Dealing with Robo calls - phone ring suppressor

[Bob Engelhardt]

We use CallClerk to help control robo calls. It has a white list and a
black list - white list callers are let through, black list ones are
dropped and all others are put through to CallClerk's answering machine.

So, our incoming calls are being pretty well managed. There is still an
annoying bit, though. Black list callers and don't-knows still cause
the phones to ring once or twice before CallClerk answers. "What's the
big deal?" you say? The big deal for me is that it interrupts whatever
I'm doing. I cannot ignore a ringing phone, even if I won't have to
answer it. When the phone rings, it gets my attention while I wait to
see if it will stop after 2 rings or if it's going to keep ringing and
I'll want to answer.

This post is about a simple little circuit that suppresses those
annoying initial 2 rings. Now, if the phone rings at all, it is a known
caller and I should see who it is.

We have Vonage phone service, which uses a modem attached to the
internet through our router. Its output is a 2-wire POTS-standard phone
line. That line has 50v DC in standby and superimposes 20Hz 70v RMS for
ringing. My circuit detects the AC and counts rings. For the 1st 2 it
uses a relay to disconnect downstream phones from the line. The
breadboard version works and before I build it for real, I'd like your
comments/constructive criticism.

https://i.imgur.com/KVGzdQj.jpg

The left side is the ring detector and the optocoupler puts out a pulse
for each ring signal cycle. The 12v zener screens out low voltage voice
and dial signals. (The 10k resistor on the optocoupler emitter was
picked out of the air & I'd welcome suggestions for a better value.)

The 55ms "ring" one-shot spans one 20Hz cycle. It is re-triggerable and
provides a continuous signal for the duration of a ring. It provides a
single edge for clocking/shifting the counter.

The counter is a shift register whose bit 3 signals the end of ring
suppression. The shift register has the advantage over a counter in
that no decoding of state is required and there's no overflow.

The 6s one-shot spans the interval between rings. It is re-triggerable
and is true for the duration of ringing. Its time out is used to reset
the shift register. The 6s one shot triggers on the leading edge of the
ring pulse and the 55ms one on the trailing edge. This is to prevent a
race on the clock and reset shift register inputs.

The relay is picked only during the ring and not during the inter-ring
period. This allows the caller-id signal after the 1st ring. I didn't
think that the phones would see the caller-id without a ring signal
preceding it, but they do.

The main parts are:
Optocoupler: FOD817 (https://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/FOD814-D.PDF)
One shots: CD14538B (http://www.ti.com/lit/gpn/cd14538b)
Shift register: CD4015B (http://www.ti.com/lit/gpn/cd4015b)
Relay: G6K-2P
(https://omronfs.omron.com/en_US/ecb/products/pdf/en-g6k.pdf)
MOSFET's: TP2104
(http://www.microchip.com/mymicrochip/filehandler.aspx?ddocname=en570672)
VN2106
(http://www.microchip.com/mymicrochip/filehandler.aspx?ddocname=en570140)

Thanks in advance,
Bob

PS - We had been getting a very annoying number of robo calls and by
some bizarre coincidence our robo calls have stopped almost entirely
since I hooked up the circuit (even though they don't ring, I check the
Vonage log for them).

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Wed, 24 Apr 2019 10:29:40 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
<BobEngelhardt@comcast.net> wrote:

This post is about a simple little circuit that suppresses those
annoying initial 2 rings. Now, if the phone rings at all, it is a known
caller and I should see who it is.

Please note that Panasonic has this feature in some of the phones as
part of the "call block" feature:
<http://eng.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26547/~/how-to-use-the-call-block-feature.>
If you do not want the first ring from a number on the call
block list to sound, turn the "first ring setting" to "Off".
The default setting is "On".

Some of my customers use NoMoRobo service (usually via Comcast):
<https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/nomorobo>
Notice that it has an adjustable number of rings before passing the
ringing to the phone. Most seem have it set to 1 ring delay. My
guess(tm) is that CallClerk might be a bit slow to respond. Looks
like the software only allows suppressing one ring:
<https://www.callclerk.com/phone/hlpCallClerkSettingsSound.html>
Perhaps you should request that CallClerk add a variable number of
rings setting (as in NoMoRobo) before embarking on a hardware
solution?


