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Remotely blocking calls

C-A-W
Grafter
Posts: 73
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-12-2018

Remotely blocking calls

My mum's in a care home, and in the last couple of days she's been getting distressing phone calls telling her she owes money. I've told her to put the phone down on them but of course they are very good at keeping vulnerable people on the line. She has call protect, but her short term memory is terrible, so she can't remember how to use it to block numbers, and of course scammers change numbers all the time anyway.

I'm looking at phones with trucall technology to block all numbers except trusted ones, but the problem is setting them up and physically getting them into her room - at the moment the care home is not allowing visitors over the threshold. Are there any other options for something I can do remotely? The best I can think of is to ask for her number to be changed, although it would be a shame because it would mean her losing touch with her friends if I don't know their numbers.

 

12 REPLIES 12
Baldrick1
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Re: Remotely blocking calls

@C-A-W 

If you know you mum’s friends/contacts phone numbers there’s nothing from stopping you from setting it up then posting it to her. You do not need to be connected to a phone line to do this.

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C-A-W
Grafter
Posts: 73
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-12-2018

Re: Remotely blocking calls

Thank you. I'll probably have to end up doing something like that, but my mum is not physically/mentally able to cope with plugging something into the telephone sockets. We will have to try to beg the home to allow a family member into the room (or dress up as an Openreach engineer I guess).

198kHz
Seasoned Hero
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Registered: ‎30-07-2008

Re: Remotely blocking calls

Surely one of the staff could plug a phone in.

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C-A-W
Grafter
Posts: 73
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-12-2018

Re: Remotely blocking calls

Yes, of course they could - but the trouble is it's nobody's actual job, they are all busy on caring duties, so if there was a problem and mum didn't get on with it for some reason I don't have anyone who could chase it up for me, and there is no mobile signal so we rely on the landline to keep in touch with her.

Over the summer, one of the carers (without asking the family) seems to have given mum a second hand tv, which was a kind thought but mum has started telling us she doesn't know how to use the remote properly. If I could get to her room I could find out what the problem is and maybe set up a replacement simple remote, but this visiting ban has dragged on for longer than we'd ever imagined.

C-A-W
Grafter
Posts: 73
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Registered: ‎10-12-2018

Re: Remotely blocking calls

Thank you to everyone that replied earlier. 

I've bought my mum a TruCall phone blocking unit which should help once we've got it to the care home.

I've set up star lists so that family can get straight through, but my uncle is in Australia and I'm not sure if it's going to recognise his number or whether it will block it as 'International'. The handbook says that it depends on the network. Does anyone know if Plusnet gives the caller id for international calls?

 

 

Tallowhand
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Registered: ‎01-12-2020

Re: Remotely blocking calls

So long as you add the Australian number (inc. the international dialling code) to the VIP list, it should allow your uncle to call through but block other international numbers; if you've got it set to block international calls.

However we cannot be entirely certain this will work, as the telephony systems of each country may operate differently when interacting with this service.

If you do try this, can you please let us know the outcome; in case others would like to know the answer to this question?

 Tony Hills
 Plusnet Help Team
C-A-W
Grafter
Posts: 73
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Registered: ‎10-12-2018

Re: Remotely blocking calls

Thank you! I'll give it a try if/when I manage to get the unit into my mum's room but sadly as things stand at the moment I'm not going to be able to test it myself, and my mum's short term memory problems mean that she's an unreliable witness when it comes to something like this.

Gandalf
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Remotely blocking calls

No problem, let us know how it goes

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Townman
Superuser
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Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Remotely blocking calls

Why not plug the phone into your line and have the family phone you so that you can test the settings.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

C-A-W
Grafter
Posts: 73
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Registered: ‎10-12-2018

Re: Remotely blocking calls

I've done as much as I can to set the unit up at my own home, but I'm 100 miles away from the care home and with a different phone supplier, so the problem is I'm not confident how the international calls will be handled on my mum's phone line, and with visiting restrictions and time differences it's not easy to check.

RobPN
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Registered: ‎17-05-2013

Re: Remotely blocking calls

I've not got a trueCall device and my landline is with BT (i.e. not PN even though they use BT equipment), but IME displaying receiving caller ID with calls from Australia is unreliable.  Sometimes it displays but it seems that the majority of times it doesn't.  Mobile numbers seem to show up more often than landlines.  I've checked several times by dialling 1471 after an incoming call has ended to see if it's my equipment at fault, but the numbers aren't available.

I'm not sure what the cause is and I've not bothered reporting it to BT, but I suspect it could be one or more different factors at play, e.g. incompatibility between different telephone systems (as someone mentioned above).

 

But YMMV, so good luck!  

 

C-A-W
Grafter
Posts: 73
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎10-12-2018

Re: Remotely blocking calls

Just to let you know how it's going - I was able to visit last week, so I wrote to the care home to ask them whether they could install the truecall unit if I brought it along. No reply after a week, so I put it in a carrier bag and at the end of my socially distanced outdoor visit gave it to one of the carers who promised to get the handyman to install it for mum. A few days later I phoned mum and sure enough its sitting abandoned in the carrier bag in a corner of her room. Sad