Is there a captcha-like call blocker?

[snic]

I use Callcentric VOIP for my landline. They have a fantastic feature that has eliminated marketing robocalls. It works like this: unless the caller is in my contacts, the call is answered by Callcentric's own robot, which asks the caller to press a digit to be connected. Real human callers press the number, but robocallers assume it's voicemail and hang up. The vast majority of telemarketers use robocallers, so this has been extremely effective in getting rid of spam calls.

Is there an Android app with this functionality? All the call blockers I can find are just some variant of whitelists and blacklists. That just isn't good enough!

 

[AZgl1500]

I think that what you want, is going to have to be provided by your carrier.

I just don't see how an app on the phone can prevent an incoming call from ringing your phone, and asking the caller to input a digit to put them thru to you.

I looked at a lot of call blocking apps, and they all seem to be "carbon copies" of each other.

have you looked into using Google's service? get a Google number and set that up, and if they are a 'real human' it can then call your phone?

 

[snic]

Thanks. I looked into Google Voice and it works by asking callers to state their name, and then forwarding the call. The recipient is then able to decide whether to accept the call based on the name. The problem is that robocallers start talking as soon as the call is connected, and their jabbering could be taken by Google as the name. So rather than Google hanging up on them, I would still be bothered with the call.

Of course, Google might be smart enough to figure out whether a spoken "name" is likely to be a real name or a robot's introductory come-on. So, I wonder what people's real-world experiences are. If you use Google Voice, do you still get robocalls?

 

[Dannydet]

Did you try Truecaller?

 

[AZgl1500]

Truecaller is not preventing the phone from ringing if the caller is not in his list of contacts.
I read thru the Remarks and it has the same problems that all the other call blocking apps do.

if the phone rings, I have to look at it to decide if I need to answer it.

Blocking 'non contacts' is a no no, as a full 3rd of my calls come from doctors, hospitals, clinics, etc... and there is not way to have their numbers in advance, and most of them are behind a switchboard and don't give you their real number.

it seems their last update screwed the pooch, they have merge a dialer into it... that is a real mistake.

 

[John Fairbanks]

I agree with your posts on this subject, 100%. AT&T has a handset for the landline with this feature. I also wish to find an Android app that does this. Have you or anyone found one yet?

Replying to:
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Callcentric VOIP for my landline. They have a fantastic feature that has eliminated marketing robocalls. It works like this: unless the caller is in my contacts, the call is answered by Callcentric's own robot, which asks the caller to press a digit to be connected. Real human callers press the number, but robocallers assume it's voicemail and hang up. The vast majority of telemarketers use robocallers, so this has been extremely effective in getting rid of spam calls.

Is there an Android app with this functionality? All the call blockers I can find are just some variant of whitelists and blacklists. That just isn't good enough![/QUOTE]

 

[DavideBianchini]

Subscribing... I'm surprised this doesn't exist yet, as it would eliminate 100% of all robo-calls without being disturbed (which Google Voice currently does not do... GV will send the robo straight through to your phone)...

Truecaller only blocks ~20% of robocalls (for me at least), since they keep switching numbers...

Lets hope there is still enough people at Google with the common sense to eventually figure this out...

 

[Xavier Black]

Here's what I can come up with..
A few months ago I was doing Flex(Amazon delivery on my own car)..and I called the customer so she can come down to retrieve her package..when I called her some guy answered the phone..in the background there was like a hundred kids screaming and just being kids..that's what they do, right??..any way so the guy would in the mid time telling me some story and he would talk endlessly..but I thought the whole time he was talking to me..
So since I was in a hurry I hanged up and call again and the same story..but the weird thing is that I was convince he was talking to me..then I hanged up and call again..this time I was able to talk to the lady customer..she came down for her package and apologize she sent me to that "zoo"..it literally was a nightmare zoo for me..I listened to that guy's story for at least 10 minutes with no ending bla bla bla bla..
I though that was an ingenios app..

Now I can tell you, I've downloaded it..but I have not used it yet..I don't know if it's in the play store since I don't mess with it..