We still have a landline - getting tons of annoying calls

[sheryl]

7 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

No, I answer it and then push it as soon as I realize that it’s one of those fake calls.

But sometimes, occasionally, if I have a bit of extra time, I will listen through until I get to a live person and then tell them to put me on their never call here again list.

Ohhh, ok.   Well, we've tried again and again asking/telling them to remove our name from the call list but they continue on.  

[sheryl]

1 hour ago, Eos said:

We got this for my mom's landline and it works like a charm.  We did warn some of her elderly friends about it before getting it going.  If she "accepts" a number it won't ask again. When you're an accepted caller and she's not there to pick up it send you to a normal recording of her voice saying leave me a message.  It has a feature we don't love which is a loud computerized voice announcing the name of the caller, which is often quite mis-pronounced.  But she got used to it and it can be funny.

Before we got this kind, she just used the caller ID feature with a little warning that said "spam".  She would still answer it and try to talk the person on the other end out of being such a bad person!  We were all losing our minds telling her DO NOT PICK UP THE SPAM CALLS.  The new device is great.

That's good to know.  I think the one Katie suggested then is the one for us.  What does it mean to accept a number?  Picking up phone/connecting with caller?  Is there a way to turn off the computerized announcements of calls coming in?

[sheryl]

15 hours ago, KatieJ said:

Absolutely it was a landline. The base needs a phone line and power. Handset just needs power.

Honestly if we had not moved and had to give up our landline, I would  still be using this phone. 
I really dislike doing “business” on my cell phone.

 

Katie, need confirmation again.  You don't need to "answer" the call (pick up) do you - to push the call block button?   Your calls came in and "without" picking up the internal components of the phone stopped the call from proceeding?  It stopped ringing and disconnected/rejected the caller?

[KatieJ]

25 minutes ago, sheryl said:

Katie, need confirmation again.  You don't need to "answer" the call (pick up) do you - to push the call block button?   Your calls came in and "without" picking up the internal components of the phone stopped the call from proceeding?  It stopped ringing and disconnected/rejected the caller?

We never used the call block button. Honestly not sure I knew we had that feature. 
Spam calls were disconnected before the phone ever rang. I don’t believe we ever saw them in the caller ID. There were other callers  that were humans, ( political , police union etc) that phone ID would announce. If they were actual humans who got past the Wierd computer voice telling them to leave a message we could just listen and delete at our leisure.

 

 

 

[KatieJ]

54 minutes ago, sheryl said:

That's good to know.  I think the one Katie suggested then is the one for us.  What does it mean to accept a number?  Picking up phone/connecting with caller?  Is there a way to turn off the computerized announcements of calls coming in?

Accepting a number is if she picks up the phone . Anytime you answer the phone, while it’s ringing, that caller will get thru again. 
I am not positive but if a caller gets thru to leave a message, political, police unions selling lightbulbs etc, they will get thru again. Maybe that is what that call block button is for. 

[sheryl]

25 minutes ago, KatieJ said:

We never used the call block button. Honestly not sure I knew we had that feature. 
Spam calls were disconnected before the phone ever rang. I don’t believe we ever saw them in the caller ID. There were other callers  that were humans, ( political , police union etc) that phone ID would announce. If they were actual humans who got past the Wierd computer voice telling them to leave a message we could just listen and delete at our leisure.

 

 

 

Katie,

I understand!  I'm trying to find your model.  Are you able to look on back/underside to find a model number?  

I found this one on Amazon.  This is an excerpt from one of the reviews.   When I read the below review, it makes it seem like you press the call block button each time you don't recognize the number and assume it's spam.   I'd be doing that 1-2 doz times a day.   The product description by Panasonic says that it nips the connection in the bud.  That description is below the review.

Buyer -
"I suppose there is no way to block every spam call, but after having installed this new phone system I do think we get fewer calls and it is much easier to block any spam calls we do get. As a call comes in, you can see it on the caller ID, and you know pretty quickly whether or not it’s authentic or spam. If spam, you just hit the red “block” button, and confirm “yes,” and that’s it. They can’t call back. Of course, spammers will come up with a brand new number, so you may need to do it multiple times, but there is no other option that I’m aware of, at least for now. The buttons are a good size and are much easier to read than our old phone system. I really like having handsets in multiple rooms. We got the version with five hand sets. It makes it a lot easier to reach a ringing phone. We also appreciate the feature of having the collet’s identification announced so that we know if we need to pick up or not. Overall, I’m happy with this purchase."

Panasonic -  clearly states "BEFORE" calls happen.  Am I missing something here b/t buyer review and Panasonic's write up?

