Why doesn't Spectrum offer caller screening?

jstanek7
jstanek7 Posts: 6 Spectator
edited March 2023 in Digital Phone

Other companies offer a service called call screening where the caller has to dial a number after the phone call will ring the phone. why doesn't Spectrum offer this?

Answers

  • Satch
    Satch Posts: 5,270 Contributor

    Hello @jstanek7 and Welcome to the Community,

    Although Spectrum does not offer that type of call screening, landline phone (Spectrum Voice) has a Call Guard system (turned on by default) to block telemarketer/robo calls, so they can't leave messages. Spectrum Voice subscribers also have Caller ID on TV, which is activated within 24 hours of installation on a Spectrum Receiver, providing that you have Spectrum Voice service. where you see the call coming in on your TV..

    You can also set up Spectrum Voice Zone settings, to have your phone ring only for calls that you assign to your account. This needs to be turned on in Voice Zone settings.

    My guess is that what you are describing above would have to be turned off by default. It would be too confusing, particularly for elderly people, to to find out that someone had to dial an extra number just to call a friend or family member. The options I described above should give some kind of peace of mind for your Spectrum Voice service.

    Satch

  • jstanek7
    jstanek7 Posts: 6 Spectator

    The call guard does not work as I have it turned on and still get 20 to 30 robo calls a day. If spectrum was working to get rid of these calls then it would be different as for putting numbers only that can call will not work as I get calls from people that I know but use different numbers. The robo calls a spoofed and come through with different numbers. why can't Spectrum a team to develop the call screening like others do they sure have enough money to advertise every 15 minutes on cable

  • Satch
    Satch Posts: 5,270 Contributor

    Sup @jstanek7?

    Our Call Guard used to be like that a few years ago. But now it does a good job. Calls either get blocked or are labled "Spam Risk." You might want to see if you can still activate Nomorobo on your line. It will work with Call Guard. Even though Spectrum no longer officially supports Nomorobo, it should still work. The goal in each instance is to stop robocallers and telemarketers from being able to leave messages. Nomorobo drops robocalls/telemarketer calls by hanging up on the caller, after the first ring:

    If you want to use Nomorobo, you will need to reactivate your phone line for it and turn on "Simultanious Ring" Here is how to reactivate Nomorobo on your Spectrum Voice (landline) phone Here are the instructions reposted from the old information (The URL link would not copy)

    Setting Up Nomorobo with Call Guard

    1) Login to Nomorobo (or sign up here.) Go to Spectrum for your Voice Provider if you need to sign up.) https://www.nomorobo.com/

    2) On the top you should see the Dashboard, Your Phones, Report A Number, Your Account

    3) Click Your Phones

    4) You should see your Spectrum phone number. On the right of that it may say protected but you need to test it to be sure. To the far right you'll see 3 box options. Click the middle one which is Test.

    5) Click I'm Ready, Call Me Now (Do not answer your phone when it rings, let it ring through)

    6) When it's done, it should say it's protected. If not, it'll give you an option to set it up. Click on the Instructions link.

    7) You should see instructions that tell you and give you the option to login to your Spectrum account. In the instructions it will tell you exactly how to set everything up.

    8) When you get to the instruction part to enter in the Nomorobo phone number into your Spectrum account under Add Phone Numbers to Simultaneous Ring List, be sure to click Add to Simultaneous Ring List after entering the Nomorobo phone number. Click Save Changes.

    9) Retest your phone number again in Nomorobo and it should tell you it's now protected unless you incorrectly set something up in the instructions.

    I have both Call Guard and Nomorobo on/activated in case anyone wants to know. Hope this helps everyone out!

    Satch

    *******

    After reactivating Nomorobo on your line, give it about 12 hours to see if it makes a difference. Nomorobo needs your phone to ring one time to be able to screen the call. If the callers can't leave messages, and are hanging up after the first ring, it's wprking. If Caller's can't leave messages with Call Guard turned on, or they are being called "Spam Risk" on Caller ID on TV, Call Guard is working.

    Regardless, we had a few customers who tried to activate Call Guard through their Spectrum My Account Voice Zone Settings. The switch settings that they wanted would save, but they were still getting robocalls. The solution was to call Spectrum and say, "My Call Guard is not working." The rep was able to get it turned on over the phone, so you might need to do that.

    Good luck with all of this. It will give you some things to try.

    Satch

  • HT_Greenfield
    HT_Greenfield Posts: 666 Contributor
    edited February 2023

    With reference to your original question, @jstanek7 , as hard-core effective as that type of set-it-&-forget-it call screening service is, no VoIP or cellular service providers have ever offered such, as far as i know. 

