Landline phones that can block calls

[Blodwyn]

I hate those nuisance calls! Particularly as now OH is ill and often sleeps in the day. I can turn the ring off but then could miss important calls, and the answerphone kicks in which also disturbs him.

There are phones that can block numbers (at least that would stop the repeat offenders) also some that won't accept withheld numbers, tho we don't get many. The problem with that is it would block our GP.

Has anyone tried these phones? I've seen a couple online, not sure if available in France.

[crabtree]

Be careful, as some phones advertised as call blockers do not actually block calls, they just act as a filter. With those phones, although you 'block' the number, all it does is stop the phone from ringing, and if the answer phone is on it will allow the call through to the answer phone. So does not block the call!

I am not sure phones can actually block calls, I think only the phone operator can do it. I know Orange/SOSH have the option, costing 2€ a month. Likely other operators can do it too.

[Chancer]

Its free with Free!!!!

 

You can refuse to accept with-held numbers and can block numbers from certain prefixes etc, you can also dial *351*# after recieving an unwanted call and they will be blocked thereafter.

[Blodwyn]

We tried the Orange one, it only blocked withheld numbers, including our doctor! So we cancelled. Some phones claim to block specific numbers, with a 'blacklist' of up to 15. Must research it, I just wondered if anyone had tried them.

[Chancer]

With Free there is no limit to how many numbers you can block, without exaggeration I have thousands in my list of blocked numbers, and therein is the big problem, if you block a genuine caller by mistake you have to clear the whole list, you cannot unbloquer one number, I have had to clear mine twice now opening the floodgates each time.

[crabtree]

[quote user="Blodwyn"]We tried the Orange one, it only blocked withheld numbers, including our doctor! So we cancelled. Some phones claim to block specific numbers, with a 'blacklist' of up to 15. Must research it, I just wondered if anyone had tried them.[/quote]

You must have been doing something wrong, or it has been updated.

The

Orange/SOSH option allows you to enter any telephone number (including

international ones) individually onto the list, and each number remains

blocked.

You can remove each number individually as well.

A pretty effective and easy system to manage.

[pomme]

If you don't really use the phone, rather than a call blocker, it might be just as easy to buy a cheap mobile phone, subscribe to a low-cost mobile phone service (e.g. the Free 2€/month) and just give that mobile phone number to the doctor and a few other important contacts.

[Judith]

I managed this problem by diverting all the calls from one of our numbers where most of the nuisance calls come, to my mobile, which, quite frankly, is not always with me, and which, when it is, I do not always hear.  When it rings it will show a number, and if that person is named in my contacts, I answer, if not, I let them ring off, then go and block that number ... after quickly checking that it isn't someone I know ... as we give everyone the "other" landline number we have, and tell them to let it ring as we turned off the answer machine and are often not that close to the phone - it's a big house - and those that know us do hang on.  Then we do not answer until 5 or 6 rings have gone by, and this removes 95% of the nuisance calls on that number too.  Not 100% perfect - but if any get through and my OH answers, they usually disappear fast when he appears not to speak French!  I always answer "hello" in a good English accent - those who know us have no problem and I revert to whichever language is needed, those who don't pause, get confused and / or ring off ... and so we know it is likely a nuisance!  Great fun - sometimes!

[AnOther]

The facility will be a function of your provider not the phone itself.

With the prevalence of VoIP and other technologies which either mask or transcode numbers it's not quite as simple as simply blocking anything you don't recognise, many legitimate callers withold their number too so blocking those is far from fool proof.

Thankfully we suffer from very few such calls so can't really say it's a problem worth seeking a solution to.

[pomme]

Since Bloctel appeared last year the number of unwanted calls I've had is more or less zero (sorry Chancer!) However in the last few weeks, I've started getting calls with a Belgian country code.

As my VoIP landline phone service is part of my OVH broadband I can block calls. The blocking can be either the specific number or just the first few digits of a number to block a range, which typically spam callers seemed use - can call blockers do that? I also let all landline calls go to the answerphone silently. Anyone I've given the landline numbers knows they should leave a message. I receive an e-mail containing the message so can just bin the call if it is from someone I don't know.

However all relatives, etc. now just call my mobile number.

[Blodwyn]

I have a cheap mobile and a Free 2 euros a month contract. I often forget to charge it, or take it with me!

The point about the landline is I want to stop it ringing and waking OH up but I don't want to miss urgent calls. I don't answer most unknown numbers, especially 01 and 04 ones but they still disturb us. Some people think calling mobiles cost more.