Selective call barring

These buggers from Spain do when they call me.

Strange that VM doesn't offer incoming call barring, I assume they do still offer ACR ? We're with TT for the 'phone, only use VM for the 'net.

Oh and TT do "Choose to Refuse as well, but then since it's on BT's network I suppose you'd expect them to :)

Lee

We have a couple of marketing company numbers blocked by our Panasonic KX-TG8424EB

We found that that facility on our Panasonic DECT phones did not work with Virgin Media because their exchange used a different technology from most. Just to complicate matters, the technology also varied from one area to another because of the way VIM had inherited different kit from Blueyonder and NTL; and Blueyonder (via Telewest) from Cable London etc.

Things may well have changed but I thought it worth mentioning in case there's still that issue with (some) VM "lines". Probably someone here will know. Or there's always uk.telecom.

SNIP

SNIP - use a PC option

Doesn't work with Choose to Refuse - if you CtR a with-hled number then the caller's number is blocked. Indeed there may be a crack by which you can discover what a with-held number was by reviewing the CtR ones.

I didn't mention Choose to Refuse...

Can't switch from Virgin to Tesco. The requirement is that you have an active BT line. So we would have to switch to BT then consider our options after that.

As someone else said, get a Panasonic DECT phone (other phones do it too). Enter the number in the 'Barred Calls List' and Robert's your mother's brother. You'll get a short chirp from the phone and then nothing.

(I get plagued by Anglian. Got 6 calls Friday afternoon, only found out when I looked in the recent calls list...).

Fred

R. Mark Clayton wrote

withhold

withold

it seems there is no obvious crack

- from a previous post - url may no longer work so google the text if necessary -

Yes. A withheld number is where a caller purposely blocks their number from being released when making an outgoing call. Choose to Refuse will still be able to bar any calls made from that number using the '**' facility. However, you will not be able to see what the number was within your list. Whenever a withheld number is held in the list, when reviewing your number list you will hear a message advising ==

Get on the TPS.

I am. Doesn't work if you're an existing customer... (Who said 'serves you right'? :o) )

Probably overkill but this is a DIY group. Could you build an Asterisk PBX from an old PC?

Andrew

Damn.

Huge wrote in article

But TPS or not, the regulations require each company to have a Do Not Call list and place you on it if you ask.

Thus BT (where most callees are existing customers) say it takes them up to 28 days to shut off sales calls (still leaves the scammers who pretend to be BT agents however).

Latest Which? has a Cold Calling article - p21-23, September 2010

Andrew May wrote

Asterisk

besides.

See my query in 'uk.comp.homebuilt'. This is an interesting option and an outlay of about £79 should get the required hardware. Given that IIRC 'chose to refuse' is £8 per quarter this should pay for itself in abut 3 years.

I'm not arguing against that option but I am not clear your "investment appraisal" takes account of the running costs of the PBX-in-an-old PC. Assuming it uses 25 watts* and runs 24/365 then it'll use around 219 kwh/year. At ~10 pence per unit call it £20 a year. Of course you can offset a chunk of that as savings on your heating bill in the winter. If the main heating is gas call it a net £15?

Of course, if you are lucky enough to have air conditioning you then have to add on a bit more for the cost of extracting the extra heat in the summer......

• a guess based on your using USB or CF rather than a hard drive and either a recent or v old machine

Would a FitPC

Andrew

Especially as the website says I can save up to 19 grand in electricity by using one (or rather 250) of them ...