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One bad consequence of this is the case where a human agent calls from a doctor's office or something, on legitimate business, and then gets ensnared in a long,

by schoen 3y ago

One bad consequence of this is the case where a human agent calls from a doctor's office or something, on legitimate business, and then gets ensnared in a long, confusing, and unproductive conversation. I guess the way to minimize that is to focus on asking to speak to specific people, and not getting into long conversations with people who don't agree that they are actually the person sought. But still, imagine a bot saying "oh yeah, I'll take a message for her" or "oh yeah, just explain to me why you're calling and then I'll pass the phone over to her" or something, and then not actually doing it. :-(

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
I won't answer calls anymore if I don't recognize the number. The fact that it's in my Contacts list is a good signal. Also, I've learned a few prefixes, like for my medical provider, so I can answer calls from that prefix in confidence. Of course any Caller ID like this can be spoofed, but here's the thing: anyone with legitimate business with me needs to be up-front about the number they use to call me. I tell them right off the bat, if they're going to use a "Private" or "Unknown" number, or they can't a priori reveal to me their originating Caller ID before I take their call, then they're going into the bitbucket. I do the same thing with SMS: the first time I receive a security code or notification, that SMS number goes in my Contacts list. Then I can treat unsolicited SMS as the junk and spam that they are. By the way, doctor's offices seldom use humans to call patients anymore. If you have an upcoming appointment, you'll receive an e-mail, an SMS, or worst, a RoboCall. I've had two exceptions: my dentist's office is really small and the receptionist still manually places every reminder call every day. Secondly, if a human nurse calls about test results. (And that's kind of fun doing the authentication dance with them. You answer the phone and they immediately want to know if you are the patient, and your DOB. "But you called me...")
- schoen 3y ago
  I've found that if I get a specialist referral, the specialist's office will call me initially to get me into their system. It's true that subsequent appointment reminders will be robocalls.

by schoen 3y ago

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago

I won't answer calls anymore if I don't recognize the number. The fact that it's in my Contacts list is a good signal. Also, I've learned a few prefixes, like for my medical provider, so I can answer calls from that prefix in confidence. Of course any Caller ID like this can be spoofed, but here's the thing: anyone with legitimate business with me needs to be up-front about the number they use to call me. I tell them right off the bat, if they're going to use a "Private" or "Unknown" number, or they can't a priori reveal to me their originating Caller ID before I take their call, then they're going into the bitbucket. I do the same thing with SMS: the first time I receive a security code or notification, that SMS number goes in my Contacts list. Then I can treat unsolicited SMS as the junk and spam that they are. By the way, doctor's offices seldom use humans to call patients anymore. If you have an upcoming appointment, you'll receive an e-mail, an SMS, or worst, a RoboCall. I've had two exceptions: my dentist's office is really small and the receptionist still manually places every reminder call every day. Secondly, if a human nurse calls about test results. (And that's kind of fun doing the authentication dance with them. You answer the phone and they immediately want to know if you are the patient, and your DOB. "But you called me...")

schoen 3y ago
I've found that if I get a specialist referral, the specialist's office will call me initially to get me into their system. It's true that subsequent appointment reminders will be robocalls.