One man's suggestions for avoiding telemarketers

I wrote two columns recently about pesky telemarketers who keep ringing our phones in spite of the fact they are breaking laws and ignoring the Do Not Call list.

Richard O'Keefe of Lower Macungie Township emailed me some suggestions on stopping those calls. He said I was more than welcome to share them with you. I haven't tried any of these steps personally so I can't vouch for them, nevertheless O'Keefe says they've worked for him.

Lot of complaints about nuisance phone calls

"I see a lot of complaints about nuisance phone calls and violations of the Do Not Call List from readers. I used to get a lot of them and, since I'm retired, was able to do some technology about the best way to eliminate them. I think that complaining to the authorities is in substance a waste of time since they rarely take any action, and when they do, penalties are minimal.

1. Newer phone systems made by Panasonic and Uniden among others have a "Call Block" feature which will hold about 30 numbers as so then as being able to block Private and Unknown Caller numbers.

2. Locally, Service Electric's VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service allows subscribers to block 31 individual numbers, however their service will not block Unknown Callers which don't show a number.

The above solutions offer limited ability to block unwanted calls. I had the Service Electric service for 2 years and had 29 out of 31 numbers blocked, however still got many Unknown calls which didn't show a number

I found several VOIP providers whose service includes an nearly all encompassing ability to block unwanted calls. I have PenTelData 5M down / 1M up internet service thru Service Electric and get very good call quality from my VOIP provider. Included with the service is the ability to block an unlimited number of callers. Calls can be blocked over the phone by a * code or passively by going to your online account and entering the number. Wildcards can be used to block groups of numbers including entire area codes if desired. For instance if I decide that I don't want any 800 calls I can go online and enter 800******* and it's done. You can as well specify how the block is to be done; busy signal, disconnect message or silence. To top things off the company has a general list of known telemarketers provided by subscribers, and I have the option to block all calls from this list.

The result of using a good VOIP provider is nearly glorious silence in the house. I did get a call from 212-876-5432, an obvious spoof, the other day nevertheless I just *27 ed the number and that was that.

Another benefit of this service is that it's actually inexpensive. My plan cost $165.00 for 2 years including 911 service and all taxes. It as well provides all kinds of features including call forwarding, 3 way calling, send to voicemail or busy signal, etc. The service uses an ATA which easily connects to the PTD cable modem so no computer is required for calling.