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Bob Engelhardt]

On 4/24/2019 11:50 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Please note that Panasonic has this feature in some of the phones as
part of the "call block" feature:
http://eng.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26547/~/how-to-use-the-call-block-feature.
If you do not want the first ring from a number on the call
block list to sound, turn the "first ring setting" to "Off".
The default setting is "On".

Some of my customers use NoMoRobo service (usually via Comcast):
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/nomorobo
Notice that it has an adjustable number of rings before passing the
ringing to the phone. Most seem have it set to 1 ring delay. My
guess(tm) is that CallClerk might be a bit slow to respond. Looks
like the software only allows suppressing one ring:
https://www.callclerk.com/phone/hlpCallClerkSettingsSound.html
Perhaps you should request that CallClerk add a variable number of
rings setting (as in NoMoRobo) before embarking on a hardware
solution?

Thanks for the response, even if it wasn't what I asked about <G>.

The Panasonic feature is a good one, but its weakness is that caller-id
spoofing makes block lists very ineffective.

NoMoRoBo and CallClerk sit ON the line, not IN it. So, they can't do
anything until the 1st ring has happened and they get the caller id.
One ring is enough to interrupt whatever I'm doing.

The only real solution to this is caller authentication and phone
service providers doing the blocking before a ring is even sent out.
Until/if then, I'll suppress the rings and my callers will have to get
used to the idea that I'm not ever going to pick up until the 3rd ring.

Bob

 

[Bob Engelhardt]

On 4/24/2019 3:51 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:

Have you built a circuit like this? I don't know what electronic phones will do with the initial ring impulse that will make it through your design. Maybe it won't be big enough to trigger anything. I don't know enough of the details of the phone line to know if the ring detector will see the ring faster than the ring circuit in the phone. An 8 pin MCU will give you much more flexibility in the event this circuit causes chirping of the ringer in the phones. I know people like the ease of not dealing with software, but it can be so much more useful. I guess with a relay you aren't going to power it from the phone line?

I have built it and it works very well. There is only a 1/2 cycle of
ring on the line & 3 different electronic phones do not react to it.
The thing about an MCU is the learning curve, however, there's not
anything more that I would have the circuit do. And it would only
replace the one shots and shift register. I have a 12v wall wart for power.

 

On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 2:17:49 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

On 4/24/2019 11:50 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Please note that Panasonic has this feature in some of the phones as
part of the "call block" feature:
http://eng.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26547/~/how-to-use-the-call-block-feature.
If you do not want the first ring from a number on the call
block list to sound, turn the "first ring setting" to "Off".
The default setting is "On".

Some of my customers use NoMoRobo service (usually via Comcast):
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/nomorobo
Notice that it has an adjustable number of rings before passing the
ringing to the phone. Most seem have it set to 1 ring delay. My
guess(tm) is that CallClerk might be a bit slow to respond. Looks
like the software only allows suppressing one ring:
https://www.callclerk.com/phone/hlpCallClerkSettingsSound.html
Perhaps you should request that CallClerk add a variable number of
rings setting (as in NoMoRobo) before embarking on a hardware
solution?



Thanks for the response, even if it wasn't what I asked about <G>.

The Panasonic feature is a good one, but its weakness is that caller-id
spoofing makes block lists very ineffective.

NoMoRoBo and CallClerk sit ON the line, not IN it. So, they can't do
anything until the 1st ring has happened and they get the caller id.
One ring is enough to interrupt whatever I'm doing.

The only real solution to this is caller authentication and phone
service providers doing the blocking before a ring is even sent out.
Until/if then, I'll suppress the rings and my callers will have to get
used to the idea that I'm not ever going to pick up until the 3rd ring.

Bob

Have you built a circuit like this? I don't know what electronic phones will do with the initial ring impulse that will make it through your design. Maybe it won't be big enough to trigger anything. I don't know enough of the details of the phone line to know if the ring detector will see the ring faster than the ring circuit in the phone. An 8 pin MCU will give you much more flexibility in the event this circuit causes chirping of the ringer in the phones. I know people like the ease of not dealing with software, but it can be so much more useful. I guess with a relay you aren't going to power it from the phone line?

--

Rick C.

- Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 4:28:59 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

On 4/24/2019 3:51 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:

Have you built a circuit like this? I don't know what electronic phones will do with the initial ring impulse that will make it through your design. Maybe it won't be big enough to trigger anything. I don't know enough of the details of the phone line to know if the ring detector will see the ring faster than the ring circuit in the phone. An 8 pin MCU will give you much more flexibility in the event this circuit causes chirping of the ringer in the phones. I know people like the ease of not dealing with software, but it can be so much more useful. I guess with a relay you aren't going to power it from the phone line?


I have built it and it works very well. There is only a 1/2 cycle of
ring on the line & 3 different electronic phones do not react to it.
The thing about an MCU is the learning curve, however, there's not
anything more that I would have the circuit do. And it would only
replace the one shots and shift register. I have a 12v wall wart for power.

Yeah, good. I seem to remember years ago having a phone that would trigger a ring blip on various noise conditions.

I guess you can tuck the circuit away someplace, but it would likely be within earshot in my place and I'd hear that relay clicking each time the phone line tripped it. I think I'd go with a programmable device and a pair of solid state relays. Then it could be phone line powered and I'd never know it was operating.

But then I gave up my land line years ago and my internet phone is my cell phone. Works great and does a pretty good job of screening calls without building any hardware.

So Call Clerk is a device? I haven't seen those. It's pretty bad when there are so many people calling to annoy you that a machine is required to prevent their calls. When I'm in my car I like to answer the calls and tell them, "Yes, I'd love to lower my credit card interest rate!" They eventually figure out I'm scamming them and they hang up, sometimes with a rude remark. That's how I know I won!

--

Rick C.

+ Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
+ Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

[Robert Baer]

gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:

On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 4:28:59 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 4/24/2019 3:51 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:

Have you built a circuit like this? I don't know what electronic phones will do with the initial ring impulse that will make it through your design. Maybe it won't be big enough to trigger anything. I don't know enough of the details of the phone line to know if the ring detector will see the ring faster than the ring circuit in the phone. An 8 pin MCU will give you much more flexibility in the event this circuit causes chirping of the ringer in the phones. I know people like the ease of not dealing with software, but it can be so much more useful. I guess with a relay you aren't going to power it from the phone line?


I have built it and it works very well. There is only a 1/2 cycle of
ring on the line & 3 different electronic phones do not react to it.
The thing about an MCU is the learning curve, however, there's not
anything more that I would have the circuit do. And it would only
replace the one shots and shift register. I have a 12v wall wart for power.

Yeah, good. I seem to remember years ago having a phone that would trigger a ring blip on various noise conditions.

I guess you can tuck the circuit away someplace, but it would likely be within earshot in my place and I'd hear that relay clicking each time the phone line tripped it. I think I'd go with a programmable device and a pair of solid state relays. Then it could be phone line powered and I'd never know it was operating.

But then I gave up my land line years ago and my internet phone is my cell phone. Works great and does a pretty good job of screening calls without building any hardware.

So Call Clerk is a device? I haven't seen those. It's pretty bad when there are so many people calling to annoy you that a machine is required to prevent their calls. When I'm in my car I like to answer the calls and tell them, "Yes, I'd love to lower my credit card interest rate!" They eventually figure out I'm scamming them and they hang up, sometimes with a rude remark. That's how I know I won!

Well, at least YOU did not get bombarded with 12 (yes,,a real dozen)
calls in less than 5 minutes from the same caller (caller id ="not
available", number = "1009").
I left out the other 12-14 calls to me BEFORE this barrage.

So i had my landline number changed.
PITA informing all of my credit card providers and banks etc..
Should be a way of automatically passing these changes on..


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[TTman]

Thanks for the response, even if it wasn't what I asked about <G>.

The Panasonic feature is a good one, but its weakness is that caller-id
spoofing makes block lists very ineffective.

NoMoRoBo and CallClerk sit ON the line, not IN it.  So, they can't do
anything until the 1st ring has happened and they get the caller id. One
ring is enough to interrupt whatever I'm doing.

The only real solution to this is caller authentication and phone
service providers doing the blocking before a ring is even sent out.
Until/if then, I'll suppress the rings and my callers will have to get
used to the idea that I'm not ever going to pick up until the 3rd ring.

Bob

Perfectly acceptable... In the UK we have a similar thing but it is
handled at the exchange and we don't get any ring for blacklist numbers.
'New' callers have to announce who they are and that voicemail is passed
to me as a ring tone... If I want to accept the call, I press 1, else
press 3 to black list... works well.


