Love my Vonage service, except for one thing--telemarketers. Now that my old number is ported over, I'm back to getting tons of telemarketer calls. With Pac Bell, I had subscribed to their privacy manager (or whatever it was called) which effectively blocked 95% plus of telemarketer calls. Now, these calls are getting through. And, it is worse, because I'm in a way different time zone, so calls come very late sometimes.
I've signed up for the FTC telemarketing call-block list. While that helps, quite a few calls still get through.
Does Vonage have plans to offer some sort of anonymous call rejection?
Have clever customers figured out a work-around?
Any tips, thoughts, suggestions or ideas? Thanks in advance.
Oh, if anyone from Vonage is listening, I'd happily pay extra for this feature.
Buy a TeleZapper. It sends out a tone that indicates the line is not in service to automated dialers. Eventually your phone number is removed from automated dialing lists.
A lot of teleco experts I talked with said the Telezapper is not nearly as effective as it once was. New predictive dialers get their info directly from phone computers, and do not respond to the SIT tones generated by the Telezapper.
Interesting article. I'm a bit surprised that it has taken the telemarketing industry this long to respond to the competitive threat of TeleZapper.
From personal experience the TeleZapper reduced the number of telemarketing calls that I received from several a night to one or two a week. Of the calls that I still receive most of those are "zapped" and I rarely have the opportunity to speak with a telemarketer. I also signed up for the Do Not Call List and religiously "Opt Out" of every marketing opportunity that is presented to me by companies that I do business with. If any telemarketing calls get throught I will listen intently and try to get information about the company that I can report to the Government.
For my money the TeleZapper is still effective and worth the $35 to $40 although like anything else in the technology field will one day become obsolete.
Many thanks for this interesting information. I had been considering a switch from landlines to Voip, but have hesitated for the reasons mentioned - namely being able to block telemarkers.
I didn't know that Telezapper would work with Voip at all, simply because how does it distinguish a computer dialer signal transmitted over a computer network such as the Internet. This is something I'll have to try...
Please note that you can buy brand new Telezappers on Ebay.com for under $10. Why pay the $30 to Radio Shack for the same product. It may take more than 30-60 days with Telezapper for it to be effective and Radio Shack (and other stores) won't let you return it after 30 days if it isn't working. I'd rather be out less than $10 than $30 or more if it doesn't work...
Here's a link to another product that will block anonymous and crank calls that are not computer generated:
This product supposedly works with Voip, but I personally haven't tried it. My current landline service only lets me Call Block 20 numbers and this unit will let you block at lot more...
Uh, the FTC do not call list is not a blocking service. It takes a couple months to kick in but after that you should not get a single solicitation call (other than from companies you already do business with). If they are calling you they are subject to heavy fines. I added our Vonage line to the FTC do not call list (due to living in Europe and the 7 hour time difference) and havn't had a single call from a telemarketer in the US since doing so a year ago.
azbill1 wrote:
Love my Vonage service, except for one thing--telemarketers. Now that my old number is ported over, I'm back to getting tons of telemarketer calls. With Pac Bell, I had subscribed to their privacy manager (or whatever it was called) which effectively blocked 95% plus of telemarketer calls. Now, these calls are getting through. And, it is worse, because I'm in a way different time zone, so calls come very late sometimes.
I've signed up for the FTC telemarketing call-block list. While that helps, quite a few calls still get through.
Does Vonage have plans to offer some sort of anonymous call rejection?
Have clever customers figured out a work-around?
Any tips, thoughts, suggestions or ideas? Thanks in advance.
Oh, if anyone from Vonage is listening, I'd happily pay extra for this feature.
--Bill
blakadher Vonage Forum Evangelist
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 476
Location: Vancouver, WA
I didn't know that Telezapper would work with Voip at all, simply because how does it distinguish a computer dialer signal transmitted over a computer network such as the Internet. This is something I'll have to try...
Unless you have a Softphone account, the signal sent over the Internet is converted to an analog signal at the Vonage ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter). Normally you plug your phone directly into this or wire it into your home telephone wiring. I imagine you put the Telezapper between the ATA and your phone or simply plug the Telezapper into a wall jack if you have hooked up your home telephone wiring to your ATA. The ATA is what allows Vonage to work with your existing phones so that you don't have to buy Voip phones.
This feature is long over do. All the phone companies have been doing this for years. I cost more, but it's very popular feature. If Vonage want's to stand out from it's competition they will have to hurry. If I find another service that offers this I will post it.
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