14,000 Pre-Blocked Numbers

TGF973B helps block calls before they happen, with 14,000 pre-installed call block numbers as a robust line of defense against nuisance calls to keep your work and home life free from interruption.

*Robocall database is supplied from YouMail Inc.

Here is model -
Panasonic Cordless Phone with Advanced Call Block, Link2Cell Bluetooth, One-Ring Scam Alert, and 2-Way Recording with Answering Machine, 3 Handsets - KX-TGF973B (Black with Silver Trim)

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, sheryl said:

Because family and close friends know our landline.  If they need to reach us they know to call the landline.   No need to have mobile on 24/7.  And, it "overall" will preserve the life of the phone, imo,  It's personal preference.  If our landline isn't working for some strange reason then I can reach over and turn on the mobile.  Not a big deal! 

Oh ok. We have some in our congregation who won’t leave their cell phone on and so there for can’t receive texts when there is important info to relay. Those people have to be called separately on land lines which is time consuming for the info relayers. I just wondered what the reasoning was. 
 

[KatieJ]

11 minutes ago, sheryl said:

Katie,

I understand!  I'm trying to find your model.  Are you able to look on back/underside to find a model number?  

I found this one on Amazon.  This is an excerpt from one of the reviews.   When I read the below review, it makes it seem like you press the call block button each time you don't recognize the number and assume it's spam.   I'd be doing that 1-2 doz times a day.   The product description by Panasonic says that it nips the connection in the bud.  That description is below the review.

Buyer -
"I suppose there is no way to block every spam call, but after having installed this new phone system I do think we get fewer calls and it is much easier to block any spam calls we do get. As a call comes in, you can see it on the caller ID, and you know pretty quickly whether or not it’s authentic or spam. If spam, you just hit the red “block” button, and confirm “yes,” and that’s it. They can’t call back. Of course, spammers will come up with a brand new number, so you may need to do it multiple times, but there is no other option that I’m aware of, at least for now. The buttons are a good size and are much easier to read than our old phone system. I really like having handsets in multiple rooms. We got the version with five hand sets. It makes it a lot easier to reach a ringing phone. We also appreciate the feature of having the collet’s identification announced so that we know if we need to pick up or not. Overall, I’m happy with this purchase."

Panasonic -  clearly states "BEFORE" calls happen.  Am I missing something here b/t buyer review and Panasonic's write up?

14,000 Pre-Blocked Numbers

TGF973B helps block calls before they happen, with 14,000 pre-installed call block numbers as a robust line of defense against nuisance calls to keep your work and home life free from interruption.

*Robocall database is supplied from YouMail Inc.

Here is model -
Panasonic Cordless Phone with Advanced Call Block, Link2Cell Bluetooth, One-Ring Scam Alert, and 2-Way Recording with Answering Machine, 3 Handsets - KX-TGF973B (Black with Silver Trim)

I’m sending you a pm. 

[sheryl]

4 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Oh ok. We have some in our congregation who won’t leave their cell phone on and so there for can’t receive texts when there is important info to relay. Those people have to be called separately on land lines which is time consuming for the info relayers. I just wondered what the reasoning was. 
 

Most people might leave their mobiles on overnight but not all.  If anything and knowing that, the list to call for landlines should be shorter.  🙂   Do you remember phone chains?  It might be time consuming but calling fewer people on landlines shouldn't be a big deal as most are notified over text.  

[Scarlett]

4 minutes ago, sheryl said:

Most people might leave their mobiles on overnight but not all.  If anything and knowing that, the list to call for landlines should be shorter.  🙂   Do you remember phone chains?  It might be time consuming but calling fewer people on landlines shouldn't be a big deal as most are notified over text.  

The time consuming part is what makes it a big deal. Not insurmountable but definitely a problem.  Thanks for telling me your reasoning behind it. Maybe the ones I know have similar reasoning. 

[sheryl]

35 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

The time consuming part is what makes it a big deal. Not insurmountable but definitely a problem.  Thanks for telling me your reasoning behind it. Maybe the ones I know have similar reasoning. 

IDK, but I guess I see it differently.  I understand what you're saying but I can't imagine it taking that long for a minority of people who prefer landlines for a phone chain.  Maybe your congregation is large.  Ours in person is roughly 3,000.  

[Scarlett]

3 minutes ago, sheryl said:

IDK, but I guess I see it differently.  I understand what you're saying but I can't imagine it taking that long for a minority of people who prefer landlines for a phone chain.  Maybe your congregation is large.  Ours in person is roughly 3,000.  

