Thanks. I will contact my provider. It is FIOS, and it has the franchise for my location.

 

Place a password on your phone for incoming calls and only give it to those you want calling you.

Hi,

Well this is a home phone, land line, so i dont think that is possible is it?
But what about cell, how do you do that?
I can block calls from the number that called, but if they change the number they are no longer blocked until they call again and i block the new number.

 

If you have iPhone:

I have an anti iPhone (aka Android) (har har) but i can block calls. They have to call first though and if they change the number then i have to wait till they call to block that new number.
Mine does everything iPhone does but is 2000 dollars cheaper (also har har)

 

Hola MrAl

I use just a mobile phone for all my communications.

In the last four months I suffered a flood of calls from different but somewhat identifiable origins. I took the pain to open the list every time I cut the incoming call and push "block this number". The calls from those three distinct origin have stopped completely (have they exhausted the chips available to them?) and everything runs nomral here.

One of them, believe it or not, was from the company who provides the phone service!!!

 

Hola MrAl

I use just a mobile phone for all my communications.

In the last four months I suffered a flood of calls from different but somewhat identifiable origins. I took the pain to open the list every time I cut the incoming call and push "block this number". The calls from those three distinct origin have stopped completely (have they exhausted the chips available to them?) and everything runs nomral here.

One of them, believe it or not, was from the company who provides the phone service!!!

Yeah that was to tell you that they were discontinuing your service (ha ha just kidding).
But really maybe they had to contact you for some reason? Could it be legit or no?

 

I have an anti iPhone (aka Android) (har har) but i can block calls.

Search YouTube. Someone there may have a solution similar to the iPhone video I posted.

 

Ok thanks,

But here is something else quite annoying...

When the voicemail comes in and i go to listen, it goes like this:

"call from 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0 at 10-15-pm"
and it takes a good 10 to 15 seconds to say that, and only then can i listen to it when it is done.

I can see the number written on the phone and the time so i dont need the voice anouncment too.

Any ideas how to get through that junk faster?

 

The delete key. As soon as you see the countdown - just hit delete.

 

Ok thanks,

But here is something else quite annoying...

When the voicemail comes in and i go to listen, it goes like this:

"call from 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0 at 10-15-pm"
and it takes a good 10 to 15 seconds to say that, and only then can i listen to it when it is done.

I can see the number written on the phone and the time so i dont need the voice anouncment too.

Any ideas how to get through that junk faster?

My land line is only for Junk calls, I use it instead of my cell when joining a site or other situations when they want a phone number, it's legit. But we never answer the calls. I divert all that traffic to that phone to free my cell for calls pertaining to my kids, work, or friends.

Then my iPhone blocks the other traffic that randomly finds it's way to my phone. However, the strangest call I received recently which I blocked of course, was no one answering on the other end of the call, when I called back there was no sound at all, not even the ring you get while trying to connect?

Block, I think the call was something but what the hell was it?

kv

 

Hi,

Well this is a home phone, land line, so i dont think that is possible is it?
But what about cell, how do you do that?
I can block calls from the number that called, but if they change the number they are no longer blocked until they call again and i block the new number.

HI

I don't know if it possible for incoming calls...but it would be great if It could be done.
It was meant to be a suggestion to research.

eT

 

I know many are using their cellphones as their only phone, but I like a landline so I can have a wireless phone in several rooms, and don't have to go searching for the one cellphone when it rings.
Having one cellphone in the house is like going back 70 years, when each house had only one phone.

But I plan on getting rid of my expensive dedicated landline soon, and going with Ooma VOIP, which is just $10/mo for the full-feature operation (including the junkcall feature I mentioned where all calls not in the phonebook are directly routed to voicemail).

 

I get txt sometimes to a Shauna, just today a bill collector called me looking for a Shauna, I said I'm not Shauna this is the 3rd time in a month you've said you'll fix your logs.

I don't know how they got that number because I've had this number for over 45 years.

kv

 

I know many are using their cellphones as their only phone, but I like a landline so I can have a wireless phone in several rooms, and don't have to go searching for the one cellphone when it rings.
Having one cellphone in the house is like going back 70 years, when each house had only one phone.

But I plan on getting rid of my expensive dedicated landline soon, and going with Ooma VOIP, which is just $10/mo for the full-feature operation (including the junkcall feature I mentioned where all calls not in the phonebook are directly routed to voicemail).

Hi,

Sounds good. I know what you mean about having just one cell in the house i called my carrier to see if i could get a second cell phone with the same number and they said NO. Big disappointment.

i know what you mean about the land line too, i know from experience that it changes things when you change things. I once had copper lines coming in for the phone, and that mean that it worked even when the power went out most times. Now i have that stupid Fios box and stupid 12v battery backup which is supposed to give 8 hours time but that's wishful. But it is a landline, and i am thinking of getting rid of it too because Verizon treats their customers like dirt on a muddy road (insignificant). They give a contract, then say it is only for the 'channels' and then raise the prices of the set top box rental by 5 dollars, and supposedly i cant get out of the so called "contract". So they have a hold on you, but you have no say in the cost. That's not the first time they raised it either.
So i am thinking of doing something else this time once my "contract" is expired. Might get rid of TV too.

 

I get txt sometimes to a Shauna, just today a bill collector called me looking for a Shauna, I said I'm not Shauna this is the 3rd time in a month you've said you'll fix your logs.

