Homemade Cell Phone Call Blocker?

G)-(ostly asks: "Recently, I've been plagued by a number of calls that were mis-dialed to my cell phone. They're particularly annoying because, being on a cell phone, the wrong number calls follow me everywhere as opposed to just being ignored in an empty house during the day. Verizon, of course, has scripted their drones to claim they can't do anything about it except change the number (or we can turn off the phone), which of course probably wouldn't change anything since we'd just get different mis-dials. However, since it's in my possession, would it be possible to build a software package that could be used to 'screen' unwanted numbers right on the phone? If so, how would one even begin to find APIs for phones, or load the software, once built, onto it?" How long do you figure it will take phone makers to recognize the need for this feature? A cheap and dirty way to do this would be to add the numbers you wish to block to your phone's contact list and give them a silent ring. However, you then waste the phones memory with a phone-book entry (which can be hundreds of bytes), when all you really need is a list consisting of 10-12 digit numbers (depending on locality). The other drawback to this method is that you might need to use those contact slots, so it isn't a solution for everyone. Still, this sounds like a useful feature, but there is still the issue of how much control the cell phone's OS will give you over its basic operations (blocking messages sent from a specific number, for example). Has anyone tried doing this on their phone? What kind of luck did you have?

Comments

How about a checksum digit in phone numbers?

[evilad]

One checksum digit would eliminate *every* one-digit-wrong misdialed number. Why why why don't phone numbers have checksum digits?

Re:Different #s have different wrong number rates

[blubdog]

Where I lived previously, my phone number was one digit off from a popular delivery pizza place. In the evenings I got quite a few calls from people wanting to order a pizza. A lot of the calls were from the same drunk people.

My solution was simple, I started answering my phone with the name of the pizza place, and TOOK ORDERS! People would call back in 30-60 minutes asking where their pizza was, so I appoligized and offered them a free pizza to be delivered right away. Then I unplugged my phone and went to bed.

The serious side of this story is after a few days of taking orders, I rarely got another call from someone wanting to order a pizza.

This was over 25 years ago. I wonder if there are skeletons of people in homes still waiting for their pizza? :-)