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Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

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Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

#61

Post by GalacticDomin8r »

quarkral wrote: post #50
TYPE_FASTER wrote: post #31

Get a Google Voice number. Give your cell number to people, the Google Voice number everywhere else. You can configure Google Voice to send all calls to voicemail if you want. And I think you can still configure it to send you a transcription via text. Spam calls won't leave a message.

Doesn't work. Spammers still manage to blind call my actual cell phone number even though I've given it to absolutely not a single person, dead or alive.

Your provider/mvno should allow you change that one easily. I just did with mine that some spammers had. Works great except new one is on the school districts notification list with no easy way to opt-out. But that one is easy to block.

Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

#62

Post by wittedhaddock »

My name is James, I work for Community Phone, a nationwide cell phone company.

Show of hands: if we opened up this feature for you to control this filter for yourself or your loved ones, holding all else constant (price and coverage), would that be sufficient to cause a switch to try out an alternate provider?

Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

#63

Post by GalacticDomin8r »

undoware wrote: post #40
undoware wrote: post #14

Oh, easy. Collection agencies. Collection agencies are a vital part of the capitalist financial apparatus. Banks rely on them to enforce loan term agreements, and in turn defend them when in negotiation with e.g. Apple, when e.g. negotiating agreements regarding e.g. Apple Pay. I suspect (but cannot prove) an elaborate leaning on mobile companies to keep nonconsensual cold calls possible. Look for this state-of-affai…

Downvoters, why do you disagree? I'm sincere and I believe myself to be correct.

They are vital in the same way mosquitoes are vital to the ecosystem. You try to assume they must serve some higher purpose greater than blood-sucking(eg food for fish), but nope that's it.

Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

#64

Post by blihp »

JauntyHatAngle wrote: post #57
wyred wrote: post #49

What if it was a legitimate emergency? Like if someone used your number as an emergency contact. Or some hospital in the world trying to contact you because someone you know got hospitalized (touch wood).

What happened 40 years ago when home phones were the only way to contact somebody? I'm not trying to say it's not an issue, but the mentality that you need to be connected and accessible at all times is a relatively new phenomenon. If you are in a caretaker role than sure, but if my best friend is sick in hospital and I miss it because I'm out hiking or have turned my phone off, that's just life. People are not suppo…

To make matters worse, 40 years ago most people didn't even have answering machines... most of the time the phone just rang and rang. Somehow we muddled through. Your point is spot on re: not being reachable 24/7 by the entire world.

Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

#66

Post by fosco »

Cactus2018 wrote: post #33

Tangentially; T-Mobile tags suspect numbers with "Scam Likely" caller ID. Opt-in to block these calls by dialing #662# - https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/call-protection edit; T-Mobile accepts forwarded text message SPAM at 7726 - https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/privacy/fraud-spam/s...

Thank you trying this out now.

Awesome.

Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

#67

Post by vortico »

jonwachob91 wrote: post #17
pxeboot wrote: post #7

Just a guess, but I would expect carriers to be strongly against any feature that made it easy to block most calls.

Carriers no longer get paid per call, so you'd think they'd be incentivized to lower the load on their network by reducing the number of spam calls.

But with less usage, their service is valued less by the customer, which would cause more unsubscribes/downgrades in service.

Re: Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list?

#70

Post by meetuu »

wittedhaddock wrote: post #62

My name is James, I work for Community Phone, a nationwide cell phone company. Show of hands: if we opened up this feature for you to control this filter for yourself or your loved ones, holding all else constant (price and coverage), would that be sufficient to cause a switch to try out an alternate provider?

hi James, This filter is a filter i would love to have for my phone, there is a wish list that could accompany the desire to filter calls, a ^large^ list perhaps, but i think it would be summed up as another user has stated, I want my phone to serve me, not the other way around. I also believe the smart phone thing has been abused for far too long, to the point I will not operate a smart phone for reasons of security, privacy and the interruption of tasks with alerts popups updates, and feature bloating. baked in apps that depart radicly from the stated function of the app, unnessecary permisions and connectivity. These reasons and more are why i refuse to use anything other than a dinosaur flipphone, and e-mail. thanks for the ear James.
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