I had a call from SilentCallgard the other day and the woman that I spoken to was asking me if I was still receiving nuisance and silent calls. I told her that it Faxes that keep on being sent through to the phone and as it blocks the use of the phone line for a few minutes and stops me from receiving calls for as long as it is sending, it is annoying.

So she told me about the options I have such as registering with the TPS and FPS, asking BT what services they can offer that would reduce such calls like using BT's Anonymous Call Rejection or Choose To Refuse service.

A lot of the faxes I receive are witheld anyway so I don't know who is sending them. It does not happen every day now. I have had calls from a company in Wigan, they shown their fax number on screen and after doing a Google Search, I found a number that put me in contact with the company and I politely asked for them to remove my number from their call list.

I had a call from some FuelCard company as well. I asked for them not to call again, along with 2 calls from Phones4U wanting to discuss someone else's business account. Neither of these two companies have contacted me since.

I had a call yesterday from a company I think is called LockBottle. The message left on my answer machine I think was also automated. He was asking me if I still required their service for the supplying of aluminium cutters and pipes lol. As they did not get through, they said they will call again. I can assume that maybe this company are registered as one of the companies that would regularly check the TPS and SilentCallgard register and were checking whether the information on the register with my number is correct.

While speaking to the woman at SilentCallgard, she told me about a device called a CallBlocker, think their website must be www.callblocker.co.uk and it is meant to also block out international callers too. I think this is only meant to work when it is a computer doing the dialling out.
Basically I think it filters the call through this device first and if there is a person on the other end of the phone, they can press 5 for the call to get through.

Does anyone have this device or something similar?

They just annoy genuine callers - your friends and family.

I guess it might annoy a few people yes but what I am asking is, would this actually do the job of blocking out non-genuine callers? Or the faxes that I am getting?

The CallBlocker device could be disconnected after a while. Was just wondering if it would be any use as a temporary thing?

There's nothing stopping sales calls or other calls getting through if there is a human waiting as they will simply ignore not to press 5 and hang-up etc, they will just press 5.

There are several computer generated calls that when you answer will play the tone 5 or often they pay down several tones just in case a different machine is being used to fool these devices into thinking a real person is at the other end.

It could stop some silent calls, but how long before those go down the same route and simply playing tone 5 down the line when the machine answers.

They are really just a waste of money.

Getting these types of calls are annoying however there isn't really a great deal at the moment that can be done.

Being xDQ makes no difference as that doesn't stop anyone dialling any number, just means it won't be listed in the directory.

TPS doesn't cover calls outside the UK, which is where many come from.

Also remember as the system answers your calls straight away to check whether the call is genuine it does mean that genuine callers are then charged for the call even if they don't get to speak to you and just to listen to the message and then ringing tone whilst then ringing your phones - though probably not too much of a problem if you switch the device off when not at home.

we have signed up to the telephone preference service

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

and with the free BT caller display we no longer get UK based cold calling and if the call originates abroad the caller display shows "INTERNATIONAL" and we dont answer.

Which will mean that you don't answer calls from money-savers like me who use the indirect access providers like call1899.co.uk, call18866.co.uk, and 18185.co.uk, to make their calls for flat rate of 5p (i.e. 5p connection + 0p per minute).

As Heinz mentions, you could be missing out on many UK callers and callers you know.

If we were to ignore all International callers, we wouldn't answer many calls at all as all friends and relatives use 18185, also other call carriers route similar to 18185, so although the caller is in the UK the display comes up as International.

Even though BT can display the number they choose most the time to mask the number.

BT don't mask the number, it won't be sent from 18185 etc.

BT DO mask the number, it IS sent by 18185.

It is sent often in the format 44121... etc etc.

BT see it as international and mask it.

If you have Choose To Refuse, it will read out the number as 44121... etc etc even though CLID has displayed International.

If you have your BT line diverted to a mobile, BT forward the call on and forwards the International CLID too.

If you use 18185 to call a VoIP number and that is a regular landline number, VoIP will display the number usually as 44121... sometimes as 0044121....

Some cable areas phone service displays the number without problem or sometimes slightly corrupt such as 044121...

The number IS definitely sent by 18185 and sister companies, we've been using them for years and know 100% it IS. If it isn't (which it is) then why would choose to refuse read the number out even when it's been masked as International by BT, why would when forwarding calls from a BT line to a mobile, the mobile displays the number, why when calling a VoIP line it displays the number, why when calling a cable line it displays the number? Why? Because 18185 DO send the number.

BT mask many International numbers they can't be sure is genuine CLID, this why why sometimes you do get CLID on calls from the USA, Germany, Spain etc etc when BT are 100% sure the CLID is genuine.

well as the OP is about callblocker, I would say try some of the new panasonic phones..
http://www.home-phones.co.uk/home-ph...rdless-phones/
some (like the 8321) have 'incoming call bar' that will hang up selected numbers, a lot more have 'night mode', so you can set a period when the ringer is switched off... and then you can set number in the phonebook to 'overide' this, so it will ring for them, but the 'unknown' ones silently going to voicemail..
- try the phone wizard >http://www.home-phones.co.uk/search/phone-wizard/

as for 'BT masking the number' - could it be only particular exchanges that do this???

If someone on a non-BT line could try... I hardly get any international calls, on TW cable... :/

It's all BT exchanges that BT mask numbers as International - though if the international number is from a international network that BT trusts they don't mask the number.