Wow that is huge. 
 

I am not picking on you because it may work differently in your world.  But say the person tasked with relaying info has 3 who won’t leave their cell phones on.  The volunteer is at his paying job and gets instructions to relay info. Texting info to a group is very quickly done. 2 minutes tops . Each of those 3 phone calls could take 10 minutes. That is 30 minutes that a volunteer  at a paid  job has to take out of his time. 

[sheryl]

6 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Wow that is huge. 
 

I am not picking on you because it may work differently in your world.  But say the person tasked with relaying info has 3 who won’t leave their cell phones on.  The volunteer is at his paying job and gets instructions to relay info. Texting info to a group is very quickly done. 2 minutes tops . Each of those 3 phone calls could take 10 minutes. That is 30 minutes that a volunteer  at a paid  job has to take out of his time. 

Could take 10, 20 or 4 minutes per call.  Scarlett, I think it's a valuable "service" in a church to call those people.  That's not very many calls and usually paying jobs can require one to wear several different hats so it's not unusual imo to expect someone to reach out and spend 15-30 minutes doing so.  Is this everyday or once in a while?  I don't think it's an issue.  Oh well, as I said we each have a preference.  

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, sheryl said:

Could take 10, 20 or 4 minutes per call.  Scarlett, I think it's a valuable "service" in a church to call those people.  That's not very many calls and usually paying jobs can require one to wear several different hats so it's not unusual imo to expect someone to reach out and spend 15-30 minutes doing so.  Is this everyday or once in a while?  I don't think it's an issue.  Oh well, as I said we each have a preference.  

I don’t think you understand. No one is getting paid for these phone calls. They are volunteers and have to take time out of their actual job that they work at to provide for their family.

[Scarlett]

And if you did understand me, well most employers are not ok with sort of personal time on the clock. 

[sheryl]

1 hour ago, Scarlett said:

I don’t think you understand. No one is getting paid for these phone calls. They are volunteers and have to take time out of their actual job that they work at to provide for their family.

 

1 hour ago, Scarlett said:

And if you did understand me, well most employers are not ok with sort of personal time on the clock. 

OK, Scarlett, this is going way beyond the intent of the post.  We'll have to agree to disagree.  I don't fully understand your situation.  Perhaps they could make the calls on their lunch break to not take away from company time.  Why can't they not call before or after work?   Again, you haven't given specifics so it's not making total sense.  How about assigning the job to another volunteer who is able to freely call 15 min?  Why not a phone chain?  If there are 3 people - a volunteer would call "1" person and "free" time which may take 5 minutes, give or take and trickle to 2nd and 3rd person.  

[Scarlett]

10 minutes ago, sheryl said:

 

OK, Scarlett, this is going way beyond the intent of the post.  We'll have to agree to disagree.  I don't fully understand your situation.  Perhaps they could make the calls on their lunch break to not take away from company time.  Why can't they not call before or after work?   Again, you haven't given specifics so it's not making total sense.  How about assigning the job to another volunteer who is able to freely call 15 min?  Why not a phone chain?  If there are 3 people - a volunteer would call "1" person and "free" time which may take 5 minutes, give or take and trickle to 2nd and 3rd person.  

Lol it gets done. No worries. I was just explaining that it is an extra layer of work. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Even if someone has their phone turned off, when it is turned back on the texts will arrive. 

We never bring out phone into the bedroom. If we receive a text during the night it is still there by morning. No big deal . We don't even carry our phones around with us the whole day. 

Edited January 13 by Melissa in Australia

[Scarlett]

Just now, Melissa in Australia said:

Even if someone has their phone turned off, when it is turned back on the texts will arrive. 

We never bring out phone into the bedroom. If we receive a text during the night it is still there by morning. No big deal 

Yes this is true. I silence my phone at night. But these are people who never turn the cell phone on at all until they need to use it themselves. So it is not a dependable way to relay  information. 

[sheryl]

7 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Even if someone has their phone turned off, when it is turned back on the texts will arrive. 

We never bring out phone into the bedroom. If we receive a text during the night it is still there by morning. No big deal . We don't even carry our phones around with us the whole day. 

Yes, that's me!  I don't care what people think.  I feel freedom not carrying my mobile phone with me everywhere like a purse on a shoulder.  🙂 Now, when I'm out and about then I do - for safety.  There are at least the 2 of us in the world who like it this way.  LOL!  

[sheryl]

7 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Yes this is true. I silence my phone at night. But these are people who never turn the cell phone on at all until they need to use it themselves. So it is not a dependable way to relay  information. 

