We still have a landline because my wife isn't ready to give it up. She uses it a lot to talk to distant family. Problem is we get several telemarketing and robocalls (no one on the other end when you pick up) per week, sometimes several a day. Got a robocall at 6:30 AM Sunday morning. Good thing I'm always up early as I would have been twice as pizzed as I was. It's gotten to the point I don't even answer the phone and let all calls go to the answering machine. If it's someone I know leaving a message I will pick up. Here in Canada we can add our number to a "Do Not Call" list but that eliminates some telemarketers but not all. I called my local phone company and yes there is a call screening feature available but for some reason you can not block robocalls? So I am looking at either an inline call blocker sold on Amazon or some of the call blocker telephones that Panasonic sells Just wondering if anyone has and uses either of these (or other) and does it work well?
When a call comes in here, it shows the caller id on the TV screen which is usually on. If I do not recognize the number, I just answer enter town name police department in a stern business like voice. Even the robo calls hang up! (I've gotta have my fun when I'm not logged on to FHC, no?)
Get one of the air horns in a can. When you get a call answer it and hit the horn immediately. Do this several times and the word gets out and the calls stop even the robo calls. Dont ask me how i know this works Be careful though and make sure its not someone you know they will get very cranky when they can hear again.
Since I’ve got basically unlimited minutes on my cell phone. I’ll put my phone down on a noisy piece of equipment at work. And see how long it takes to get them to hang up. But mom & dad get them all the time on the land line... they had a few that shows that they were calling themselves... that really blew their minds...
Landline is included with our cable package, while back our land line phone died and we went for months without having a phone connected to it. It was great as we never got all the BS calls. But I got to thinking with my little ones it would be safer to have a working landline phone in case of an emergency for them. God forbid something happens, they don't have access to our cell phones so we picked up a cheap landline phone and reviewed where they are and what to do just in case something happens and Mom or Dad cannot call 911. Soon as we hooked up the new phone I immediately turned the ringers off, we never hear the BS calls coming in. But the phone is there for use in an emergency and I like to use it sometimes to make calls vs. using the cell phone.
Found some interesting info. What’s the silence behind a silent call? What is a silent call? There are two kinds of silent calls: Phone fraud: Silent calls are often the first step in a phone fraud scheme that could lead to your identity being stolen or your bank account being drained. The silence on the other end of the phone is actually a computer gathering information about you; any small noise, like a cough, can signal to the computer that the number just dialed is an active line, answered by a human. Once the computer notes a person has answered the call, the numbers are gathered and sold to criminals, who use them to get personal information. Phone fraud can take many forms. In addition to silent calls, one of the most common types is vishing. Telemarketing blips: In Canada, a silent call is a telephone call from a telemarketing agency that does not have an agent immediately available to handle the call when you answer. In this instance, the call may be suddenly terminated and you hear silence (“dead air”) or you may hear a dial tone from the telephone company indicating the call has been dropped. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its regulations for telemarketers, refers to a silent call as an “abandoned call.” How does it work? The majority of silent or abandoned calls are made and caused by automated calling systems known as dialers, or predictive dialers. These dialers, mainly used in call centres, dial telephone numbers automatically and connect people to call centre agents as soon as the phone is answered. But dialers don’t always work as they should. For example: If the dialer makes a call but there is no call centre agent on hand to deal with it, the person being called will hear silence on the other end of the line. When the technology used by call centres to detect an answering machine mistakes you for the answering machine, it cuts off the call without playing an information message, or before you hear anything. What you can do If you are being annoyed by silent calls, or unwanted calls from telemarketers, you can have your number put on the National Do Not Call Registry. This way, your telephone number will not be available to automatic dialers. There are some exceptions, so it’s best to check the website. You can also try blocking individual numbers to avoid specific callers. If you are still getting calls, you can complain about any that violate any unsolicited telecommunications rules (this includes automated dialing-announcing device rules). To file a complaint, you will need: Your phone number (where the call was received) The name and phone number of the telemarketer The date you received the call The next time you answer the phone and all you hear is silence, don’t panic. In fact, don’t say anything at all. Just hang up. You’ve most likely just avoided a pitch from a telemarketer or even better, foiled a possible plan for telephone fraud! We encourage you to share this article with the people you care about to help protect them against silent calls and other scams. We receive a call a few minutes ago from an unknown number with no name. (telemarketer). Because this one was from a landline, I was able to call screen it with the *60 featureHopefully this will be the last call from this number. Only one of many but it`s a start . . ...I just hope it was not a call from one of my in laws....or maybe I do I also just ordered a set of Panasonic cordless phones that have the call blocker feature. Hopefully these can block the robocallers too. .
We decided to ditch our land line when we got tired of spending the time and effort poring thru all the left messages on the answering machine and none of them were important. At some point everyone started calling our mobile numbers. Probably because they didn't often get our mobile's message retainer. $47/mo for, essentially at the time, a 911 service, didn't seem like a wise investment.
I had a call blocker box, When I still had a landline Got it for the same reason And it worked , Did the job . It was ridiculous the amount of bull crap calls I was getting Before I got the box
All the BS calls I get, none of them leave messages. They simply hang up! Anyone who calls my house phone for something real or important will leave a message or knows how to get in touch with me on my cell phone. Hec I don't even answer my cell phone when it rings unless your in my contacts. Again if its a legit call and need me they will leave a VM.
Our school gets a lot of dead calls. It is so frustrating as part of my job, I believe, is to be the real person on the end of the phone line for parents to talk to so we answer all calls coming in.
Funny that as I was reading through the posts, I got a call from a number I did not recognize. I simply did not answer. NO message was left. They actually hung up before it went to recording any message. Pee on them. If it is important, they will contact me some other way or leave a message.