[ale] OT help ENDING unsolicited phone calls

Tue Jun 5 09:19:00 EDT 2012

Yeah, this year I've gotten a lot of so-called political surveys that are just covers for the old timeshare scams. They say something like "To increase survey response, a donor has offered a free (weekend stay, cruise, etc) for anyone who completes the survey." I thought I saw an article about the FCC beginning to go after those guys, but they can make a letter-of-the-law defense. 

You could certainly do the kinds of things you're trying to do with Asterisk (or Freeswitch). You might look at a distro like IncrediblePBX -- they have something close to what you're after built in, I believe. You'll need an old computer and a TDM card, so it might be more expensive than what you're interested in. If you've already got a Linux box running at home, though, you might be able to make it work. You can also drop the cable phone line for VoIP and save some money. 

Another technique is for those not on your whitelist, make them press a button or answer a question. That way, you eliminate the robo-dialers but, say, a family member calling from an unknown phone because their cell is dead can still get through. 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Ron Frazier (ALE)" <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> 
To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, June 5, 2012 2:00:27 AM 
Subject: Re: [ale] OT help ENDING unsolicited phone calls 

Good point. I'm already on the list. Doesn't do the trick. Political, survey, and charity callers are excluded from the rules. Not only that, many entities that should be subject to the rules ignore them. I don't have time to worry about getting them prosecuted. The FCC already knows about most of the abusers. I just don't want their calls to ring through at all. If you google nuisance calls, etc., you'll find that many people think the do not call list is a joke and that the fcc isn't doing it's job going after the abusers. 

Sincerely, 

Ron 

-- 

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail. 
Please excuse my potential brevity. 

(To whom it may concern. My email address has changed. Replying to former 
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong 
address. Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.) 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to 
call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy 
mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very quickly.) 

Ron Frazier 
770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message. 
linuxdude AT techstarship.com 

simontek at gmail.com wrote: 

https://www.donotcall.gov/ 

Place number on that, anytime you get a call, get info, and have them fined $16,000, each time. 

On , "Ron Frazier (ALE)" <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote: 
> Hi Guys, 
> 
> 
> 
> You all are always a good source of geeky info, even if something doesn't relate just to Linux. This year, for whatever reason, I've been getting more and more unsolicited phone calls, from politicians, charities, surveys, telemarketers, etc. They're amounting to several per day, and I'm sick of it. I've exceeded the 12 # limit on the block list for comcast phone service, and I'm about to get some bigger weapons. I'm thinking of moving from a black list concept, where I block what I don't want, to a white list concept, where I allow what I do want. Everything else goes to an answering machine. 
> 
> 
> 
> I've found this device: http://www.jfteck.com/caller-id-with-ring-controller.php and a few similar ones which can do what I want. However, there are a couple of problems I need to solve. For this device to work the way I described, you would wire it from the telephone source, in my case the cable modem, to an answering machine, then to the ring controller, then to the rest of the house. In my case, the original bellsouth phone lines coming to the outside of the house are disconnected. Under normal conditions, the cable modem phone output drives all phones in the house. In this case, the ring controller output drives the whole house. I'm not totally sure it can drive the whole house, but assuming it can, there is still a problem. 
> 
> 
> 
> In this scenario, if someone on my white list calls, the phones ring as normal. The device I mentioned has two white lists, so I can restrict my vendors I deal with to business hours, etc. If someone not on my white list calls, they get sent to the answering machine, and if they have a legit reason to call me, they can leave a message. But, what's cool is that my phones never ring except for people on the white lists. 
> 
> 
> 
> Now, assuming the device can drive all my phones, one problem remains. Because my phones never ring for non approved calls, their caller id never activates. Since the cable modem is in the basement, that's where the ring controller will be. So, there is no way to easily check the caller id list to see what calls came in that weren't on the white list, in case I missed some that I actually want to ring. I'm not even sure my phones will get caller id if they do ring, because the ring controller has to detect the first ring and the caller id, before deciding to ring my other phones. 
> 
> 
> 
> So, what I'd like to do is put remote, preferably wireless, caller id displays in certain rooms and have their base down in the basement, before the ring controller. That way, those devices will have a record of all the calls, and I can review the list. That way, if "cousin joe" calls and I want to let his calls ring through, I can add him to the white lists. Also, I wouldn't mind if the caller id devices have an OPTIONAL ring indicator. So, I'm OK if there is a minimal beep or something when a restricted call comes in. Then, I can just glance at the caller id device and either ignore it, or make a note to add it to the white list. I don't know for sure what would happen if I pick up the phone when a restricted call is coming in, whether it would work, or whether I get nothing. Since the phones never ring, it may be nothing. 
> 
> 
> 
> I'd like suggestions as to how to solve the caller id problem, or, how to tackle this problem in general. 
> 
> 
> 
> Sincerely, 
> 
> 
> 
> Ron 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail. 
> 
> Please excuse my potential brevity. 
> 
> 
> 
> (To whom it may concern. My email address has changed. Replying to former 
> 
> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong 
> 
> address. Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.) 
> 
> 
> 
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to 
> 
> call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy 
> 
> mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very quickly.) 
> 
> 
> 
> Ron Frazier 
> 
> 770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message. 
> 
> linuxdude AT techstarship.com 
> 
> 

_______________________________________________ 
Ale mailing list 
Ale at ale.org 
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale 
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at 
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20120605/401267ff/attachment-0001.html 