telephonery

[calimac]

We get few legitimate telephone calls, though those we do get are important, so we're not giving up the landline. However, we also get a lot of junk calls, which I have to field through being home during the day, and being on the DNC list doesn't help. In particular I'm a regular target of the "Windows Technical Support" scammers.

Usually I just repeat "Please do not call this number again" until they hang up, but the last one got abusive and threatening. He seemed furious at my resentment of his unwanted intrusions into my time, and he vowed to keep calling me endlessly.

Time to do something about this, but what? Of course the *69 callback service said the number was not available. So maybe there's a service that would automatically block calls from numbers that say they're not available? I called up AT&T and asked. The first person said call-block would do the trick; you're supposed to enter the number you want to block, but there's a code you can use for "last call received" if you don't have its number.

But would it know the number when callback does not? Turned out that no, it couldn't block such calls; but there's another service called Privacy Manager which would. It intercepts all calls from unidentified numbers, asks the callers to identify themselves, and then lets you choose whether to let them through or block. Terrific.

However, it turns out that's only available as part of a Caller ID package. I don't have Caller ID, having no use for it, as I have no phones equipped to show it. I'm still using really old phones, because they work. The phone I have here, for instance, is a desktop model well over 40 years old, one of the earliest touch-tone phones. The last time I bought a new phone, for an extra extension in the kitchen, it was a rotten thing that wouldn't either pick up or hang up properly.

But if I get Caller ID I may not even need anything else. If an unknown number came in, I'd just drop the receiver and terminate the call without even answering it.

So now I have to go shop for phones, somewhere that has good quality ones, and salespeople who can advise intelligently. But I don't want something complex that an electronics store would sell. If AT&T still made landline phones themselves, I'd go there, but they don't. Any advice on where to go?

Comments

[ladylaetitia.livejournal.com]

You should be able to get a Caller ID unit on its own, the phone line would go into it and then a line to the phone

[sturgeonslawyer.livejournal.com]

Yes, it shouldn't cost you more than $20 or so.

[spacecrab.livejournal.com]

Whenever I hear a Windows tech support scammer on the line, I just briefly say, "You're a criminal. The Federal Trade Commission is going to get you sooner or later, so why don't you quit? You've got a call center, you could use it for honest purposes instead of to swindle people." Once in awhile a scammer will respond "Do you have a job for me?" and I'll tell him, no, you have to go look for one.