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Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore (theatlantic.com)
An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a report via The Atlantic, written by Alexis C. Madrigal: No one picks up the phone anymore. Even many businesses do everything they can to avoid picking up the phone. Of the 50 or so calls I received in the last month, I might have picked up four or five times. The reflex of answering -- built so deeply into people who grew up in 20th-century telephonic culture -- is gone. There are many reasons for the slow erosion of this commons. The most important aspect is structural: There are simply more communication options. Text messaging and its associated multimedia variations are rich and wonderful: words mixed with emoji, Bitmoji, reaction gifs, regular old photos, video, links. Texting is fun, lightly asynchronous, and possible to do with many people simultaneously. It's almost as immediate as a phone call, but not quite. You've got your Twitter, your Facebook, your work Slack, your email, FaceTimes incoming from family members. So many little dings have begun to make the rings obsolete.
But in the last couple years, there is a more specific reason for eyeing my phone's ring warily. Perhaps 80 or even 90 percent of the calls coming into my phone are spam of one kind or another. [...] There are unsolicited telemarketing calls. There are straight-up robocalls that merely deliver recorded messages. There are the cyborg telemarketers, who sit in call centers playing prerecorded bits of audio to simulate a conversation. There are the spam phone calls, whose sole purpose seems to be verifying that your phone number is real and working.
But in the last couple years, there is a more specific reason for eyeing my phone's ring warily. Perhaps 80 or even 90 percent of the calls coming into my phone are spam of one kind or another. [...] There are unsolicited telemarketing calls. There are straight-up robocalls that merely deliver recorded messages. There are the cyborg telemarketers, who sit in call centers playing prerecorded bits of audio to simulate a conversation. There are the spam phone calls, whose sole purpose seems to be verifying that your phone number is real and working.
I never answer calls anymore. 95% of the calls I get are scammers and spammers. And the caller ID is always spoofed to something that looks similar to my own number.
I've even had people call me claiming my number is spamming them!
The phone companies should be held liable for not fixing caller ID spoofing. There are numerous ways to do this. Caller ID spoofing is needed for corporate main numbers and the like. Those could be registered just like SSL certs. There is no reason a random device should be allowed to spoof.
Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
We DO have laws against these sorts of spam calls in the US. We also have laws against people sending email spam too. Actually managing to enforce these laws is a different matter entirely.
Umm, what? Criminals are going to break the law...that's what criminals do. The problem is enforcement of the laws that already exist.
I'm older (43) and still tend to answer the phone. But, one thing I do see is that people who don't like talking to people feel they don't have to anymore. There's other non-voice options.
This is especially true in workplaces, where the younger crowd is finally starting to reach the supervisory levels. In tech shops it's all Slack, Teams, IM of one form or another, texting, etc. I actually find myself preferring this, even though I know it's not normal.
I'm not an antisocial nerd, but I'm also not a type-A salesy extrovert either. Talking to people on the phone means uncomfortable small talk, having to manage the conversation, etc. Sending a to-the-point message is much more useful to me. I know extroverts probably love the small talk aspect, but it's something I can live without if I can get my information without it.
> We DO have laws against these sorts of spam calls in the US. We also have laws against people sending email spam too. Actually managing to enforce these laws is a different matter entirely.
No, it's really easy when it comes to phone calls - Got an illegal spam call? Report and person gets a hefty fine. Can't identify caller? Move punishment to the company that provides the call. Done.
There is no reason for someone dialling YOU to be anonymous to your telcom provider.
And no, there is no reason to make exceptions for any category of calls, be it political or non-profit.
I'm 51 and definitely from the generation that always answered the phone.
I notice as my fellow employees get younger there is much less use of voice calls, with instant messaging and emails being preferred instead. The problem is that these communication methods often seem really inefficient and are as easy to ignore or under-respond to as a phone with a ringer on silent.
We've had problems crop up with clients and you'd never know what the nature and magnitude of them is when you get short texts like "Do you know about the issue at MZR?"
Does either response provide any value? I can answer "Yes" without actually knowing because the dumb text made it seem like there was one. I can answer no and what value does that add to the person asking?
Had they just fucking called we both would have been able to quickly sort out who knew what and who was going to do anything about it.
Well my solution is that I only answer if I recognise the incoming number (family, friends, co-workers and the office). If I don't recognise the number, I let it go to voicemail; if it's important the caller will leave a message and I'll call them back promptly. This way I talk to the people that are important and filter out the rest.
I just don't understand how you can have spam calls like that and be ok with it.
I try to make the most of it: I ask them all about the area that their number shows them to be calling from ("Bruce" with an Indian accent apparently resides in Idaho).
I'll string them along for as long as I possibly can, giving them ever-varying versions of my "social security number" as I "struggle to remember it," etc, etc, until they give up in frustration.
The skies the limit, here; this is a sport with few rules.
> We DO have laws against these sorts of spam calls in the US. We also have laws against people sending email spam too. Actually managing to enforce these laws is a different matter entirely.
No, it's really easy when it comes to phone calls - Got an illegal spam call? Report and person gets a hefty fine. Can't identify caller? Move punishment to the company that provides the call. Done.
There is no reason for someone dialling YOU to be anonymous to your telcom provider.
And no, there is no reason to make exceptions for any category of calls, be it political or non-profit.
Aside from the political and charity calls, the vast majority of the remainder are from call center operations outside of US jurisdiction. The operate from Canada, India, etc .. any where with good internet connectivity ( VoIP service ) and simple pick currently unassigned phone numbers to spoof (some of the really evil ones
will use the number they are calling for the caller id).
So what you have is a situation with many, many technical workarounds and very little legal recourse. There isn't an international treaty that bans unsolicited phone calls , just like their isn't on that bans unsolicited email. Its all local or national which is simply avoided by working from outside the jurisdiction.
If the telcos were on the hook for unidentified spam callers, they'd wouldn't allow it to be so easy to spoof caller iD.
As others have pointed out how would you punish a company overseas? They are beyond jurisdiction of your country's laws.
Solution: Don't allow non-conforming companies to connect to the American telecom network.
Why should MY phone company (T-Mobile) be allowed to let a foreign company connect to their network and spoof a LOCAL number?
If T-Mobile pays a fine every time that happens, they will find a technical solution really quickly.