How To Block Incoming Calls
How to Block Phone Calls
Learning to block incoming phone calls to your home phone or even cell phone can give you piece of mind when trying to avoid telemarketers, bill collectors, pranksters or even stalkers. There are several methods to block phone calls and some work better than others.
Blocking Landline Telephone Calls:
The first thing to do is utilize caller ID. For those who don’t know, caller ID is a device that either attaches to your phone or is integrated into your phone that identifies incoming phone calls. Your caller ID mechanism can alert you to the incoming phone number, the number and name of the caller and unfortunately sometimes no information at all. This will depend on the type of phone and amount of privacy the inbound caller is using.
The idea is to gather as much information about the caller and decide whether or not to pick up the phone. If you are able to use caller ID to determine you are receiving calls from telemarketers, it is a good idea to add you number to the National Do Not Call List.
There is only one National Do Not Call List and you are welcome to add your landline phone or cell phone to the data base. This is the single best way to rid yourself of telemarketers. You may visit The National Do Not Call List or call (888) 382-1222 and listen to the instructions. It is important to note that it takes 31 days after a number is added to the list before telemarketers must officially cease making calls.
Another method of blocking inbound calls is the use of an inbound call blocking device. These are screening tools that allow you to hand out codes to those you would like to be able to get through your blocking defenses and the callers simply dial in the code and the call is placed. These tools are readily available online but seem to be more trouble than they are worth because your contacts are likely to misplace or forget codes.
Local telephone companies all have some sort of pay service allowing customers to block certain incoming calls and they all come along with pros and cons. They do work but can turn out to be expensive and hard to manage for someone who is just trying avoid sales calls but may have use for incoming calls from unknown numbers. Most telemarketers who make their living by getting a target on the phone will have methods for bypassing caller ID and call blocking services. However, if you do answer a call from a telemarketer you can always ask them to remove your number from their list and they will probably not bother you again. It is usually other more malicious callers which end up becoming the type of nuisance causing someone to really try and block a phone number.
Blocking Calls to a Cell Phone
With cell phones we have a trusty little call log that allows us to see the list of callers who call into our phones. However, most of the sales calls, pranksters, bill collectors and stalkers will call from unlisted numbers and their numbers will not appear to us so easily.
The first thing you need to do if you are getting harassed is save any voicemail or text message that may be sent. These can be used as evidence in a police report if you are indeed being criminally harassed.
Much like with a lindline call, if you do answer a cell call from a telemarketer, remind them they are calling a cell phone and they cannot do this without consent from you or an actual request from you to their company asking for a sales call. They should immediately remove your number.
Cell phones do happen to work differently from other phones and there are currently no good methods for actually blocking calls. The best thing you can do is run a reverse look up or a search by phone number to trace a call. Identifying the owner of a cell phone number and calling them directly or in some cases turning their identity over to the authorities is the best way to stop threatening phone calls.
But, free reverse look up services only yield basic information because cell phone directories do not exist and cell phone numbers are not published in the white pages. The information on cell phone owners is readily available but a small fee is required to access the databases containing that information.
If you are being harassed or threatened and cannot block a phone number because it is coming from a cell phone, a reverse look up is the best way to trace a cell number and rid yourself of that pesky caller.