I don't know how they got that number because I've had this number for over 45 years.

kv

Dont feel bad. I got calls asking about neighbors! Bill collectors that cant get hold of the neighbor so they call their neighbors and bother them about bill collecting. I told one gal off right over the phone. I also told them i'd call the police, and she was very nasty too in response, "And what are you going to tell them" she asked. I dont remember what i said but she got the message and finally took me off the list. They have bee aye ell ell ess of steel so you have to also

 

I know what you mean about having just one cell in the house i called my carrier to see if i could get a second cell phone with the same number and they said NO.

A possible workaround it to get a cordless phone that has a bluetooth connection (my Panasonic has that).
You can then connect it via bluetooth to your cellphone so all cellphone calls will also ring the cordless phones, and can be answered on the any of those phones.

 

Not much you can do for the cell and I leave mine turned off until I need to use it, however, my landline provider put something new on my number. When you call the house you get a recording telling you the number called does not accept any unsolicited phone calls and to press 1 to continue. Ended them immediately. Has continued to work for about a year now. The no-call list is a joke and not enforced.

We added that feature and it has helped a lot. Unfortunately, in addition to hitting a 1 to get through, you can also just wait for 20 seconds. Since the robocall recorded messages are often longer than that, it rings through and when you pick up it is in the middle of its spiel.

I always answer all calls, even from numbers I don't recognize. One morning I did that and it was my wife who was using someone else's phone because she had just rolled her car twice on the highway during a blizzard. Definitely glad I didn't just ignore the call because it was from an unknown number. It won't be long before my daughter will be going out to things on her own -- I'm not going to risk her getting into a situation where she has to use an unknown phone and I refuse to pick up.

The phone providers claim that they have no control over all of the illegal calls coming in from other countries using spoofed numbers. I have a hard time believing that. Someone is using their network for free and they don't know who? If that were actually the case, then there would be all kinds of services popping up using the same techniques to let subscribers make legitimate calls for free and dump their phones completely. They most certainly do have the ability to identify who is actually making a call because they have the ability to make sure that they get billed for it.

I think we should have something like *69 where you press *whatever and it adds a complaint to a database associated with whoever is paying the bill for that call. If the number of complaints rise above a certain threshold, then an investigation is launched. There can be several thresholds for various types of actions and consequences and the first threshold can be high enough so that virtually no legitimate party reaches it. Spammers that use 100 lines to make their calls would likely rack up complaint reports at a fast enough rate that they would exceed a high enough threshold in a matter of hours to have their service at least temporarily suspended and the appropriate law enforcement agency notified. All it would take would be a handful of parties getting hit with huge fines and the whole telephone robocall spam problem would disappear.

 

There was an article recently about 3 of the biggies around Miami being taken down and dragged into court for it. They probably just chalk it up to the cost of doing business as usual. It seems to be a cottage industry for India along with scamming.

 

A possible workaround it to get a cordless phone that has a bluetooth connection (my Panasonic has that).
You can then connect it via bluetooth to your cellphone so all cellphone calls will also ring the cordless phones, and can be answered on the any of those phones.

Hi.

That sounds good ill have to look into that.
One of the other reasons why i wanted a second phone with same number was if i was on the road and had the first cell phone break down, then i'd simply have the second up and running with no delay. Then anyone who wanted to call could call as usual no changes. The way it stands now, i would either have to tell them an alternate number beforehand or call the service company and ask then to switch numbers and i dont know how long that takes yet because i never did it yet.

 

We added that feature and it has helped a lot. Unfortunately, in addition to hitting a 1 to get through, you can also just wait for 20 seconds. Since the robocall recorded messages are often longer than that, it rings through and when you pick up it is in the middle of its spiel.

I always answer all calls, even from numbers I don't recognize. One morning I did that and it was my wife who was using someone else's phone because she had just rolled her car twice on the highway during a blizzard. Definitely glad I didn't just ignore the call because it was from an unknown number. It won't be long before my daughter will be going out to things on her own -- I'm not going to risk her getting into a situation where she has to use an unknown phone and I refuse to pick up.

The phone providers claim that they have no control over all of the illegal calls coming in from other countries using spoofed numbers. I have a hard time believing that. Someone is using their network for free and they don't know who? If that were actually the case, then there would be all kinds of services popping up using the same techniques to let subscribers make legitimate calls for free and dump their phones completely. They most certainly do have the ability to identify who is actually making a call because they have the ability to make sure that they get billed for it.

I think we should have something like *69 where you press *whatever and it adds a complaint to a database associated with whoever is paying the bill for that call. If the number of complaints rise above a certain threshold, then an investigation is launched. There can be several thresholds for various types of actions and consequences and the first threshold can be high enough so that virtually no legitimate party reaches it. Spammers that use 100 lines to make their calls would likely rack up complaint reports at a fast enough rate that they would exceed a high enough threshold in a matter of hours to have their service at least temporarily suspended and the appropriate law enforcement agency notified. All it would take would be a handful of parties getting hit with huge fines and the whole telephone robocall spam problem would disappear.

Hi,

Yeah i always worried about that too. What if someone you knew had a problem and had to use a pay phone nearby. So what i do is tell everyone i know to "say something when they call and get the answering machine" so when the call comes in and the phone answers it i will hear their voice and know to pick it up right away.
What i do for now is dont answer any unknown numbers unless i hear their voice when the answering feature picks it up and if it sounds legit and important i'll pick up and continue the conversation in person.

What i really want though is a way to stop it from ringing because it virtually rings all day long so i have to keep looking at the phone to see who/what is calling.

 

It would help a lot if the telcos arranged things so that caller numbers couldn't be spoofed. It's surely technically possible?