[telecom] Anonymous call blocking (whether you want it or not)

I was expecting a call yesterday and it didn't arrive... and when I called the other party today, they said that the call was blocked, because my line has anonymous call blocking turned on.

Now anonymous call blocking is a nice feature if you want to avoid telemarketers who block their caller ID, which is approximately none of them, since they can simply insert fake caller ID instead and get around such blocking! But if you ever need to call the "doctor on call" for an off-hours medical emergency, for instance, the doctor on call will usually have call blocking (because they're calling you back from home). And some government agencies, as in my recent case, also block caller ID. So you don't always want this "feature" on. And I never ordered it or turned it on.

But somehow my Comcast Digital Voice line was set to block anonymous calls. So if you subscriber to CDV, you may want to log in to your account and check your settings -- you can turn it on and off yourself from their web site.

They're getting sloppier and sloppier as they get bigger and bigger.

Reply to
Fred Goldstein
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They were that way BEFORE they started adding phone service. Nothing has changed. Don't expect anything to get better..............ever.

[moderator pro tem's note: In my area they seemed better. If it was old MediaOne, it was usually pretty good. Old TCI, ecch.]
Reply to
news

I don't have any VOIP or wireline service anymore. But on my cell phone there's a feature you can turn on in Android 4.1.2 called Call Block. But it does something different from all the other call blockers I've seen. Instead of having you white list callers it instead derives a white list from you contacts.

So long as someone is in your contacts they can call you. Otherwise it just shunts off to your voicemail.

Eliminates a lot of the baloney that's for sure.

Reply to
tonypo

That doesn't address the 'doctor on call' issue.

-- -- -- jt

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It is interesting to note that before the advent of Microsoft Windows, 'GPF' was better known for its usage in plumbing: Gallons Per Flush

Reply to
Julian Thomas

I think that "Anonymous Call Rejection" was turned on by default in order to lessen the number of complaints from customers who didn't like getting anonymous calls. After all, "personnel" is the largest expense item in any corporate budget, even when those persons are 8,000 miles away.

"Doctors on call" is not an exception unless all concerned agree that physicians are entitled to have more privacy than the rest of us. That's not always the case, but even if we agree that a workaround is needed, there are other means by which to achieve the desired result, some of them very old ("WATS Boxes", for example), and some new (burner phones or originate-only lines).

[moderator pro tem's note: It had not been on all along; I've received numerous doctor-on-call anonymous calls in the past. It just so happened that I found out about its being turned on without being asked. We have two lines; it was not turned on for the other line. Doctors on call is important; physicians do deserve privacy on their home lines. If you turn on blocking, you should expect trouble. I didn't turn it on, Comcast did.]

Damn. I knew what "GPF" meant until I read that, and now I can't get your definition out of my head!

Green Page of Failure? Great Pacifier Formula? Godawful Political Foulup? Google Provides Frustration?

Bill

Reply to
Bill Horne

That's Redmond's highest-ranking military officer, General Page Fault :-) . Leading the country alongside Generals Electric, Mills, & Motors.

Cheers, -- tlvp

Reply to
tlvp

About 15 years ago when I moved into my current house, I subscribed to anonymous call blocking from the ILEC for a few $$ per month, and at the time, I think it blocked quite a few unwanted junk calls. But as time went on, almost every junk call had some caller-ID of some form, forged or not, so it became much less useful. I only had one "false-positive" with an insurance adjuster that refused to follow the simple type in a phone # to go through that was part of that feature. (any # typed would have the call go through and have a distinctive ring).

But overall, they tend to leave me alone. I get bugged more at work with legit vendors checking in with me than I ever get unwanted calls at home thankfully.

Reply to
Doug McIntyre

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