How to Block Unwanted Phone Calls

Are you sick of constantly being interrupted with nuisance phone calls from robo callers and market researchers?

 

Do you want to find out how to stop these insidious creatures from interrupting your dinner or waking you up from that well deserved nap?

 

BT has a service called “Right to Refuse” which you can use to block up to 10 numbers. So you can block those robo calls that start with:

 

• This is a free message…
• Hi There…
• Every Year…

 

Unfortunately, this is not a free service (it costs £3.35 per month) and it only blocks calls which provide a number on your caller id. The limit of only 10 numbers is probably going to be insufficient to deal with the size of the current problem.

 

Another option is to use a device such as trueCall (as seen on Dragon’s Den), this has many more options, such as:

 

• Whisper - trueCall asks the caller who they are before your phone rings. You can then decide how to handle the call before being connected to the caller.
• Zap & Star - Your list of welcome and unwelcome callers.
• Shield - trueCall can ask the caller to press a number to continue before your phone rings.
• Starred Callers Only - trueCall can be set up to only accept calls from numbers on your Star list.
• Anonymous Caller Reject - Reject callers who withhold their number.
• Integrated Answering Machine - trueCall has a standard answering machine built in.
• Call Screening - Sends all unrecognized numbers to the built in answering machine.

 

 Advanced Features

 

trueCall also has a range of Advanced Features:

Internet Control Panel (included free of charge for first year) - You can view your call log and edit your settings on the internet.

Night Shield - Like the shield mentioned above but activates automatically at night

Privacy and Security - trueCall keeps your messages safe and secure.

Personalised Greetings and Announcements - You can record your own greetings and announcements to callers.

Code Access - trueCall can ask callers to enter a PIN before connecting the call. You can also block all incoming calls or send all incoming calls to answering machine.

Phones and Phone lines - trueCall works on a wide variety of telephone equipment. It works on standard BT lines, cable lines and broadband lines.

 

 

Optional Extra

 

• trueCall Call Recorder - Record your phone conversations as well as archive received messages.

 

trueCall has some ongoing cost, such as:

 

• Telephone sync – Cost of call to sync your device with their central computer.
• Internet Control Panel – free first year, but will incur a charge thereafter.

Both systems intercept calls before your telephone even rings. Nuisance callers are barred. Unfortunately, that robo caller who keeps calling you with the tag line “This is a free call…” is going to cost you money to stop him.

 

The BT system may prove a bit limited for some, but the trueCall system will give you the satisfaction of metaphorically telling those phone stalkers to go take a flying leap.