    All of the rather premium call blocking and call screening services offered by plain old telephone service (POTS) providers is done pre-end-relay and leaves subscribers with no way to know anything about any calls that were blocked or screened out so i don’t think the regulators or even the carriers are very crazy about it but it’s all they can do with POTS. They can’t do any of the fancy spam flagging and STIR/SHAKEN caller id. verification et c. stuff that can be done with VoIP and VoLTE. 

    And don’t be mis-lead by any marketing misusage of the term “screening.” Xfinity refers to their VoIP call blocking service as “call screening” but that’s a misnomer. Only up to 25 numbers can be pre-set to be blocked and what they’ll get is an intercept pre-recorded message telling them to get lost, and no way to option through.

  • jstanek7
    jstanek7 Posts: 6 Spectator

    Your wrong on both my sister in law has magic jack and also her cell phone has that feature. I have set up all the call blocking on spectrum and it does not work like they say it does. I also get calls that I want from family that are in the service and their numbers are always changing

  • Satch
    Satch Posts: 5,270 Contributor

    Greetings @jstanek7,

    I have the strong suspicion that at some point, your phone number got hacked. Like I said, after about a year or so, our Call Guard works fine, just as a described above. I would call Spectrum and discuss all these robocalls getting through because something is wrong on your account relating to your Spectrum Voice Service, or your number got hacked.

    If something wasn't wrong, thousands of people would be contacting Spectrum complaining that their Call Guard does not work. I wonder if you could get a different phone number from Spectrum?

    You should contact Spectrum and discuss these issues about your Spectrum Voice service receiving all these robocalls and changed numbers from friends and family. They can investigate your account and find out what is happening here. It's possible that a moderator here might also be able to investigate what is happening with your Spectrum Voice service.

    Satch

  • HT_Greenfield
    HT_Greenfield Posts: 666 Contributor

    OK @jstanek7 . I’m an idiot. My bad but i've still never heard of any fixed VoIP or cellular carriers that offer that type call screening service but what do i know. MagicJack is a non-fixed VoIP service provider. I just wanted to shed some light on the original question since it's come up before, here, and is bound to be a common one as people switch from POTS to fixed VoIP. Good luck to you with all of the excellent information and advice from @Satch . 🖖🏻

  • jstanek7
    jstanek7 Posts: 6 Spectator
    edited February 2023

    I don't get what getting my phone hacked has to do with the service that Spectrum provides does not work.. You mean Spectrum is letting all calls go through to my number. Then that is Spectrums responsibility to correct I have had this same number for over 50 years. How do you know that there are not thousands of people wanting this service.

  • Satch
    Satch Posts: 5,270 Contributor

    @jstanek7

    Regardless, you need to call Spectrum and let them know that your Call Guard does not block anything even though you have it turned on in your account. Let them know when the problem started, or if you have always had this problem with Spectrum Voice. A hacked phone number can make any vendor's service not work properly, I don't know if your number has been hacked or not. Just throwing out ideas. I can speak that my Call Guard works as it should, as well as other people I know who have the service in my division.

    However, it does not work for you, and that's what is important. I am particulary concerned about your mentioning numbers changing when they are from known friends and family. That is a big red flag that needs investigation. If you know of other people in your community with Spectrum Voice with these problems, they also need to contact Spectrum and let them know what is happening. The more data that Spectrum collects, the better they can research this to find out if it is just your service, or other people as well.

    It could take 2-3 weeks for them to investigate and find a solution to this problem. But you need to contact Spectrum to report this, and encourage any others you know with the Voice service in your division to do the same. thing if robocalls and known trusted numbers are changing on yours/and their Caller ID's.

    Call Customer Care about your phone issues ASAP.

    Satch

  • jstanek7
    jstanek7 Posts: 6 Spectator

    I went to a Spectrum store today and complained that all the calls are getting through. They reset something and guess what. It didn't do diddly still getting as many calls now. Today we only had 14.

  • Satch
    Satch Posts: 5,270 Contributor

    For the record,

    For the first time in the last two days, we are also getting a ton of spam calls on our landline. But this is the first time in about two years that this has happened. No one is able to leave messages, so we are not being bothered by any recordings. They are all hang ups.

    @jstanek7 With your phone, are the callers able to leave messages or are they also all hang ups? The last time this happend, I noted the instances of when it happend. It was either at the very beginning of the month, or at the very end of the month. Than, after a few days, the spam calls almost stopped, down to maybe one or two per week.

    I think what is happening is that new telemarketing scams come out around the beginnnig or end of of each month. It takes the blocking systems a few days to implement new spam guards against tactics that are always changing.

    Satch

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