asked on

Is there a hardware or software way to block telemarketers on landline

I want to be able to identify (and subsequently block ), the calls on my landline that while they do show phone #'s, only show a city and state on the caller id. The numbers and city\state keep changing, so trying to identify and block them through the phone company is not doable. Is there a hardware product that I would put in the line before my phone, or is there a way (thru software), that I could program something to do this? If software, what OS, programming language, SDK ?.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

tailoreddigital

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

eelou

ASKER

That may be something to consider (and I will look closer at it), but I would prefer to be able to program something that identifies that it is a city\state that is calling me, and thus blocks it, and then records the number for the future (without my having to push a button to block it in the future).

Dave Baldwin

City\state identification is unreliable at best because of 'number portability' and because telemarketers call remotely thru local numbers to prevent what you want to do. There is no automatic way to identify telemarketers when they first call.

eelou

ASKER

I do not care if they change their #, city, and\or state. I want to block anything that is just showing a city and state...because as far as I can tell, that is a telemarketer.

Dave Baldwin

I get telemarketers with many different things showing in caller ID. Here I rarely see ones with just city and state. I'm pretty sure you're going to have to go with pushing a button to ID the ones that are telemarketers.

I just let the calls go to my answering machine. Most of them don't leave messages.

eelou

ASKER

It may be as you say, that I will have to end up pushing a button, but I really do not want the phone to ring, unless it gets through the checks that I wish to be able to program in. Is there no hardware\software combination that will allow me to do this? I understand that there is software that can be installed on your PC, but I want a separate piece of hardware, I do not want the PC involved. It can though be something like a raspberry in-between the phone line and the phone.

Is the information on the Caller id available to everyone, or do the phone companies control access to this? Is there no software that can be used to program? All due respect to all here, but have I posting in the wrong place, and is there thus a forum somewhere that deals with these matters?

SOLUTION

Dave Baldwin

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

eelou

ASKER

Visual Studio has TAPI. Looks difficult. It does not look like I can find what I want, over the counter, but thanks.

John Moulton

Sometimes, we are so irritated with the telemarketers' call and just want to get rid of it. There are various tools available online that will help you block their calls. You can also use the reverse phone lookup service to identify telemarketers' numbers prior and save your time from attending those unwanted calls. You can use this service to identify mobile as well as landline numbers.
You will be able to identify not only the telemarketers' calls but also the complete details of the caller with a click. These details include name, address, age and social profiles of the caller. Once you know all these details, you can easily report the caller.
To know more, visit canada missed call.