Nuisance phone calls.

[towny44]

I recently added Sky Talk Shield to my package, it's free for Sky talk users, and wonder of wonders it has totally eliminated nuisance phone calls.
It took about 15 mins to set up most of my regular callers on a "starred" list so they can call me as normal, all others are intercepted automatically, requested to say their name/firm, then I get an auto call asking if I want to accept the call or not, and whether I want to add it to my starred list.
Since then I have not received one nuisance call, but still receive calls from some new numbers that I want to accept.
If your phone provider offers a similar system as a free option then I would certainly recommend you take it.

[qbman1]

Let us have your number and we'll all give you a call to try it out !!!

[Kenmo1]

I get an auto call asking if I want to accept the call or not, and whether I want to add it to my starred list.

Let us have your number and we'll all give you a call to try it out !!!

qbman - I don't think you will make it on to the starred list.

Maureen

[towny44]

Maureen, you are a mind reader!

[screwy]

Towny, i have also taken up the talk shield, indeed it is a good thing.

[Stephen]

The only nuisance call we get is BT trying to get me to take out broadband with them.

[Kendhni]

We just don't answer our landline any more - we use our mobiles. It means I can give out the landline phone number and not worry about it. It rings every once in a while but it goes direct to a message that says 'We are unable to take your call right now, please try again later' - the answering machine is also disabled.

If I am walking past it I just might answer it and, if it is a sales call, I ask them to hold on and then continue with what I was doing ... which usually means leaving the house.

[Dancing Queen]

We had a spate of nuisance calls earlier this year and it got to the point where we stopped answering the phone unless it was a number we recognised but then I thought this is my phone and I'm not going to let someone else decide if I should answer it or not so I now answer all calls unless caller display shows 'International' I can usually tell within 5 seconds if it is someone selling something and if it is I put the phone down I don't even bother getting into a conversation with them, I will probably regret saying this but we haven't had any for ages so hopefully they've got the message.

[towny44]

We just don't answer our landline any more - we use our mobiles. It means I can give out the landline phone number and not worry about it. It rings every once in a while but it goes direct to a message that says 'We are unable to take your call right now, please try again later' - the answering machine is also disabled.

If I am walking past it I just might answer it and, if it is a sales call, I ask them to hold on and then continue with what I was doing ... which usually means leaving the house.

I am still a dinosaur when it comes to mobiles, mine is only PAYG whereas the landline gives me free phone calls 24/7. However I notice that some SIM only packages now offer more calls and texts than I could ever use in a month plus up to 1gb of data for only £5 per month, so I might be tempted to switch sometime in the not too distant future. I just have to hope my sons and DILs will continue to make their old phones available as they upgrade.

[david63]

Unless I am expecting a call from a number that I do not have in the phone, or recognise, then it does not get answered - if it is important enough then they will leave a message.

[towny44]

Unless I am expecting a call from a number that I do not have in the phone, or recognise, then it does not get answered - if it is important enough then they will leave a message.

We used to do that David but it was still annoying that the phone would ring several times a day with unwanted sales calls, Sky Talk Shield has stopped all that.

[Mervyn and Trish]

We leave our answer machine permanently on as a means of screening calls, but fingers crossed we get very few nuisance calls these days.

[Manoverboard]

The simplest and cheapest solution is to buy one, or indeed more, of the latest BT phones which have the protection system built into them. NO charge NOR contract for the facility ... bar that of BT's ' Caller Display ' which we already had anyway.

WE are also Mobile dinosaurs, PAYG for us and generally limited to sending / receiving texts. If the kids want to use their mobiles fine but they will need to phone us on our landline number.

There is no need for an answer phone either as we just list the numbers who called while we were away and respond if appropriate.

[gfwgfw]

Hey Ho

Believe me, when one is old and lonely any phone calls are a joy

Lubboo all

Graham

[Mervyn and Trish]

Perhaps we can all get ours diverted to you Graham

[gfwgfw]

Perhaps we can all get ours diverted to you Graham

What a kind offer - thank you

Getting a bit feed up socializing with the the "Talking" clock

Lubbooo

[Gill W]

The simplest and cheapest solution is to buy one, or indeed more, of the latest BT phones which have the protection system built into them. NO charge NOR contract for the facility ... bar that of BT's ' Caller Display ' which we already had anyway.

WE are also Mobile dinosaurs, PAYG for us and generally limited to sending / receiving texts. If the kids want to use their mobiles fine but they will need to phone us on our landline number.

There is no need for an answer phone either as we just list the numbers who called while we were away and respond if appropriate.

We have a pair of those BT phones with Call Guardian on it, and our nuisance calls have dropped to zero. We've entered the numbers from callers that we'll accept, and the phone will ring if any of those numbers call. Everyone else has to announce themselves, before the phone will actually ring, then we can decide whether we'll accept the calls. Of course, nuisance calls dont announce themselves, so the phone never rings at all for these sorts of calls

However, for people that I want to call me, I tend to give my mobile number these days