5 ms·

People complain about email being 'broken', but it's working great compared to phones. I'm at the stage where I automatically reject all phonecalls where I don

People complain about email being 'broken', but it's working great compared to phones. I'm at the stage where I automatically reject all phonecalls where I don't recognise the number, and then Google that number. 99% of the time I then end up adding the number to my Contacts with the name 'Spam'. Why isn't anyone fixing this? Bonus anecdote: I used to never use my work phone, but our work phones were recently replaced with Microsoft Lync phones - now I get spam phonecalls at work.

mtmail 12y ago
Is it possible to mute those numbers? Set a silent ring tone for any contact in a group maybe? Of course an app for this scenario would be better.
- bradleyankrom 12y ago
  iOS give the user the ability to block a phone number, which I usually do when an unknown number calls. Like a commenter above, my process is reject and google, with the last step almost always being to block the number. I don't know how much good that does, though, because it's pretty easy for a company to work with a pool of numbers, so if I block one I can't necessarily block them all.
  - GordonS 12y ago
    Android also lets you block numbers. You can also register them as spam numbers, so any unsolicited SMS messages go into a spam folder. Not sure how much of a problem this is in the US, but here in the UK I almost daily get texts from PPI claim companies, dodgy law firms and the like.
    - bradleyankrom 12y ago
      I think spammy text messages have become a significant issue for consumers in the US -- at least on T-Mobile (my carrier). Around the holidays, I was getting half a dozen obviously junk/spammy/malicious text messages with links to .rus. It's died down considerably over the last couple of weeks, but I still receive them every few days. At least in TMO's case, part of the problem was that the messages weren't coming from reportable phone numbers, they were being sent via TMO's antiquated email infrastructure.
  - VLM 12y ago
    >because it's pretty easy for a company to work with a pool of numbers, so if I block one I can't necessarily block them all. My experience with implementing this is most spammers are pretty dumb or aiming at dumb targets, so a VOIP asterisk rule will get hit hundreds of time over the years by the same company.
- bradddd 12y ago
  There are a few Call Blockers that manage spam out there that do this. How well they do this is up for debate.
- tyrfing 12y ago
  Cyanogenmod lets you blacklist any number with 2 or 3 button presses from call history. It's actually the main reason I switched to Cyanogen - turns out the previous owner of my new number very abruptly changed numbers because of debt collection calls. Those 5am calls, as well as a multitude of other annoying callers like payday loan companies, made it well worth the switch. Today I'm up to 21 blocked numbers. You can also whitelist just your contacts list, block area codes with wildcards, or block private numbers. http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/31/cyanogenmod-10-2-to-include-new-global-blacklist-to-block-calls-sms-or-both/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/31/cyanogenmod-10-2-to-... For stock Android I recall being able to add the numbers to a contact and make them go to voicemail, but that was an annoyingly unusable workaround. There may be better options these days.
- ljf 12y ago
  Try this if you are on Android - working great for me: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrnumber.blocker&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrnumber.b...
  - danepowell 12y ago
    Doesn't work on Android 5 / Lollipop.
    - ljf 12y ago
      Working fine on my Nexus 4 with Lollipop - not had any issues lately, and still blocking calls for me since I've upgraded.
- coldpie 12y ago
  On Android 4.4 (Moto X, fairly stock Android), specific contacts have a setting to avoid ringing the phone. I add spammers to a contact called Asshole with that setting set. Works nicely, and doesn't require installing an application.
maxerickson 12y ago
If you pick up the phone and say "Please put me on your courtesy do not call list", legitimate companies will stop calling you. That leaves the you've won a free cruise/insurance/alarm scam companies, but they mostly don't call over and over again. The point is not to argue with them about whether they should be calling you etc., it is to advertise yourself as a dead lead.
- jimhefferon 12y ago
  Why do I have to waste part of my life on these scum?
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Do you expect a revealing answer to that question? I don't think I'm suggesting something that wastes part of your life. What I suggest directly restores usefulness to the phone, and it likely forces the call center companies to report unsuccessful calls instead of no answers to their customers (and if done in large numbers it should have an impact).
    - yebyen 12y ago
      He's right. I work in a call center (not calling on the phones, I keep up the infrastructure) where we do mostly market research for our clients which involves calling their customers. Utility companies, medical offices, consulting services, they will all honor do-not-call requests and so will any legitimate call center business. That is thankless work, the people on the phones are mostly not scum, but the number of people that answer the phone and treat them as such makes me feel for them so I'm happy to look the other way at some minor bad behavior like being short with a person or hanging up, when every third person they talk to is some jerk who only knows how to yell "IM ON THE DO-NOT-CALL LIST I JUST TALKED TO YOU LAST WEEK I ALREADY TOLD YOU NOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS ILLEGAL GIVE ME YOUR MANAGER RIGHT NAO!!1one" Just because you talked to _some_ call center somewhere, it does not follow that every call center in the fleet automatically knows you are not to be contacted. We have do-not-call lists, and the best way to make sure you get that treatment is to ask for it. You don't have to ruin your day and someone else's by getting mad about it. Five magic words can liberate you: "do not call me again". Second best way: when you sign up for services, don't give them your phone number! They can't give it to us if they don't have it to begin with. If hearing the phone ring makes you so mad, seriously just don't give it out to any companies that could just as easily deal with you by post.
slig 12y ago
I never answer my phone unless it's from a family member or close friend, or I'm expecting a specific call. If it's somewhat important, they can email me later and schedule a call.
charlesdm 12y ago
So true. I've also made it a habbit to no longer answer 'blocked' calls, since those tend to be spam. If it's important, they'll usually leave a message or send an e-mail.
72deluxe 12y ago
That's precisely what I do haha. I also get that number forwarded automatically to voicemail.
daigoba66 12y ago
I too follow the whitelist approach for phone calls. Most ligitmate callers (my bank, doctor, friend, family, or coworkers) will leave a message. This effectively confirms their identity and I'll add the number to my contacts list so that I know to answer next time. It works really well.
- maaku 12y ago
  I wish there was a way to send these calls to a specific voicemail message. "You have been sent to voicemail because the number you're calling is not in my contacts list. Please leave a short message telling me whose phone you are calling from." etc.
  - Bjartr 12y ago
    Google Voice lets you do exactly this with its call screening feature.
    - maaku 12y ago
      It requires me to answer the phone.

