Blocking unwanted calls/silent calls

[#1]

Just seen an excellent post from Peter Boulding on Usenet plusnet.service.customer-feedback which I thought worth sharing. It includes information on the "silent call-gard" database which I'd never heard of before.
news://usenet.plus.net:119/75mi67t5qgsermok9n2qnug8rbnpq63jbl@4ax.com

Quote

Silent calls are commonly made by equipment known to telemarketing companies as "predictive diallers", which are set to improve their sales droids' throughput by dialling the next prospective victim on the list while all the droids are still plaguing someone else--on the assumption that at least one droid will have finished his previous call and be available to handle a new one by the time the victim has answered the phone. Often the prediction fails, whereupon the equipment simply cuts the call the moment it is answered. Surprisingly, this practice is not illegal but it does cause floods of complaints to BT and other telcos. So, in the hopes that this will pacify enough opponents to ensure that the government does nothing about it, "respectable" telemarketers--i.e. besuited fairground rogues who are in it for the long haul and somehow manage to think of themselves as honest businessmen--have agreed to set their "predictive diallers" not to phone those who have placed their numbers on the "silent call-gard" database. This database is quite separate from the one maintained by the infuriatingly-named "Telephone Preference Service"; you need to register your phone number with both in order to reduce both human-dialled and machine-dialled nuisance calls. In both cases I say "reduce", since neither scheme is compulsory and both are honoured only by telemarketing companies whose owners have somehow managed to persuade themselves that they are running respectable businesses. So: to reduce silent calls, register your phone number at http://www.ukdatait.co.uk/cgi-bin/sgAddNumber.cgi or phone 0844 372 2325. Note that your entry in this database is automatically deleted after 12 months, so you have to keep reregistering. (Assuming you're a BT residential phone line customer) the best way to register with the Telephone Preference Service is to phone BT on 0800 916 5544 in order to obtain their free "privacy" option. BT will then register your line with the telephone preference service AND give you free calling number forwarding--an option they would charge you for if you asked for it by another other means... indeed they might even try to sell you an expensive block-the-commercial-callers package, which is effectively an admission that they're running a protection racket: "pay us a chunky fee or we'll keep forwarding what we know are nuisance calls to your phone!" Note that telemarketers who are the slightest bit honest with themselves *know* that they are nothing more than amoral sharks who make their living preying on the foolish, the stupid, the confused elderly, and the otherwise vulnerable: having no deeply hypocritical self-image to protect, they will probably take no notice of either database; nor will any of those who operate--as many do--from the Netherlands and other foreign countries where very cheap international call charge deals can be struck if call volumes are high enough. -- Regards, Peter Boulding

[#2]

done it
thank you for registering with Silentcallgard.
If you require further information please call FREEPHONE 0800 0831 138

[#3]

Thanks for that link, we were getting a fair number of these calls, my wife usually answers the phone, lucky i'm not 30 years younger otherwise she might have I had got a mistress !

[#4]

one of my worst offenders,  EnviroSolar, just blotted his copy book, knocked on my door, wondered what had hit him
did you look at my roof, no why - [Censored] solar panels fitted
Did you look ar my windows, no why - nearly new double glazing
loft fully insulated
cavety walls done
not suitable  for solar PV, the ridge runs nort south, http://www.energyquotes.co.uk/roof-checker.html
now pafmkdgb off, go forth and fornicate

[#5]

We've had our phone line barely two weeks and we've already been spammed with ridiculous phone calls. We had one about 10 minutes ago, in fact. The guy asked to speak to a Mr Bell, who doesn't actually live here any more, after which the Indian guy on the end of the phone decided to try his luck wih me.
I'm sick of it already.

[#6]

Perhaps we should go back to International Operator Only dialling.

[#7]

Hi,
The URL you need to register for silent call-gard is now: http://www.silentgard.com/register.aspx