No, Your Phone Didn't Ring. So Why Voice Mail From a Telemarketer? (lifehacker.com)

Slashdot reader midwestsilentone tipped us off to a growing problem. Lifehacker reports: New technology allows telemarketers to leave ringless voicemail messages, and it's a method that's gaining traction. While there are laws to regulate businesses when they call consumers, some groups argue that ringless voicemail shouldn't count. The New York Times reports,"ringless voicemail providers and pro-business groups...argue that these messages should not qualify as calls and, therefore, should be exempt from consumer protection laws that ban similar types of telephone marketing"... After receiving a petition from a ringless voicemail provider, the Federal Trade Commission has started to collect public comments on this issue. So what can you do about it? First, you can head here to leave your public comment and if you're getting these voicemails, you can file a complaint with the FCC here.
Presumably that only applies if you're in the U.S. But I'd be curious to hear how many Slashdot readers have experienced this.

Comments

I'm sure the FCC would care...

[DewDude]

considering they're probably going to allow this for politicans...and the current head of the FCC has done a wonderful job of giving the public the middle finger; letting them know he does *NOT* work for them and does not care about their opinions...even going as far as to MOCK the American Public. All you can expect from the FCC is a reply mocking you for not wanting a company to do business...no matter how much of a harassment it is.

Kinda

[Anonymous Coward]

But I'd be curious to hear how many Slashdot readers have experienced this.

Not lately nor from telemarketers. But we used to do this back in the late 90s and early 00's

Our circle of friends consisted by the vast majority of "night owls" forced to work first shift jobs.
If it was after midnight and we wanted to get a message to someone or perhaps talk on the phone, we would leave a message directly on the voicemail server without calling their phone.

If they were awake and saw the voicemail indicator, they could call back.
If they were asleep, you'd either not get a call back or get it the next day or something, but safe in the knowledge you didn't wake anyone up.

It just involved swapping carrier voicemail system numbers along with your phone number.
This was before such info was online, or at least easy to find, but you can always call in and get the number for your own voicemail server, since its entire purpose of existing was so you can check your voicemail from someone elses phone.

I am however greatly saddened to see such a useful thing abused in this way.

Out of service SIT tone

[innocent_white_lamb]

I recorded the out of service SIT tone (the three rising beeps that you hear when you dial an out of service phone number) as the first thing on my outbound voicemail message. So my outbound message is "beep beep beep Hello this is me etc. etc.")

Most robodialers are programmed to hang up and remove the number from their dialing lists when they hear those three beeps.

Real people can still leave you a message, but it works amazingly well to keep spammers off of your voicemail.

You can download the sit tone from several places; just run the phrase "sit tone" through google and you'll find it.