Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Can We Outlaw Junk Calls? Message-ID: Date: 18 Sep 89 01:14:16 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 47 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 383, message 6 of 7 In article , campbell@redsox.bsw.com (Larry Campbell) writes: > Why should I spend MY time and money to rewire MY house just to reduce the > hassle level from assholes who invade MY personal space to sell me crap I > neither want nor need? Because you're the one who doesn't want it invaded. Surely, you don't expect the world to cater to your every whim? Life deals you what it deals you and it's up to you to handle it. But you have stumbled on to the very solution that I use to keep the solicitors away. Read on... > What we need for telephones are the > moral equivalent of the "No soliciting" signs many apartment complexes have. I don't know about moral equivalent, but I can suggest the practical equivalent. Callers who dial my listed number are all confronted with my machine. It offers callers three choices: 1. Leave a message, 2. Page me on my beeper, or 3. Force the call through to The-Real-Me. There is no default; if no DTMF digit is entered the system hangs up after 30 seconds. For the page and call-through options, there are appropriate warnings about misuse. In the two years that I have had this system, I can't recall being paged unnecessarily. Solicitors that "come through" have been warned about solicitation, so it's very easy to hang up on them. No automatic solicitation machine can get through (but who knows what the next generation may bring:-). My greeting recording changes according to the time of day, changing the options when I really don't want to be disturbed. With two years of experience, I can tell you that the system works. Now I'll answer your flames in advance. Callers without DTMF can't get through. I don't know of anyone I wish to speak to that doesn't have a touchtone phone. It's not cheap. A Watson and the host computer will set you back at least $1,500 (but if you have an old XT with at least a 20 meg drive, this could be new life for it.) On the "have not" to "have" scale, I would put this solution somewhere between "using a machine" and "hiring a butler". Remember, my first choice would be to have a butler:-) In addition, I have an electronic key set mounted next to the porcelain convenience that can access all necessary lines (soon the front door, also) just to be prepared for all eventualities. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !