Make them STOP!

[gillumhouse]

We have new Pana&sonic phones that allow Call Blocking. As soon as I get a pesky pest call, wham, they are added to the phone's call blocking list. When they call again, there is just one ring, and they are immediately cut off. Has made our lives immensely better..

I have only had 5 of the dead air calls today - since 10 AM and it is now 1 PM

 

[undersea]

I am curious; I am on the (USA) Do Not Call list. Are 800 numbers, fax numbers, business numbers not allowed to be on this list? The penalties for calling are severe with huge payouts, but I do not know if that was only for purely residential numbers..

"The National Do Not Call Registry applies only to consumers; business phone and fax numbers are not covered by the registry."
From http://smallbusiness.chron.com/not-call-list-apply-businesses-69230.html
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Thanks for the link. I do see that. But if not an 800#, and it is both business AND personal (after all, for most B&B owners it is also their home), it may not hurt to register the number anyway. Some marketers may remove the number if it appears in the monthly list - the penalties are great for noncompliance. And if a live person calls, at least you can give a veiled threat that it is your personal number. That may also reduce the calls some.
I do own a true 800# (not 888, etc.), but after seeing what goes on here with spam callers, I am not inclined to use it, except perhaps for valuable clients. Why should I pay per minute to parry with spammers? And since everyone has a cellphone these days, an 800# just is not nearly as critical as it used to be.
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I think there is a difference between business and personal telephone service that goes beyond 800 numbers, and this goes back your telephone service provider and how they classify your phone line and what their terms of service are. If you are using a personal phone number for your business, they could potentially decide to reclassify your line as a business line...
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Interesting. Not sure about the phone provider's classification or how they decide things. Given the dying off of landlines, especially. On the other hand, one could just get a Google Voice #, and they really don't classify your number as anything. It is the owner who reports the number to Do Not Call list.