Why Scarlett, to pursue this!  It's personal preference.  That is not a valid point you made.  I am one of those "people" who does not power my mobile on at night.  It's 10:30 pm and it's been off for hours.  Who cares!??  If someone NEEDS to reach me they can call our landline.  What would you say then for people who may not have a landline or computer?   It might not be common but bet your bottom dollar there are people who do not own a landline or computer.  A hard-wired landline is MORE dependable than mobiles relying on towers.  So, I think folks here know your preference and mine - I really don't see the need to KEEP stirring the pot.  Thanks for sharing your opinion.  Glad I shared mine too!  🙂

[Wheres Toto]

12 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Oh ok. We have some in our congregation who won’t leave their cell phone on and so there for can’t receive texts when there is important info to relay. Those people have to be called separately on land lines which is time consuming for the info relayers. I just wondered what the reasoning was. 
 

They don't ever turn their cell phones on or they just turn it off at night?   Unless it's an emergency, send the text and when they turn their phone on, they'll receive the text.   If they never turn their cell phone on, then they need to be treated as if they don't own a cell phone (there are people out there who don't) and do whatever you would do for those people.   

[Melissa in Australia]

I can't think of why a church would need to contact the whole congregation with such urgency.

 

 

[Eos]

20 hours ago, sheryl said:

That's good to know.  I think the one Katie suggested then is the one for us.  What does it mean to accept a number?  Picking up phone/connecting with caller?  Is there a way to turn off the computerized announcements of calls coming in?

Yes, picking up will add it to your accepted list, and I actually don't know if you can turn off the voice - probably can turn it down, but she apparently likes it.

[sheryl]

11 hours ago, Wheres Toto said:

They don't ever turn their cell phones on or they just turn it off at night?   Unless it's an emergency, send the text and when they turn their phone on, they'll receive the text.   If they never turn their cell phone on, then they need to be treated as if they don't own a cell phone (there are people out there who don't) and do whatever you would do for those people.   

Agree!

[sheryl]

11 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I can't think of why a church would need to contact the whole congregation with such urgency.

 

 

Yes.   There are prayer requests.  But, for something urgent they would also probably upload that request onto their website!  Agree

[sheryl]

5 hours ago, Eos said:

Yes, picking up will add it to your accepted list, and I actually don't know if you can turn off the voice - probably can turn it down, but she apparently likes it.

Thanks!  LOL!

[Scarlett]

13 hours ago, Wheres Toto said:

They don't ever turn their cell phones on or they just turn it off at night?   Unless it's an emergency, send the text and when they turn their phone on, they'll receive the text.   If they never turn their cell phone on, then they need to be treated as if they don't own a cell phone (there are people out there who don't) and do whatever you would do for those people.   

Don’t turn them on unless they want to use them .  And yes that is what we do. Although we don’t actually have anyone who doesn’t have a cell phone…..just those who won’t use them.  

[Scarlett]

13 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I can't think of why a church would need to contact the whole congregation with such urgency.

 

 

Well there are definitely times. I don’t have the energy to type out all the reasons. And I am not even talking about always something urgent.  But if you know someone won’t turn their cell phone on for days even non urgent messages aren’t sent that way.

[Scarlett]

2 hours ago, sheryl said:

Yes.   There are prayer requests.  But, for something urgent they would also probably upload that request onto their website!  Agree

We don’t do prayer requests. But there are things to be conveyed.  And we do not have local websites.  

Edited January 14 by Scarlett

[Scarlett]

14 hours ago, sheryl said:

Why Scarlett, to pursue this!  It's personal preference.  That is not a valid point you made.  I am one of those "people" who does not power my mobile on at night.  It's 10:30 pm and it's been off for hours.  Who cares!??  If someone NEEDS to reach me they can call our landline.  What would you say then for people who may not have a landline or computer?   It might not be common but bet your bottom dollar there are people who do not own a landline or computer.  A hard-wired landline is MORE dependable than mobiles relying on towers.  So, I think folks here know your preference and mine - I really don't see the need to KEEP stirring the pot.  Thanks for sharing your opinion.  Glad I shared mine too!  🙂

Pursue it? I thought it was a discussion. Sorry to upset you.  I won’t post again here. 

[sheryl]

7 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Pursue it? I thought it was a discussion. Sorry to upset you.  I won’t post again here. 

No, you're not upsetting me.  That's your word.  But, you are pressing this issue when it's clear I've stated my opinion.  And, it's clear you've stated yours.  I don't agree with you at all and won't be changing my mind.  I just don't know how many times you need to address the same issue.  OK, Scarlett, I wish you well!