For a nominal fee, perhaps $5-$10 per week, a company can provide a junk call phone screening service. Here is the details:
- A FXO/FXS device is plugged into your PC which is wired to the internet.
- The phone line from customer's phone service plugs into the PC.
- All the home phones are connected to the PC.
- Outgoing calls are unhindered... The service may optionally route the call through cheapest path.
- VOIP-based phone services, such as Vonage, can skip some of the above.
- An incoming call which matches customer-supplied list of phone numbers causes home phones to ring.
- All other incoming calls are immediately picked up by the computer.
- If it sounds like a FAX, receive it and store on hard drive.
- Otherwise, call is routed to phone-screening operator, perhaps in India or wherever is cheap.
- If caller can identify themselves, matching supplied list (such as credit card account number), the call may be forwarded to the customer's home phones or a pre-recorded message can be played back at the caller.
- Forwarding services can be provided for extra $$ subscription... No need to miss an important call. Forward to a VOIP target, or a cellphone perhaps...
- All received non-personal calls can be recorded. The operator will notify the caller immediately after answering the call.
- The audio file will be stored (long term) on the customer's PC.
- Short-term audio retrieval would be available online from the service's web site.
- All received calls, (CID details, date, time, duration) are logged/archived on customer's PC.
- Recent calls list may be viewed online.
Now, wouldn't it be funny when a Telemarketer from India is received by an operator in India, and you never need be bothered by a phone call in the middle of the night?
