Anon. Call Barring doesn't work from abroad?

[KraGorn]

Sadly my number is on one of those infernal lists used by the perveyors of "Your family has won .. " cr@p from America.

I have Anon. Call Barring in operation but I've just been told by Customer Service (sic) that this doesn't work for call from overseas .. yet the guy who activated the service for me last month said it would.

Which is it?

I was also told I 'd be charged £30 to change my number to avoid these calls, is that also true?

[Angua]

Originally Posted by KraGorn

Sadly my number is on one of those infernal lists used by the perveyors of "Your family has won .. " cr@p from America.

I have Anon. Call Barring in operation but I've just been told by Customer Service (sic) that this doesn't work for call from overseas .. yet the guy who activated the service for me last month said it would.

Which is it?

I was also told I 'd be charged £30 to change my number to avoid these calls, is that also true?

Sadly you will find if you *1471* after the call you will get a phone number for these calls so they are not "Anon" hence you still get them (touch wood I haven't had one for a good while now though).

As for the change of number cost I have no idea.
However IIRC these wretched calls have an automatic dialling system which pick numbers out at random so could in theory pick ex-directory.

[andygrif]

AFAIK you can't block calls from abroad, and there are few instances where Caller ID is transported with international calls - so I would think that that the person who said you can't block these calls is correct.

The other thing is that even if you change your number you will still be likely to get those type of calls, as they operate on a random dialling method rather than using lists of names and/or numbers.

[bob_builder]

The ACR (Anonymous Caller Reject) only stops callers who withold their numbers (i.e. dial 141 or have it turned-on by default) within the UK.

Calls from abroad with no ID and some calls from inside the UK are not stopped by ACR. Dialing 1471 after the call would give the message "we do not have the caller's number to return the call" rather than "the caller withheld the number".

[Chris W]

^^^ What they said

and WRT the number changing *i think* you can only change your number for free if you are being harrassed- i don't know how ntl do it, but Vodafone ask for a crime reference number for the report, and then change it for free. For a change for any other reason there is a charge- and i believe the situation is the same with ntl.

[KraGorn]

Originally Posted by Angua

Sadly you will find if you *1471* after the call you will get a phone number for these calls so they are not "Anon" hence you still get them (touch wood I haven't had one for a good while now though).

No, 1471 didn't give me the number which is why I say it's anonymous .. as bob_builder said, I got the "we don't have it" message which to my mind make it anonymous.

Is there a rational explanation why UK 'anonymous' isn't the same as 'non-UK anonymous'? I mean, FFS, they're both effectively the same thing and whatever drives the 1471 system KNOW it didn't know the number.

[altis]

Much information about this is provided in the Caller ID FAQ here:
http://www.ainslie.org.uk/callerid/cli_faq.htm#Q_17

For example, this bit

With ACR, any call that has a Caller ID of "WITHHELD" is automatically ignored. Calls that present as "UNAVAILABLE", "INTERNATIONAL", "PAYPHONE" or whatever are allowed through. This is great for those suffering from nuisance calls of all kinds, less good for telesalesmen and other phone pests. However, "UNAVAILABLE" is presented by calls from the 0.5% of people on old UXD5 exchanges and (notoriously) on BT's FeatureNet service. This is BT's name for Centrex (delivered by a separate network of Nortel DMS100's - the small-business version, FeatureLine, uses the main network), which allows organisations to set up a virtual switchboard covering several sites within a town or further afield - it's often used by local government and universities. "UNAVAILABLE" also seems to be the default for some switchboards; companies are now finding that they have to configure their switchboards correctly if they are to communicate with all their customers. (I'm no expert on switchboards, but the impression I get from uk.telecom is that there is always a way round the "UNAVAILABLE" problem even if it has to be some kind of Presentation number like the main switchboard number rather than an extension.) However, recent reports that telcos can easily alter ISDN lines to present "UNAVAILABLE" are worrying....

The law is available here:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19992093.htm#12

(4) Where presentation on the connected line of the identity of the calling line, before the establishment of a call, is available, the relevant telecommunications service provider shall ensure that the called subscriber has, as respects all or particular calls in the case of which such presentation has been prevented as mentioned in regulation 11(2) or (3), a simple means to reject the calls in question.