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On Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 12:12:38 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

On 4/25/2019 5:44 AM, TTman wrote:

Perfectly acceptable... In the UK we have a similar thing but it is
handled at the exchange and we don't get any ring for blacklist numbers.
'New' callers have to announce who they are and that voicemail is passed
to me as a ring tone... If I want to accept the call, I press 1, else
press 3 to black list... works well.


That sounds the perfect solution. If only the US would adopt it. (I
remember when the US phone system was the envy of the world. When even
some European countries had such limited systems that there were phone
offices that one could go into to make calls.)

They could add that, but it would cost extra just as CID and all the other features used to. But I thought you didn't have a land line, rather it was an Internet phone, no? So it doesn't really have anything to do with the phone service.

Have you asked Vonage about providing a service like this? That's the best solution.

--

Rick C.

-+ Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
-+ Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

On Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 12:07:37 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

On 4/24/2019 5:41 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:
...
So Call Clerk is a device? I haven't seen those. ...

Yes and no. It is PC software that uses a USB voice modem ... like
you'd use if you have dial-up internet. The modem allows CallClerk to
look at the line, but also to send an outgoing message for its answering
machine.

So does the Call Clerk sit between the house phones and the phone line? If so, you can put the ring suppressor between the Call Clerk and the phones and not worry with passing the CID info, not that it does much for your design, eliminate one transistor.

Seems there should be a way to do this in the Call Clerk and not need a separate box to suppress the rings. I guess the only way the modem can suppress the rings is to go off hook which would prevent receiving the CID.

I'm not sure how the modem relays are designed. I assume they use one relay to go off hook and to disconnect the line to the telephones.

--

Rick C.

-- Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
-- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

[Bob Engelhardt]

On 4/25/2019 5:44 AM, TTman wrote:

Perfectly acceptable... In the UK we have a similar thing but it is
handled at the exchange and we don't get any ring for blacklist numbers.
'New' callers have to announce who they are and that voicemail is passed
to me as a ring tone... If I want to accept the call, I press 1, else
press 3 to black list... works well.

That sounds the perfect solution. If only the US would adopt it. (I
remember when the US phone system was the envy of the world. When even
some European countries had such limited systems that there were phone
offices that one could go into to make calls.)

 

[Bob Engelhardt]

On 4/24/2019 5:41 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:
...
> So Call Clerk is a device? I haven't seen those. ...

Yes and no. It is PC software that uses a USB voice modem ... like
you'd use if you have dial-up internet. The modem allows CallClerk to
look at the line, but also to send an outgoing message for its answering
machine.

 

[Bob Engelhardt]

On 4/25/2019 12:29 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:

On Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 12:12:38 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 4/25/2019 5:44 AM, TTman wrote:

Perfectly acceptable... In the UK we have a similar thing but it is
handled at the exchange and we don't get any ring for blacklist numbers.
'New' callers have to announce who they are and that voicemail is passed
to me as a ring tone... If I want to accept the call, I press 1, else
press 3 to black list... works well.


That sounds the perfect solution. If only the US would adopt it. (I
remember when the US phone system was the envy of the world. When even
some European countries had such limited systems that there were phone
offices that one could go into to make calls.)

They could add that, but it would cost extra just as CID and all the other features used to. But I thought you didn't have a land line, rather it was an Internet phone, no? So it doesn't really have anything to do with the phone service.

Have you asked Vonage about providing a service like this? That's the best solution

Internet phones, e.g. Vonage, are really no different than landlines.
They could all provide the same blocking that the UK has. But it would
require caller authentication, without which CID spoofing renders
central blocking useless, or nearly so.

 

[Bob Engelhardt]

On 4/25/2019 12:27 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:

So does the Call Clerk sit between the house phones and the phone line? ...

Seems there should be a way to do this in the Call Clerk and not need a separate box to suppress the rings. I guess the only way the modem can suppress the rings is to go off hook which would prevent receiving the CID.
...

The CallClerk modem sits on the line, like a phone. I.e., in parallel,
not series. So, it can't interrupt except by picking up and it only
does that after the 1st ring and it has seen the CID.

 

On Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 8:23:22 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

On 4/25/2019 12:27 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:

So does the Call Clerk sit between the house phones and the phone line? ...

