Block calls based on Caller Name, not phone number?

[nockam]

Long time user in need some of help from the community.

My grandma is getting about 30 scam calls a day, all of which have a caller name display starting with a "V" then an approx. 19 digit number without any spaces or symbols. The phone number itself is spoofed with no pattern that I have been able to detect yet. All kinds of area codes, prefixes, etc.

We have her connected with Google Voice. Is there anyway I can configure google voice, or the OBITALK device to not route calls to her phone if the caller name starts with a "V", or a way based on the length of the caller name?

Call Screening from Google helps, but it is hard for her to use a touch tone phone to screen the various legit calls received, so that approach is not idle.

[drgeoff]

1. Google Voice does not send Caller Name to the OBi so if a call is accompanied by a Caller Name then the call is not coming in via GV.  Do you have any other Service Providers enabled on the OBi?

2.  OBis have no means to take any action based on Caller Name.

[Taoman]

We have her connected with Google Voice. Is there anyway I can configure google voice, or the OBITALK device to not route calls to her phone if the caller name starts with a "V", or a way based on the length of the caller name?

The "V" indicates the call came from an electronic dialer the telemarketing company uses. Probably using VDialer. You can Google it.

As already mentioned, you can't route calls based on CallerID name (CNAM). The only solution I'm aware of is to use whitelisting. This means you'd need to add all of the names/numbers that might call your grandma as Google Contacts. You'd also need to add them to a group/label. You would then route that group directly to the OBi. All the other groups and All Contacts would not route to any device which means an unknown caller would be routed to voicemail immediately. This way any valid numbers that aren't in her Contacts would at least be able to leave a voicemail. The telemarketers will just hangup.

https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/redirection/voice/#groups

Edit: And you would also have to uncheck the OBi you have enabled on the "phones" page

https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/redirection/voice/#phones

[azrobert]

1. Google Voice does not send Caller Name to the OBi so if a call is accompanied by a Caller Name then the call is not coming in via GV.  Do you have any other Service Providers enabled on the OBi?

If these calls are not from GV and you don't have another service provider defined then they are coming directly from the internet to your OBi. These calls can be blocked with a simple configuration change.

Voice Services -> SP1 Service -> X_AcceptSipFromRegistrarOnly: Checked

[nockam]

I believe the calls are coming through Google Voice. When I look at the call on my OBI1062 it says:
Number: +15109849449
Name: V4301752360076892766
Service: SP1

My OBI Dashboard shows my SP1 as Google Voice.

When I look at my call log on Google Voice I see a missed call showing no name, just "(510) 984-9449‬" at the same time as the call came in on the device.

So far it sounds like I need to go with the approach of essentially white listing contacts in Google Voice (Create contacts -> add to group(s) -> only allow certain phones to ring through.

It looks like you can do wild card blocking in Google based on the phone number, really wish I could do it by name somehow.

Attached is a picture of how these calls show on the devices call history.

[nockam]

1. Google Voice does not send Caller Name to the OBi so if a call is accompanied by a Caller Name then the call is not coming in via GV.  Do you have any other Service Providers enabled on the OBi?

If these calls are not from GV and you don't have another service provider defined then they are coming directly from the internet to your OBi. These calls can be blocked with a simple configuration change.

Voice Services -> SP1 Service -> X_AcceptSipFromRegistrarOnly: Checked

Quite certain they are coming from Google Voice (just posted a little more info on that). I double checked this setting though and it is already checked. Was hoping this might have been it, it would have been awesome.

[azrobert]

I'm using SIPSorcery to block calls by Caller Name. I have a free account, but these are no longer available. The cost is $69/year. You can do the same with FreePBX and Yate Server. Both of these are free, but you need a computer to run them. SIPSorcery is WEB based and very easy to setup. I can help you with SIPSorcery, but not the others.

https://www.sipsorcery.com/mainsite/Home/Pricing

I just noticed that the only payment option is Bitcoin. I guess they don't want new members.

[nockam]

I'm using SIPSorcery to block calls by Caller Name. I have a free account, but these are no longer available. The cost is $69/year. You can do the same with FreePBX and Yate Server. Both of these are free, but you need a computer to run them. SIPSorcery is WEB based and very easy to setup. I can help you with SIPSorcery, but not the others.

https://www.sipsorcery.com/mainsite/Home/Pricing

I just noticed that the only payment option is Bitcoin. I guess they don't want new members.

Honestly, that is a small price to pay to help solve this problem. I have a Raspberry PI4 running at her house and at a quick glance FreePBX will run on that. Gonna see if I can figure out how to do it, but will test on myself first at home. Thanks!

[azrobert]

To block a call you need a service that will answer the call. I send all inbound calls to SIPSorcery. If I don't get a match, I exit without doing anything. SIPSorcery can't answer a call, so on a match I send the call to Callcentric Voice Mail.

I can temporarily setup something on my SIPSorcery account for you to try and see how the concept works.

[nockam]

To block a call you need a service that will answer the call. I send all inbound calls to SIPSorcery. If I don't get a match, I exit without doing anything. SIPSorcery can't answer a call, so on a match I send the call to Callcentric Voice Mail.

I can temporarily setup something on my SIPSorcery account for you to try and see how the concept works.

I really appreciate the offer and all of your help. I follow what you are saying and I should be able to run with it form here.

I was seeing posts about how to prevent the call from ringing based on the phone number, and was really hoping there might be a way to do it based on the name within OBI or GV. Adding an additional component to handle this is well worth the effort and cost. A couple years ago scammers were successful and I am determined to prevent as many non-legit calls as I can from getting through, while still keeping the phone usable without my grandparents having to jump through any hoops to answer.

[azrobert]

What I posted wasn't exactly accurate. You would fork the call to the phone port and the blocking service, so you will hear one ring before the call is blocked. You can delay ringing to eliminate the one ring.