[BC] Do not call list

[Xen Scott]

At 06:33 PM 07/01/2006 -0700, Glen Kippel wrote:
>On 6/30/06, WFIFeng at aol.com <WFIFeng at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>I absolutely *despise* telemarketing calls...,
>-----------------
>
>OK, since Miss Manners is not on this list, I will have to ask the rest of
>you -- which is more polite:  to say
>
>1. "Thank you, I'm not interested" and hang up, leaving the telemarketer to
>go on with the next call, which may be productive, or
>
>2:  String them along, feigning interest, until you finally lose interest in
>the game and tell them to buzz off, or
>
>3.  Say, "Excuse me for a moment," put them on hold and go do something
>else.

A lot of the telemarketing calls I get are computer generated.  Some 
provide no opportunity to respond, they just deliver a message and disconnect.
Others require the caller to listen to the message before being given an
opportunity to press a key to either get a human or to be put on a do-not-
call list.  Some telemarketing calls have a human available immediately
but the human often claims they are exempt from do-not-call requirements.

Verizon offers call intercept to reject calls with invalid or anonymous
numbers which helps filter telemarketers to some extent.  Verizon also
offers call blocking of specific numbers but this doesn't seem to work
with telemarketers apparently because business numbers are exempt.

My best solution, although not perfect, is to use a Radio Shack model
400 caller ID box which has the ability to reject any call from a list
of numbers created by the user.  The limitation is that the phone has
to ring twice before the model 400 can identify the call as being on
the reject list and play the reject message.  It also means that the
telemarketing calls aren't rejected until the number being used is
added to the reject list.

A better solution would be to allow the caller ID box to reject any
call from a designated area code and prefix.

Xen Scott