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I hate telephones

jameshfisher.com

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Re: I hate telephones

#71

Post by LeoPanthera »

kibwen wrote: post #37

I receive about 20 spam calls per day. In contrast, I receive about 0.2 legitimate calls per day. Google itself suspects that these are spam calls, because it pops up a bright red "SUSPECTED SPAM CALLER" warning when the phone begins ringing. And yet, I have found no option to have the phone automatically decline the call. There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts; I actually…

T-Mobile US offers an option to block assumed scam calls. I assume they use the same database as Google does. Works very well.

Re: I hate telephones

#72

Post by ghaff »

izacus wrote: post #65
kibwen wrote: post #37

I receive about 20 spam calls per day. In contrast, I receive about 0.2 legitimate calls per day. Google itself suspects that these are spam calls, because it pops up a bright red "SUSPECTED SPAM CALLER" warning when the phone begins ringing. And yet, I have found no option to have the phone automatically decline the call. There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts; I actually…

20 spam calls per day? That sounds like torture... is there really no body in USA that would prevent that from happening? (I've never received a spam call on my now 20 year old phone number.)

You can file a complaint with the FTC but with the volume of calls and Caller ID spoofing it's probably more trouble than it's worth. Every now and then some operation gets taken down and fined but it's rare.

Consider yourself lucky to never gets calls of this type. Between the out and out scammers and pollsters/political calls/charities (the latter categories are protected from landline junk call bans), I routinely get 3 or 4 a day.

Re: I hate telephones

#73

Post by alsetmusic »

stretchwithme wrote: post #31

I'd love it if my cell phone auto-screened calls from numbers not in my address book. Give them a special message that explains the only way they'll get through is to leave a message. Or that they can register their number in a public registry that fully explains who they are and then I can decide whether to take calls from that number.

> I'd love it if my cell phone auto-screened calls from numbers not in my address book. Give them a special message that explains the only way they'll get through is to leave a message.

This feature existed (still exists?) for land lines as far back as 2000. It was an add-on service offered by MCI when they started to sell local service in NY and a few other markets. I imagine that it was probably available beyond MCI, but this is speculation.

Source: worked there at the time

Re: I hate telephones

#76

Post by dredmorbius »

kibwen wrote: post #37

I receive about 20 spam calls per day. In contrast, I receive about 0.2 legitimate calls per day. Google itself suspects that these are spam calls, because it pops up a bright red "SUSPECTED SPAM CALLER" warning when the phone begins ringing. And yet, I have found no option to have the phone automatically decline the call. There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts; I actually…

The best option I've turned up for most phones is:

1. Set a custom default ringtone.

2. Choose a silent wav file for this.

3. Assign a custom non-silent ringtone for selected known callers. (The ability to assign ringtones by groups helps here.)

Agreed that the situation is insane. I've stopped carrying a phone entirely, for this and other reasons. I can be reached, if necessary, by other means.

It also turns out that AT&T's chief lobbyist's contact inforation is available via FCC filings, and the number listed rings through to his voicemail. I've taken to letting him know about the spam phone call problem.

Bob Quinn.

Re: I hate telephones

#77

Post by jimbokun »

strathmeyer wrote: post #41
throw401 wrote: post #34

I hate telephones too, and I DON'T have an anxiety disorder please!!! I'm just not the guy always ready for a call. I rarely pick up the phone or open the door for a unknown call, and yes it can create stress. Quite often I am very focussed and balanced, one call can ruin that state. If you cannot find yourself in this, please don't create a disease out of it.

Yes, things that cause you stress can be neurosis and psychoses. If it ruins your focus it is affecting your life and can be classified as a disorder.

How can a phone ringing not ruin your focus? Maybe you never actually focus on anything, and so do not understand the phenomenon?

Re: I hate telephones

#78

Post by programbreeding »

kibwen wrote: post #37

I receive about 20 spam calls per day. In contrast, I receive about 0.2 legitimate calls per day. Google itself suspects that these are spam calls, because it pops up a bright red "SUSPECTED SPAM CALLER" warning when the phone begins ringing. And yet, I have found no option to have the phone automatically decline the call. There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts; I actually…

This isn't exactly what you're asking for but on Android: Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb > Allowed in Priority Only > Calls From Contacts Only (or Calls from Starred Contacts Only if you really want to lock it down).

Optionally enable: If the same person calls a second time within a 15 minute period, allow it (might allow someone really trying to reach you to get through, might also allow a spam caller through).

Re: I hate telephones

#79

Post by dcosson »

It's odd that despite the author's hatred of phone calls, he doesn't do pretty basic things to avoid them. I've learned after a while that the first thing you should do when you set up any new account like a credit card, gym, health insurance, electric company, ISP, etc. is set up and link the online account to the real account. Yes it's super annoying that these are usually not the same thing, but once you know the routine it's not too complicated and you're way better off setting it up front.

In addition to potentially avoiding phone calls in the future, this also makes it more likely you'll actually be informed if you owe them money or otherwise need to respond. Otherwise, they don't have to make any effort to contact you over any medium other than paper mail (and if you're lucky phone), and if you happen to not read it or not answer the call, or maybe you've moved addresses and the forwarding period has ended, they can just send your account to collections. Only then, once your credit is sufficiently ruined, will the collections agency actually put some effort into getting a hold of you.

It's such a crazy system, there really needs to be some kind of national digital notification service to replace USPS for sending people legally binding notifications and bills.

Re: I hate telephones

#80

Post by ihale »

edflsafoiewq wrote: post #17
albertgoeswoof wrote: post #13

Unsolicited or unexpected phone calls are annoying, but this guy has an anxiety disorder and should probably attend CBT or psychotherapy as it is obviously significantly impacting his life in a negative way. Also, text is not always a the best way of communicating- a lot of information is conveyed in someone’s voice which is often difficult to put on paper. It can also be way faster to speak to someone, particularly…

The lack of information in voice is sometimes a boon. If I am annoyed, I can nevertheless always write perfectly politely, but I cannot always keep the annoyance out of my voice.

I agree. I loathe telephones, I also dislike speaking in public, and to people. None the less, I find the inflection, tone, rate of speech all add to meaningful communication. I hate my own voice, so I dislike speaking, but if I find comfort with whom I am speaking, I find it pleasurable, and perhaps more informative than else. It is the human level of it.
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