mtmail 12y ago

Is it possible to mute those numbers? Set a silent ring tone for any contact in a group maybe? Of course an app for this scenario would be better.

bradleyankrom 12y ago
iOS give the user the ability to block a phone number, which I usually do when an unknown number calls. Like a commenter above, my process is reject and google, with the last step almost always being to block the number. I don't know how much good that does, though, because it's pretty easy for a company to work with a pool of numbers, so if I block one I can't necessarily block them all.
- GordonS 12y ago
  Android also lets you block numbers. You can also register them as spam numbers, so any unsolicited SMS messages go into a spam folder. Not sure how much of a problem this is in the US, but here in the UK I almost daily get texts from PPI claim companies, dodgy law firms and the like.
  - bradleyankrom 12y ago
    I think spammy text messages have become a significant issue for consumers in the US -- at least on T-Mobile (my carrier). Around the holidays, I was getting half a dozen obviously junk/spammy/malicious text messages with links to .rus. It's died down considerably over the last couple of weeks, but I still receive them every few days. At least in TMO's case, part of the problem was that the messages weren't coming from reportable phone numbers, they were being sent via TMO's antiquated email infrastructure.
- VLM 12y ago
  >because it's pretty easy for a company to work with a pool of numbers, so if I block one I can't necessarily block them all. My experience with implementing this is most spammers are pretty dumb or aiming at dumb targets, so a VOIP asterisk rule will get hit hundreds of time over the years by the same company.
bradddd 12y ago
There are a few Call Blockers that manage spam out there that do this. How well they do this is up for debate.
tyrfing 12y ago
Cyanogenmod lets you blacklist any number with 2 or 3 button presses from call history. It's actually the main reason I switched to Cyanogen - turns out the previous owner of my new number very abruptly changed numbers because of debt collection calls. Those 5am calls, as well as a multitude of other annoying callers like payday loan companies, made it well worth the switch. Today I'm up to 21 blocked numbers. You can also whitelist just your contacts list, block area codes with wildcards, or block private numbers. http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/31/cyanogenmod-10-2-to-include-new-global-blacklist-to-block-calls-sms-or-both/ http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/31/cyanogenmod-10-2-to-... For stock Android I recall being able to add the numbers to a contact and make them go to voicemail, but that was an annoyingly unusable workaround. There may be better options these days.
ljf 12y ago
Try this if you are on Android - working great for me: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrnumber.blocker&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrnumber.b...
- danepowell 12y ago
  Doesn't work on Android 5 / Lollipop.
  - ljf 12y ago
    Working fine on my Nexus 4 with Lollipop - not had any issues lately, and still blocking calls for me since I've upgraded.
coldpie 12y ago
On Android 4.4 (Moto X, fairly stock Android), specific contacts have a setting to avoid ringing the phone. I add spammers to a contact called Asshole with that setting set. Works nicely, and doesn't require installing an application.

