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?
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.Since many of these robo-dialers work their way through whole ranges of phone numbers, doing so won't help much.
| 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:
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"!
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
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
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.
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.
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.
Hi Bill,
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
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.
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.
Check out NoMoRobo.
I don't know if it works with US call farming but answering an unknown caller with "dead air" can be moderately effective at putting them off.
Over in the UK we have a telephone preference service which allows you to opt out of all reputable cold calling leaving only the disreputable ones doing boilerroom scams by VOIP. There is a risk of collateral damage if someone you know rings you up from an unusal number but once they speak up you can carry on as normal if you recognise the voice.
+1A surprising number don't. I must make my outgoing answerphone msg a few seconds longer since otherwise its memory clogs up with tail ends of sales spiels ending along the lines of "or press 9 to opt out".
Mine just shows it on a local LCD.
You get used to the exchange codes of dodgy cold call farms. Is there any US equivalent of "who calls me" where you can report dodgy cold call organisations and find out what it is they are selling?
I generally let the answerphone filter incoming calls.
-- Regards, Martin Brown
Per Mark Lloyd:
My experience has been the same - with two additions:
- In the very beginning, I actually got a few bucks from the Penna Atty Genera's office: my share of a settlement resulting from a complaint I filed.
- I now have a stack of lame-sounding letters from the same Penna Atty General's office to the effect that, since solicitors have moved offshore and started using VOIP there's nothing they can do. Which I translate to either "Somebody's paid off somebody, somewhere, to reduce the budget for these prosecutions." or "We have an already-limited budget and we have to prioritize."
It's probably #2, but my inner misanthrope likes #1.
-- Pete Cresswell
Per Mark Lloyd:
Seems to me like the only test would be two phones side-by-side on the same exchange: one "With" and one "Without" and some record of calls to each.
Having said that, I have had the SIT tone for "Number not working" in the beginning of my answering machine announcement for at least 4 years now and I do not perceive any improvement.
-- Pete Cresswell
Per Dave Platt:
Supposedly there was a scam using that strategy: the CallerID number would be one of those exchanges like the phone sex operators use where the caller gets charged per minute and a percentage of the charge goes to the operator.
-- Pete Cresswell
If the source is indeed off-shore -- that is, in another nation -- what jurisdiction would the U.S. government or the government of any U.S. state have in that other nation? Turn that around. If someone in the U.S. violated a German or French patent, should those nations have the right to go to Philadelphia and arrest someone, try him, and fine him?
-- 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?
I rarely get non-charity/political calls. I did get a call a couple weeks ago from a vent cleaning company. What kind of calls would come from overseas?
Round here most of them. Might be different in the USA.
Cold calls originating in the UK are regulated by an impotent toothless regulator and the existence of sites like "Who calls me" that names and shames any transgressors. Typically they are solicitors soliciting and claims firms drumming up applicants for fake whiplash claims.
However, VOIP allows the cold calling drudges to be located anywhere in the world where labour is cheap and so bypasses all domestic controls. Forged CLID is increasingly common too.
Many phones offer blocking known chunks of bad behaviour and some phone services here allow blocking of individual bad numbers (optional extra).
-- Regards, Martin Brown
You /do/ realize you're crossposting to alt.windows7.general, yes? (Just checking...)
-- s|b
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