Seems there should be a way to do this in the Call Clerk and not need a separate box to suppress the rings. I guess the only way the modem can suppress the rings is to go off hook which would prevent receiving the CID.
...

The CallClerk modem sits on the line, like a phone. I.e., in parallel,
not series. So, it can't interrupt except by picking up and it only
does that after the 1st ring and it has seen the CID.

There's the problem. The modem has a passthrough jack that potentially could be used to block rings with. The standard way of wiring is to pass everything through until the modem goes off hook, then disconnect the passthrough phone jack. If the internal connection of the off hook circuitry allows it could be used to disconnect the phones from the line during the first two rings.

My point is this whole thing is a bit of a bodge. The Vonage unit should do all this. So you add a PC running the CallClerk to handle the spam calls, but it still rings the durn phones. So add a two ring canceling custom designed circuit... Isn't there a children's song like that, about swallowing a fly?

Vonage should be handling all this the same way my cell phone does, just don't ring the phone unless it is someone on my white list.

Have you thought of using a cell phone? Is Vonage any cheaper than a cell? I think my cell bill is only $27 a month if I wasn't paying for the phone in installments and that includes my data usage. The phone works through the internet when I am at home or anywhere it can get on the Internet. It uses cell towers otherwise. It provides a similar screening service to what you describe, but works without ringing the phone. The calls from numbers on the black list don't even show up. How is Vonage better than that? The cell phone also gives you all manner of Internet connectivity.

One thing I've noticed is that many spammers change numbers at will. So black lists don't work well. I had one guy call me today and I put him on hold to get rid of him. He called back and it was a different number. I acted like I couldn't hear him and he was swearing at me, lol. On the off chance I really couldn't hear him he called a third time and it was a third number. I should have responded and put him on hold again. LOL!

--

Rick C.

+- Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
+- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

On Friday, April 26, 2019 at 11:49:47 AM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

On 4/25/2019 9:53 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:
...
Vonage should be handling all this the same way my cell phone does, just don't ring the phone unless it is someone on my white list.
...

"Should" - of course ... that doesn't mean that they will.

The problem with white-list only is that there are some callers that
aren't on the white list that we don't want to kill. E.g., the hospital
that calls back from a different number, the town clerk that we never
thought to put on the white list, etc. CallClerk takes their message.

Yeah, a cell phone will do the same thing.

--

Rick C.

++ Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
++ Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

[Bob Engelhardt]

On 4/25/2019 9:53 PM, gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com wrote:
....

Vonage should be handling all this the same way my cell phone does, just don't ring the phone unless it is someone on my white list.
...

"Should" - of course ... that doesn't mean that they will.

The problem with white-list only is that there are some callers that
aren't on the white list that we don't want to kill. E.g., the hospital
that calls back from a different number, the town clerk that we never
thought to put on the white list, etc. CallClerk takes their message.

 

On Friday, April 26, 2019 at 1:09:37 PM UTC-4, rangerssuck wrote:

On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 2:17:49 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 4/24/2019 11:50 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Please note that Panasonic has this feature in some of the phones as
part of the "call block" feature:
http://eng.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26547/~/how-to-use-the-call-block-feature.
If you do not want the first ring from a number on the call
block list to sound, turn the "first ring setting" to "Off".
The default setting is "On".

Some of my customers use NoMoRobo service (usually via Comcast):
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/nomorobo
Notice that it has an adjustable number of rings before passing the
ringing to the phone. Most seem have it set to 1 ring delay. My
guess(tm) is that CallClerk might be a bit slow to respond. Looks
like the software only allows suppressing one ring:
https://www.callclerk.com/phone/hlpCallClerkSettingsSound.html
Perhaps you should request that CallClerk add a variable number of
rings setting (as in NoMoRobo) before embarking on a hardware
solution?



Thanks for the response, even if it wasn't what I asked about <G>.

The Panasonic feature is a good one, but its weakness is that caller-id
spoofing makes block lists very ineffective.

NoMoRoBo and CallClerk sit ON the line, not IN it. So, they can't do
anything until the 1st ring has happened and they get the caller id.
One ring is enough to interrupt whatever I'm doing.

The only real solution to this is caller authentication and phone
service providers doing the blocking before a ring is even sent out.
Until/if then, I'll suppress the rings and my callers will have to get
used to the idea that I'm not ever going to pick up until the 3rd ring.

