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NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer to cork1958

Premium Member

to cork1958

Re: Can I block a specific number with Vonage...

Glad to hear that the Anonymous Call Block works for you, but I have found it to be unreliable (of course, it may also block some anonymous calls too, and I would not be aware that had happened).

The bogus anonymous calls go to my phone, but don't show up on the incoming call list on the Vonage web site. Because of that, I have never bothered to try to get Vonage to fix it, since their records show that I don't get any anonymous calls.

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

You are correct in that it is actually very difficult to verify if it's working or not when nothing shows up on their website as any type call. Who knows, maybe I've just never received an anonymous call, other than my sister. I'm almost positive that she has played with the settings in her phone and doesn't know what she did to make her phone that way.

I guess I would have to ask if you've ever tried answering one of those anonymous calls, although I'm sure you have? If you have, is there actually someone on the other end, or is that where it might get blocked at?

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

1 edit

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by cork1958:

I guess I would have to ask if you've ever tried answering one of those anonymous calls, although I'm sure you have? If you have, is there actually someone on the other end, or is that where it might get blocked at?

No I have never bothered to answer any anonymous call. I would not have enabled the Anonymous Call Block feature if I wanted to receive such calls. There is no legitimate reason for anyone to block their name and/or telephone number from displaying in the called party's Caller ID display, and I have no desire to communicate with anyone who does so. Would you open your front door at 03:00 AM to someone wearing a loose fitting hoody and a mask and invite them to enter?

If that restrictive policy means that I have missed a chance to be notified that I have won the Nigerian lottery, I can live with that.

The screen shot below is the official Vonage documentation on what "anonymous" calls are blocked (and those calls should never reach your telephone). There does appear to be a loophole whereby someone who does simply block both their name and telephone number would not be blocked by Vonage's Anonymous Call Block feature. However, I have received calls with "Anonymous", "PRIVATE", and "WITHHELD" (as well as calls with truly anonymous blank data in the Caller ID screen) even with the Anonymous Call Block feature enabled.



cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

Slightly radical analogy as far as "open your front door at 03:00 AM to someone wearing a loose fitting hoody and a mask" when we're simply discussing answering some unidentified phone call, within the confines of your home and hopefully NOT at 3:00am!

I know where you're coming from though so no need to carry on discussion and get all off topic again!!

Use to see those private and what not type displays all the time on Frontier!

N9MD
Too busy to chat
Premium Member
join:2005-10-08
Boca Raton, FL

N9MD to NetFixer

Premium Member

to NetFixer

Oh! Really?!?!

said by NetFixer:

... There is no legitimate reason for anyone to block their name and/or telephone number from displaying in the called party's Caller ID display...

 
Think outside the box ... put yourself in someone else's position rather than thinking only about your personal usage and needs.

In my forty years of medical group practice, before call blocking, I would have a need to return nighttime or weekend urgent/emergency patient calls from my home phone ... on my "on call" days/nights (one of every four weekdays MON-THU and one of every four weekends FRI-SAT-SUN), given that we were a group of four doctors.  Well-intentioned patients would tend to jot down my home number ... and weeks or months or even years later would call me in the middle of the night at home ... on a night when one of my partners was taking call.

In response, I would use #67 for one-time outgoing CallerID Blocking when returning patient calls.  This became problematic because many folks had "anonymous" calls permanently blocked on their end, thus my call would not go through.  So I developed a plan wherein, if my return call was blocked, I would call my answering service and have them call the patients to give them 5 minutes to unblock "anonymous" Call Blocking ... and then I would call the patients back (with my number still blocked).

With my eventual switch to all-VoIP/Cellular ... I no longer have landlines in my NJ and FL homes, just VoIP and Cellular ... I have solved the problem very nicely.  I have a basic Pay-As-You-Go 99¢ per month phone number from Voip.ms which forwards incoming calls to "silly" terminations (see below) so I can call out but they can't call in. And when I'm away from home, I have the DISA on the same account set to recognize my cell phone number, providing a second dial tone through which I can dial the patient's number, enter my PIN, and show my Voip.ms number as the CallerID.  At a penny per minute plus the 99¢ monthly charge (with no add'l taxes, surcharges, E911 fees), my costs are minimal on an annual basis ... ~$12 for service + ~$5.00 for ~500 minutes = ~$17.00 for the entire year!

So if a patient or other unwelcome callers call my Voip.ms number (especially now that I'm retired), they are forwarded to one of the following:

• 631-265-0000 Pay Phone message "The call you have made requires a coin deposit..."
• 218-488-1302 Psych Hot Line
• 631-360-0000 Hold for Physician
• 973-474-9051 Telemarketers Nightmare
• 212-757-9901 No LD Carrier Designated
• 360-515-4462 Screaming Monkeys

Note: These numbers may not be reachable from all carrier's phone numbers.
Expand your moderator at work

blohner
join:2002-06-26
Lehigh Acres, FL

1 recommendation

blohner to N9MD

Member

to N9MD

Re: Oh! Really?!?!

In an office with 4 doctors + ?? assistants... why not use a proper VoIP based PBX (Avaya, Cisco etc... ) with softphones for off premise use. Then you could simply log into your softphone from home when you are on call and all calls show a proper and legal caller ID of your office...
I for one would never allow private calls - if a doctor's office would insist on the same I would switch doctors very quickly - it's simply not professional....

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer

Premium Member

said by blohner:

In an office with 4 doctors + ?? assistants... why not use a proper VoIP based PBX (Avaya, Cisco etc... ) with softphones for off premise use. Then you could simply log into your softphone from home when you are on call and all calls show a proper and legal caller ID of your office...
I for one would never allow private calls - if a doctor's office would insist on the same I would switch doctors very quickly - it's simply not professional....