I find it odd that there's no universal system for blocking calls from specific numbers. I'm guessing you could implement a spam filter, so Harassment/telemarketing wouldn't be a problem.
It goes hand in hand with the fact that there's no reliable system for identifying the origin of an incoming call. Telcos won't let Caller ID information be reliable enough to be used for blocking purposes, so there's clearly a lot of money in aiding and abetting the telemarketers/scammers.
Let's assume caller ID info is perfect, that doesn't actually solve the issue. If a telco gives a local business e.g. 100 numbers, and when those numbers call out it says "Whatever business, 123 main street, somecity" you'd just see the VoIP provider's info each time a scammer calls you.
Right now you can often determine the address/owner of a telephone number, but that doesn't tell you who REALLY called because the VoIP company never passes on that info even to the telcos.
What we need is a law that forces VoIP providers (inc. Skype) to forward some real caller ID info onto the telcos, and then the telcos need to forward that info to the end user.
The insecurity of the caller ID system (i.e. it is trivially spoofed) is a legitimate problem however, since even if the VoIP provider did pass on the info, the scammer could override it.
It seems it would be better just to outlaw spoofing the identity of another entity (to prevent SWATting), but still allow blocked number calls. Spoofing numbers for fraud should also be deterred somehow.
Even without this, one could develop Bayesian filters to detect likely spam calls and run them through a captcha first.
Whitelist filtering. Known contacts are allowed, preferably on a time of day basis. Eg your auto repair shop can't call during dinner. Family and boss, 24/7. Blocks when you need to go heads-down dark.
I've been using an Android app called "Mr Number" [1] for a few years now to help block nuisance calls. One of it's more useful features is its use of crowdsourcing to identify spam numbers and automatically block them right from the first time they try to call you. There's a bunch of other similar Android apps (presumably for iOS too?) that are worth a look too, depending on your particular needs. See the "Similar" section on the link below.
I'd used Mr. Number for a while, and even recommended it at one point. Its increasingly overreaching permissions demands, especially over contacts, lead me to drop it. I've since switched to a feature phone due to concerns with Android privacy generally, though my frustrations in not being able to screen or filter calls, on a whitelist basis, are high. Telephony generally is in desperate need of radical updating, with both control and privacy as major concerns.
In Australia, there's not even a useful national system for registering to not receive unsolicited commercial calls.
I can register a personal number on a Do Not Call list, but there are exemptions for political parties, charities, religious organisations and market researchers. Market researchers and charities make a lot of calls.
There is no equivalent for business numbers.
And then on top of that, there are countless telemarketing calls from overseas. The latest frustration on my business number is outsourcing spammers calling to explain that they will be sending me (spam) email in a moment and telling me the title of the attachment, etc. So, spam plus an interrupting phone call - fantastic! Thanks subcontinent!
There is a danish guy who started answering all business spam calls with "we do not use X" here - so they would call up and ask for whomever was in charge of lighting and he would say "we do not use lighting here", then spin a story about how they just used very bright monitors etc.
You might be able to have some fun with them at least - or just abuse the heck out of them (unfortunately telemarketers seem pretty blasee about it).
As for your private line, if you don't recognize the number just don't answer it? My cellphone blocks all calls during the night (with an exception for families) but I think it can block all numbers not in my contacts.
My co-tenant pays various utility bills so I already respond that I don't pay an electricity bill, water bill, etc - that usually leaves callers quite puzzled.
There's a new device in the UK, "BT Call Guardian" which basically has a whitelist/blacklist system and then anyone else gets answered by the device, without your phone ringing. The device explains what is going on and asks the caller to say their name. The phone then rings and the device says who is calling and you then decide whether to answer, ignore or add to blacklist.
My phone has a call-blocking feature, and I even use a service that routes private callers through an 800-number to get their unspoofed ANI. Yet one debt collector calls me from 200 different numbers. They change the number every 2-3 days. (it's for a debt I consider invalid, and beyond the 10 year statute of limitations anyway, so I won't ever pay it.)
I think what we need is an Adblock for phone numbers that categorizes all spammers, debt collectors, etc and blocks them instantly on everyone's phones.
If you mean what I think you mean I think that is unworkable for most of us. Drop your car off at the shop for some work. Mechanic calls you from his cell phone because it's handy and the shop line is tied up. You never get it. Or school nurse calls you about an emergency. Neighbor calls you to tell you your dog got out from the back yard. That kind of stuff is about the only reason I have voice service - I don't use the damn thing to talk for the most part.
I do mean what you think I mean, and I understand what you're saying, but if the sort of volume of spam people are talking about became the norm, for me it would be either white list or stop owning a phone at all. Between those two options, white list seems the better one.
I was unaware of trapcall but will have to investigate.
Callcentric's whitelisting + call routing rules combined with a download of your android phonebook makes an effective whitelist filter. Anyone not in your address book is just sent to voicemail.
This is the best argument against "personal responsibility" ever. I don't want to protect myself from Comcast bothering me, I want them to observe courtesy. We have laws for that.
I don't find it that odd, but what I do find odd is that in these days of smartphones the software dialers don't make it trivially easy to block incoming calls. You have to choose an app if you want to block calls and most people are understandably a bit hesitant to replace the default app that came with the phone with some third-party one of unknown provenance. This is a pity, because if users could easily share telemarketing blocklists and so on you could shut down abusive calling industries very very easily.
Not true for the iPhone: just add the number to a contact, and block the contact.
I have a contact "Blocked Telemarketers" for exactly this purpose. Every time a new one hits me, I just add its number to this contact. Trivially easy.
You don't even need to add a contact. You can block any number on the iPhone by going into the Recents list in Phone and picking the 'Block this caller' option.
I've got quite a long list of blocked sales numbers, mostly Virgin Media and Three.
What I really want though is a very simple feature. I don't want my phone to accept phone calls unless the number is in my address book already. Its so straightforward and already implemented in other communication mediums, I do not understand why it is not a feature yet.
Just one vendor including this feature would force all of them to.
My parents do this the old fashioned way. They don't pickup unless they recognize the number.
In fact, my colleagues do the same, and this has actually caused problems for On call if the colleague calling at 4am isn't in the callee's circle of friends.
Android 5+ (or maybe 5.1) includes this - you can set it to priority notifications only, and then turn calls on but say to only include calls from your contacts.
Indeed, our current phone system makes it incumbent upon the person getting harassed to change their number. 25+ years ago there was someone angry at my parents that used to call in the middle of the night until they changed their (unlisted) number, over and over. Not sure why the person eventually stopped, I guess the game got old.
It kind of points to the fact that long before the internet existed, we were bad at building systems that allowed victims of harassment to have any recourse against abusers.
The caller didn't get the new number, they repeatedly called the old number until it was changed. Or that's how I read it. The wording is a little confusing.
I think most VoIP providers let you block calls. Google voice does as well. As do most Cell providers, plus you can install apps on jailbroken cell phones that will do that.
It's really only POTS that doesn't have such functionality.
At least a couple of times a month for about a year, we'd get a fax call at around 2am. The phone company refused to do anything about it, saying that if it wasn't explicitly harassing, it was OK. That makes me not want to be their customer anymore.
So we switched to a VoIP service, which we can set up blacklists or whitelists for as we like. No more problems.
I think the underlying problem is that the TelCo just doesn't care: they're happy to lose you as a POTS customer. They lose money on residential service, so if they can go by the book for regulatory purposes and still shed those unprofitable customers, they're winning.
I'm not sure I understand correctly what you mean, but you can either block or send to immediate voicemail individual numbers if you use Google Voice for your phone number.