Posted on 02/25/2016 1:03:01 PM PST by TroutStalker
Roger Anderson may not seem like a superhero. But to many, he has become one.
By day, Mr. Anderson is a consultant who works on phone systems, setting up phone lines for companies and the kind of networks that ask you to press 1 for this, 2 for that. He loves telephones. When he's on vacation, he visits places like the Museum of Communications in Seattle, where he takes selfies next to old telephones wires. (His wife even made him a little hat embroidered with telephones.)
But by night, he wages battles against evil telemarketers, tweaking and honing a robot that can talk endlessly to telemarketers, wasting their time so they don't have to waste yours.
It all started a few years ago, when a telemarketer called Mr. Anderson with a pitch, and rather than talk to the sales guy, he handed the phone to his young son. The telemarketer cursed at the little boy. Enough was enough.
Average people harassed by telemarketers do not have many options. They may try to block callers by painstakingly entering each number into their smartphone's block list, signing up for VoIP phone services that offer spam call filters, or downloading apps like Truecaller. There is also a national Do Not Call Registry, but many calls still get through.
Mr. Anderson, however, is no ordinary telephone user, so he decided to take a crack at solving the problem in a new way.
Enter the Jolly Roger Telephone Company. Whenever Mr. Anderson hears from a telemarketer, he patches the caller through to his robot, puts his phone on mute and lets his bot do the talking.
*
...it can monitor what the telemarketer is saying, and then do its best to try to keep the person on the end of the line engaged.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This sounds like a big problem to me.
Lately, they seem to all be Indian people. At least the scammers...
The other day, I complained that I had already heard that scam and I wanted a different scam. He changed scripts on me.
Are you saying you should stop threatened MV to cut off their phone dialing fingers if they ever call again?
You’ve given me an idea.
I don’t get many calls like this, but beginning the conversation by asking if the telemarketer has been saved or knows Jesus might greatly shorten the conversation - or not.
-JT
No.
That’s what my wife does. Your standard issue heathen cannot tolerate the Gospel. It is like a crucifix on a vampire
Most times you can tell before they even speak. There is always a long pause after you say ‘hello’.
If I hear a long silence, I just hang up.
When feeling mean I just say, “please give me a moment”...then put the phone down and ignore it.
This *is* war.
Not so fast, I've been in sale all of my life including tele sales, though I market to businesses, not residential.
You would be surprised what top sellers can make if working for a reputable company/product and a good territory.
I myself have make over 100K, I've seen some make more than double that.
Lenny is a much better robot than this one, for sure. But I don’t think the public has access to Lenny.
You are full of sh*t.
I pay for my phone lines to use as I see fit, and being annoyed by useless solicitors is not on my approved list!
Any telemarketer that ignores the do not call lists deserves every ounce of abuse that can be heaped upon them.
Lately the scum have taken to spoofing their # as though it comes from my local area code. I've got some muffins in the back yard I'd offer to sell them if I were willing to allow them to blood-suck yet another five seconds of my life that it would take.
My landline and my cell are on the Do Not Call list but I still get several calls daily. I just hang up on them.
What really makes me mad are the political robo calls that continue to tie up my phone after I’ve hung up on them. I can’t use my phone until the recording plays to the end.
So, what happens if I need to call 911 in an emergency, I pick up the phone to dial 911, and can’t make the call because the recording is still playing?
I usually start speaking Spanish or German and they hang up.
Had one who spoke Spanish and easily made that transition, so I switched to Tagalog.
Mr Mabe?
I DO like it. My number has been on the National Do Not Call list for over a year and yet they still call. When you point this out to them, they hang up or argue. I have zero sympathy for these idiots. They can rot. I’ve already added this number and plan to give it a test-drive at my next opportunity.
Nice!
This man deserves a Nobel Prize for Telecommunications.
Whatever reason they have for pursuing their illegal activity is of no interest to me. They are breaking the law by harassing people over and over and over again ...
What many folks don’t realize is that the laws creating no call registries left at lot of loopholes.
NOMOROBO is a free service that automatically dumps Robo calls. It works quite well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.