I.E. telcos only have to provide ACR if the number has been actively witheld.

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by KraGorn

No, 1471 didn't give me the number which is why I say it's anonymous .. as bob_builder said, I got the "we don't have it" message which to my mind make it anonymous.

Is there a rational explanation why UK 'anonymous' isn't the same as 'non-UK anonymous'? I mean, FFS, they're both effectively the same thing and whatever drives the 1471 system KNOW it didn't know the number.

AFAIK, there is no such thing as non-UK anonymous. As Altis quoted:

With ACR, any call that has a Caller ID of "WITHHELD" is automatically ignored. Calls that present as "UNAVAILABLE", "INTERNATIONAL", "PAYPHONE" or whatever are allowed through.

Only UK sourced calls can be "WITHHELD" and only these are blocked by ACR.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by KraGorn

Is there a rational explanation why UK 'anonymous' isn't the same as 'non-UK anonymous'? I mean, FFS, they're both effectively the same thing and whatever drives the 1471 system KNOW it didn't know the number.

I seem to remember being told that carriers are not allowed to trasmit the CLI information accross countries, so therefore the call is not scrictly anonymous. I would doubt any telephone company would offer to block all international calls, as you never know when someone from abroad might legitimately need to contact you - it could end in all sorts of trouble if someone you know got into difficulties whilst on a day-trip to france for example and needed to contact you urgently.

I know that it is a problem that the bodies are looking into. I seem to recall that a spokesman for OFCOM (apologies if it wasn't them) was on a consumer radio show not long back saying that they are working hard to find a solution to the problem.

Just take some comfort in the fact that you're not alone (I'm on the TPS, FPS and I'm ex-directory - and I still get them from time to time) but they do tend to work in blocks of STD codes, so within a few weeks they tend to stop. (Until the next lot make their way to you.)

[Saneboy13]

A lot of this has come about since BT started pushing their ACR. Companies are now getting arround this problem by inserting a "Bogus" CLI to allow the calls to pass through.

Before BT started pushing ACR I had only once had a cold call from a call centre. Now I am getting about 10 a week which is really getting on my nerves. So if you want to thank/blame anyone for cold calls getting through, direct your frustrations towards BT

[Shep]

I actually moved to bulldog for ACR :S, BT tried to charge £4 a month. I laughed at the customer service lady at BT (sorry ) whilst she informed me, at my time at ntl i manually provisioned ACR onto single lines in wales, n.i and glasgow FOC.

Actually I at the end just before leaving ntl, I believe i was provisioning ACR more than any other feature onto peeps lines (damn cold callers).

Lines which forceably withhold their will be blocked, others which lose their CLI through other means i.e an international call are allowed to pass through the feature.

P

[DieSea]

I'm getting 2 or 3 calls a week saying i've won something

I never answer with my phone number or name

I just hang up and the dial 1471 , never do i get a reurn telephone number

As some one says its an auto dialer , you cant beat them

It happens on all my 3 NTL Lines

I'm also registered with the telephone preference service they say the cannot do any thing about overseas calls

DieSea

I would suggest either placing the receiver down on the caller, pick it up about 10 minutes later and they should be gone, or have as I do a whistle by the phone, a quick blast down the phone usually works a treat

The amazing thing is junk calls have only started since we have had ntl as a telephone provider, are ntl getting payments from companies for selling on telephone numbers? I would say its possible.

[Chrysalis]

I think ntl do sell number's yes but I doubt if anyone can ever prove this.

[DieSea]

I don't think you could ever prove that NTHell was flogging 'phone numbers .

Perhaps it's an the Auto dialer , with the new system I'm installing I'm sure that they will get fed up of Muzac on Hold

My son works for a Telecoms company , he has a system that if the CLI is not released it tells the caller to re-dial realeasing thier number or take a HIKE , if the number calling is reconised it greets them by name , other wise puts them through to the answer phone , nice system.......BUT , RATHER exspensive and definitely not within my budget.

Regard to All

DieSea