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For my use, 99% of the time i just leave my iPhone set to silently reject all calls from unknown numbers, and that works for me. it's pretty rare that there's
by notatoad 3y ago
For my use, 99% of the time i just leave my iPhone set to silently reject all calls from unknown numbers, and that works for me.
it's pretty rare that there's somebody not already in my contacts that i actually want to be able to call me. they can go to voicemail, and i'll deal with it later.
- TylerE 3y agoI would do that, but my doctors office seems to have at least 100 phone lines, and the number that shows up on the caller is basically random after the first 4 digits.
- pixl97 3y agoQuite often you'll find that the doctors office is part of a larger system for an entire medical center. Your call can get routed out any open physical line. These days fully VOIP systems will mask the number as the primary, but some systems still have physical connectivity to the phone companny.
- renewiltord 3y agoIf you use Google Fi, you just view the voice transcript and then call back.
- TylerE 3y agoOh I wish. I’m in Optimum (Former Suddenlink) territory. It’s only in the past year I was able to upgrade from 300mbps to gigabit, and it ain’t fiber. Also obvious that the local techs have no clue what they’re doing since the link goes down several times a night briefly, always at exactly 15 minutes after the hour. It’s obvious there’s a switch or something that they’re just rebooting every night.
- lamontcg 3y agoGoogle Fi != Google Fiber One is a cell phone plan, one is an ISP.
- TylerE 3y agoOh. Shrug. I hate android so I don’t really follow that ecosystem
- cguess 3y agoI have it on iPhone and it works very well.
- lamontcg 3y agoYeah, I have it on an iphone even though I'd prefer not to, but I haven't found a competitor worth switching to.
- TylerE 3y agoHow does that work? I thought there was no way to override the default dialer? Or is it just an app running over data?
- toast0 3y agoGoogle Fi is an MVNO. They give you a sim, service is provided via T-Mobile mostly. (It used to have Android required special roaming on Sprint, but T-Mobile absorbed Sprint, so that's moot)
- TylerE 3y agoAhh.c that explains it. I’ve been on sprint forever, on a long grandfathered unlimited plan. I was only actually swapped to a T-Mobile sim about 6 months ago.
- thfuran 3y agoI set up an IVR that requires (non-white listed) callers to press a number to ring through. My spam calls went from several most days to less than one a year. I suppose I also miss out on automated appointment reminders, but whatever.
- capitainenemo 3y agoI don't like rejecting calls. I prefer they go to voice mail/transcription, so I set my main system ringtone to a few seconds of silence, and then a custom ringtone for everyone in my contact list (plus a few additional ringtones for family and close friends). Bonus, if I happen to notice the phone screen light up with an unknown number and I know I'm waiting for a service station to call, I can always try my luck that it is actually legit.
- Trias11 3y agoThis. Problem solved.
- hsbauauvhabzb 3y agoI live in Aus. Spam calls use unredacted numbers. Several places, including the police, do redact their number. I have no idea why they don’t use a single egress number so I know who’s calling, but here we are. Just imagine reporting to the police that a stalker is calling you from an unknown number, only to have the police call you on an unknown number.
- worthless-trash 3y agoThe really funny thing is, that these calls often have called ID from within Australian network, but the caller is obviously from outside the australian network. Seriously, just ban anyone pretending to be another number unless the telco itself has set it up. The phone is essentially useless to me these days.
- ars 3y agoDo you have family? Because I've heard horror stories of people who did this, and then no one could contact them when a family member was seriously hurt.
- njovin 3y agoI do this and I have family. If somebody leaves a voicemail I check it right away. About 6 months ago I started getting 10-30 calls per day so I really have no other option. Most of them are Medicare scammers (I'm not even old enough to qualify). I cannot fathom how: 1. The FCC/telcos have managed to allow anyone to spoof any number they like with no oversight and no (effective) abuse reporting system. This has been going on for years with absolutely no improvement. 2. Medicare is apparently so easy to scam out of money that all they need is my name and birthday to get money out of the system on my behalf. When I've answered and played along by giving them fake information, they always hang up as soon as they have these 2 pieces of info.
- manicennui 3y agoIf scamming Medicare were that easy, they would just buy a list.
- worthless-trash 3y agoThat however costs money.
- notatoad 3y agoi don't have kids. if i did, i don't think i'd reject unknown callers like this. but for my life, it works.
- crazygringo 3y agoExcept for when a restaurant is calling you to let you know that your table is ready. Or your doctor's office is calling to let you know they suddenly have an opening this afternoon. Or your Uber driver is calling to let you know you left something valuable in their car, right after they've dropped you off at the airport. And so forth. I've learned from hard experience that silencing all calls from non-contacts bites you in the ass. There are legitimate calls that benefit you now, where going to voicemail defeats the purpose.
- Waterluvian 3y agoTo each their own, and everyone’s life has different complexities, but a decade of never answering a number I don’t know has yet to be a problem. A few times a year I’ll get a message from the doctor on my answering machine. That’s about it. Generally they prey on people who cannot override their fear of missing out. It’s the “you may have already won!” trick in a different format.
- ghaff 3y agoYeah. I’m willing to bet that the casual “so what if they can’t reach me” crowd don’t have elderly parents, kids, spouses, don’t put themselves in group trip situations where you don’t want to put everyone’s number in your permanent contacts, etc. No it’s pretty much idiocy to basically throw away voice calls because you get a usually obvious junk call now and then.
- JohnFen 3y ago> I’m willing to bet that the casual “so what if they can’t reach me” crowd don’t have[...] You'd be making a bad bet. Besides, who is taking that stance? I don't answer my phone if the caller isn't in my phone book, but that doesn't mean legitimate unknown callers can't reach me! They leave a voice mail, and I'm listening to it immediately after they're done.
- ghaff 3y agoBecause some things are urgent and I may not notice a straight to voicemail for a long time. I understand if junk calls are so frequent that some people are basically forced to ignore non-contact phone calls but it seems sub-optimal for the couple times a week situation which is my case.