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."

Comments

don not call list

[alexc]

an effective CHEAP way of eliminating telemarketers is saying "PLEASE PUT ME ON YOUR DO NOT CALL LIST." By law, telemarketers are not allowed call ppl on this list. It has worked for me.

Re:don not call list

[Surak]

I worked for a telemarketer in the IT department. It depends on the state you're in. There is no federal law that I'm aware of requiring telemarketers to have a DNC (telemarketerspeak: DNC=Do Not Call list). Many states require telemarketers to have a DNC but some do not. So check with your state government if you're not sure.

Re:don not call list

[dschuetz]

There is no federal law that I'm aware of requiring telemarketers to have a DNC (telemarketerspeak: DNC=Do Not Call list).

There certainly is! And they're REQUIRED to put you on it IMMEDIATELY! (none of this "it'll take a few weeks to get your number into the list" BS).

Of course, most of the calls we get today are either from organizations exempt from the laws (political candidates, banks or phone companies, surveys, charitable organizations), or they're simply recorded messages (which are, actually, illegal as well).

I've got "put me on your do not call list immediately" as part of my answering machine message -- one of these days I'll start tracking the messages that people leave me and sue them for ignoring my request (if they can leave me a message with an automated machine, I can request to be put on the DNC with an automated message).

Unfortunately, even having state-sponsored do not call lists won't help. As I've said before, laws are only as effective as their enforcement. Until we decide to actually give some police organization real authority to prosecute these people, unscrupulous telemarketers will just ignore whatever "opt-out" laws there are and call you, anyway. What have they got to lose? Maybe .01% of the people they piss off actually haul them to court, and half those cases they get out of on a technicality?

Anyway, I'm rambling.

So, yes, there is a federal law requiring telemarketers to maintain a "do not call" list, but telemarketers' adherence to the law is spotty, and consumers' recourse against people ignoring the law is cumbersome. So they prosper, and we fume.

Re:don not call list

[Greyfox]

The FCC would seem to disagree.

Re:don not call list

[Scutter]

What about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-243 (1991), which amended Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.)?

No person or entity shall initiate any
telephone solicitation to a residential telephone subscriber

1. before the hour of 8 A.M. or after 9 P.M. (local time at the called party's location), and

2. unless such person or entity has instituted procedures for maintaining a list of persons who do not wish to receive telephone solicitations made by or on behalf of that person or entity.

Re:don not call list

[kidlinux]

If you're in the US, I bet half (or more) of the calls you get are from Canada. I have several friends who were telemarketers for summer jobs, and they only called the states.
The telemarketing companies may operate here because a) cheaper labour, and b) the laws in the US don't apply. But IANAL, so I could be wrong.

I find the first link above rediculous because their DNC list requires a payment and subscription fee. I recall my friends saying that they have to provide instructions on how a person can be removed from telemarketing lists (or files, as they called them, I guess.) There was no charge for being removed from said files.

Privacy Manager

[Frank of Earth]

I use my phone company's Privacy Manager feature. Since we started using it, we hardly get any spam calls anymore. It's definately worth the 4 bucks a month.

Re:Privacy Manager

[mosch]

I've found that using the Junkbusters anti-telemarketing script helps quite a bit as well. It's a little bit annoying for the first few weeks, but after that, the calls drop off quite dramatically.

Easy fix

[Anonymous Coward]

I didnt read the article, but you could insert the first tone of a telecom's disconnected line signal on your answering machine, and automated systems will delist you.

Bloody Telemarketers

[T-Kir]

My brother & family moved into a nice new house last year... and as soon as the phone was set up, BANG! Telemarketers left right and bloody center.

He ended up installing this system (I'm not there so I couldn't tell you what it is) that will reroute all calls without Caller ID to an automated system so calls can be screened, callers have to give their name or business name and then the system literally calls the house itself to say "person or company x" is calling.

The number of telemarketing calls went through the floor, mainly because most didn't want to go through the screening check. They get the odd call now and then, but mostly by those who do persevere with the screening system or those that have valid Caller ID tags.

Originally he did have the system completely rejecting calls without ID, but since the rest of the family live in England, there isn't any ID transmitted - so we couldn't get through for a while, until we got a call from him wondering why WE hadn't called!! DOH!

Doo-doo-doot gadgets also stump public libraries

[vaxer]

I work for a group of public libraries that uses a computer to call and say "Someone at this telephone number" -- we won't say who, because if you use a public library we consider it your own damn business -- "has an item waiting to be picked up at the So-and-So Public Library".

Unfortunately, if you use one of those gadgets that sends a "this number has been disconnected" message, the library's computer takes that at face value. You miss picking up the book, and then the library staff asks you to verify your phone number the next time you're there.

So, yeah, it works, but sometimes a little too well.

The EZ Hangup link you provide is a scam

[bobtroy]

The link in the posting for EZ Hangup links to a site that's running a scam. Zenith's EZ Hangup is a $10 product--I have one. For $49.00, the site hangupnow.com is offering you one Zenith EZ Hangup device and a "free" listing on the "national do not call list" (a $39.00 value). On top of that, there is no national do-not-call list--they're advertising a private service that contacts telemarketers to have your number removed, and it is doubtful they even do that much (particularly since their FAQ highlights that you may still receive calls, and the service has no guarantee).