Bob

I us nomorobo and a Panasonic phone that can (and does) block the first ring. This is an effective combination for blocking most crap calls. the ones with the spoofed caller ID still sometimes get through though.

Don't they all "spoof" caller ID? I think I posted about getting three calls from the same guy in 10 minutes and they all showed different numbers.

--

Rick C.

--- Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
--- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

[rangerssuck]

On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 2:17:49 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

On 4/24/2019 11:50 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Please note that Panasonic has this feature in some of the phones as
part of the "call block" feature:
http://eng.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26547/~/how-to-use-the-call-block-feature.
If you do not want the first ring from a number on the call
block list to sound, turn the "first ring setting" to "Off".
The default setting is "On".

Some of my customers use NoMoRobo service (usually via Comcast):
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/nomorobo
Notice that it has an adjustable number of rings before passing the
ringing to the phone. Most seem have it set to 1 ring delay. My
guess(tm) is that CallClerk might be a bit slow to respond. Looks
like the software only allows suppressing one ring:
https://www.callclerk.com/phone/hlpCallClerkSettingsSound.html
Perhaps you should request that CallClerk add a variable number of
rings setting (as in NoMoRobo) before embarking on a hardware
solution?



Thanks for the response, even if it wasn't what I asked about <G>.

The Panasonic feature is a good one, but its weakness is that caller-id
spoofing makes block lists very ineffective.

NoMoRoBo and CallClerk sit ON the line, not IN it. So, they can't do
anything until the 1st ring has happened and they get the caller id.
One ring is enough to interrupt whatever I'm doing.

The only real solution to this is caller authentication and phone
service providers doing the blocking before a ring is even sent out.
Until/if then, I'll suppress the rings and my callers will have to get
used to the idea that I'm not ever going to pick up until the 3rd ring.

Bob

I us nomorobo and a Panasonic phone that can (and does) block the first ring. This is an effective combination for blocking most crap calls. the ones with the spoofed caller ID still sometimes get through though.

 

[rangerssuck]

On Friday, April 26, 2019 at 1:13:58 PM UTC-4, gnuarm.de...@gmail.com wrote:

On Friday, April 26, 2019 at 1:09:37 PM UTC-4, rangerssuck wrote:
On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 2:17:49 PM UTC-4, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 4/24/2019 11:50 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Please note that Panasonic has this feature in some of the phones as
part of the "call block" feature:
http://eng.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26547/~/how-to-use-the-call-block-feature.
If you do not want the first ring from a number on the call
block list to sound, turn the "first ring setting" to "Off".
The default setting is "On".

Some of my customers use NoMoRobo service (usually via Comcast):
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/nomorobo
Notice that it has an adjustable number of rings before passing the
ringing to the phone. Most seem have it set to 1 ring delay. My
guess(tm) is that CallClerk might be a bit slow to respond. Looks
like the software only allows suppressing one ring:
https://www.callclerk.com/phone/hlpCallClerkSettingsSound.html
Perhaps you should request that CallClerk add a variable number of
rings setting (as in NoMoRobo) before embarking on a hardware
solution?



Thanks for the response, even if it wasn't what I asked about <G>.

The Panasonic feature is a good one, but its weakness is that caller-id
spoofing makes block lists very ineffective.

NoMoRoBo and CallClerk sit ON the line, not IN it. So, they can't do
anything until the 1st ring has happened and they get the caller id.
One ring is enough to interrupt whatever I'm doing.

The only real solution to this is caller authentication and phone
service providers doing the blocking before a ring is even sent out.
Until/if then, I'll suppress the rings and my callers will have to get
used to the idea that I'm not ever going to pick up until the 3rd ring.

Bob

I us nomorobo and a Panasonic phone that can (and does) block the first ring. This is an effective combination for blocking most crap calls. the ones with the spoofed caller ID still sometimes get through though.

Don't they all "spoof" caller ID? I think I posted about getting three calls from the same guy in 10 minutes and they all showed different numbers.

-- Rick C.

--- Get a 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
--- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

Many do spoof the ID, but there are probably 25 times a day that I see the phone screen light up (meaning that there's an incoming call), but no ring, meaning the call was terminated - usually by nomorobo - before the second ring.
Not perfect, but better than nothing.