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Fighting Telemarketers with Technology
prostoalex writes "According to an MSNBC story, 104 million telemarketing calls are made daily in the U.S. alone and technology is on the way to fight those special offers and incredible credit card rates. Zenith EZ HangUp, The Phone Butler, TriVOX VN100 and ScreenMachine are quoted in the article as new gadgets that allow phone owners to avoid the plagues of telemarketing."
Who considers it rude(besides yourself)?
Almost everyone with whom this has come up in conversation despises when people do this. Indeed, most people (such as myself) simply hang up when we get the answering machine of someone who plays the screen game with their machine.
If they call and get an answering machine, they should *just leave a message*!
Perhaps you missed that point, however people do try to leave a message (which is a perfectly fine technology: If you're not answering then the person leaves a message) and then some moron picks up. There are systems nowadays that are meant for screening, and they don't force the person through the motions of leaving a message (note: People start going "Hello? You there?" after they feel like an ass a few too many times trying to leave a message for the person to pick up). Get one of those or use caller display. Don't be surprized when people don't think it's worth the effort to beg for you to pick up.
Like this.