoming caller on a speaker, and listen
for valid calls. The only feature that I'd want to add to such a setup is
a "hangup" button, although most robo-calls detect answering machines and
cut off.

Our current cordless phones also read out the Caller ID. The voice
synthesis is awful, but after a while you get to understand their mangled
version of the names of various friends and family members.

The message I put on one for someone plagued by junk was just a short
beep, .. . beep every second for the 2 minutes maximum of recorded
outgoing message, no answerphone recording option. That meant it did not
drown out the genuine incoming caller message and the caller knew the
line was live and 2 minutes is plenty of time for the recipient to get
to the phone, if genuine, and they were at home.
The theory being that any intending burglar would think there was a
fault on the line.