maxerickson 12y ago

If you pick up the phone and say "Please put me on your courtesy do not call list", legitimate companies will stop calling you. That leaves the you've won a free cruise/insurance/alarm scam companies, but they mostly don't call over and over again. The point is not to argue with them about whether they should be calling you etc., it is to advertise yourself as a dead lead.

jimhefferon 12y ago
Why do I have to waste part of my life on these scum?
- maxerickson 12y ago
  Do you expect a revealing answer to that question? I don't think I'm suggesting something that wastes part of your life. What I suggest directly restores usefulness to the phone, and it likely forces the call center companies to report unsuccessful calls instead of no answers to their customers (and if done in large numbers it should have an impact).
  - yebyen 12y ago
    He's right. I work in a call center (not calling on the phones, I keep up the infrastructure) where we do mostly market research for our clients which involves calling their customers. Utility companies, medical offices, consulting services, they will all honor do-not-call requests and so will any legitimate call center business. That is thankless work, the people on the phones are mostly not scum, but the number of people that answer the phone and treat them as such makes me feel for them so I'm happy to look the other way at some minor bad behavior like being short with a person or hanging up, when every third person they talk to is some jerk who only knows how to yell "IM ON THE DO-NOT-CALL LIST I JUST TALKED TO YOU LAST WEEK I ALREADY TOLD YOU NOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS ILLEGAL GIVE ME YOUR MANAGER RIGHT NAO!!1one" Just because you talked to _some_ call center somewhere, it does not follow that every call center in the fleet automatically knows you are not to be contacted. We have do-not-call lists, and the best way to make sure you get that treatment is to ask for it. You don't have to ruin your day and someone else's by getting mad about it. Five magic words can liberate you: "do not call me again". Second best way: when you sign up for services, don't give them your phone number! They can't give it to us if they don't have it to begin with. If hearing the phone ring makes you so mad, seriously just don't give it out to any companies that could just as easily deal with you by post.

slig 12y ago

I never answer my phone unless it's from a family member or close friend, or I'm expecting a specific call. If it's somewhat important, they can email me later and schedule a call.

charlesdm 12y ago

So true. I've also made it a habbit to no longer answer 'blocked' calls, since those tend to be spam. If it's important, they'll usually leave a message or send an e-mail.

72deluxe 12y ago

That's precisely what I do haha. I also get that number forwarded automatically to voicemail.

daigoba66 12y ago

I too follow the whitelist approach for phone calls. Most ligitmate callers (my bank, doctor, friend, family, or coworkers) will leave a message. This effectively confirms their identity and I'll add the number to my contacts list so that I know to answer next time. It works really well.

maaku 12y ago
I wish there was a way to send these calls to a specific voicemail message. "You have been sent to voicemail because the number you're calling is not in my contacts list. Please leave a short message telling me whose phone you are calling from." etc.
- Bjartr 12y ago
  Google Voice lets you do exactly this with its call screening feature.
  - maaku 12y ago
    It requires me to answer the phone.