Callcentric call treatments.

[giqcass]

Another thread got me thinking about the best call treatment to reduce spam and still allow legit calls.

Rule 1 anyone in your whitelist goes straight through immediately.
Rule 2 blacklist go straight to voicemail or to an extension that will ring for more then 30 seconds but not ring you phone.  If you use Google Voice the GV voicemail picks these up.
Rule 3 whitelist you local area codes and possibly the 8xx are code.  Most legit calls will come from within your area code.  Some may come from 1800 numbers.
Rule 4 all other calls go to telemarketer block.  SteveInWA  brings up a good point in another thread about some CC call treatments not working correctly with GV. The CC telemarketer block appears to be one of those.  GV ignores it completely(possibly because it uses early media.)

Let's get some feedback here.  What would you do differently?  What problem are you having? I'll add good ideas here.

[SteveInWA]

Another thread got me thinking about the best call treatment to reduce spam and still allow legit calls.

Rule 1 anyone in your whitelist goes straight through immediately.
Rule 2 blacklist go straight to voicemail or to an extension that will ring for more then 30 seconds but not ring you phone.  If you use Google Voice the GV voicemail picks these up.
Rule 3 whitelist you local area codes and possibly the 8xx are code.  Most legit calls will come from within your area code.  Some may come from 1800 numbers.
Rule 4 all other calls go to telemarketer block.

Let's get some feedback here.  What would you do differently?  What problem are you having? I'll add good ideas here.

To each her/his own.  There is no one best way to do this.

For me, those rules are ineffective and too much trouble to maintain.  I don't use a whitelist, because I get legitimate calls from lots of people or businesses I only talk to once or twice, and I don't know in advance what number they may use to call me:  for example, it might be a DID extension number at a business with a different main number.  It might be my doctor's clinic, dentist or vet calling from their "private line" or cell phone or whatever.  It might be someone from a large company's customer service department calling me in response to an earlier call I made, or an email exchange...and so on.

I don't want to whitelist or blacklist all callers in a particular area code or TFN.  I get spam calls all the  time from local fundraisers, duct cleaning services, guys selling alarm systems, or political surveys, using my area code...don't want to whitelist those.  I get important calls from TFNs.  I don't want to blacklist those.

And, I am not so introverted, afraid of talking on the phone, antisocial or easily upset that I can't deal with handling one inbound call from an undesirable caller, where I can deal with it myself, and then blacklist their number after the fact.  So, trying to "profile" by area code isn't a good solution for me.

[giqcass]

To each her/his own.  There is no one best way to do this.

For me, those rules are ineffective and too much trouble to maintain.  I don't use a whitelist, because I get legitimate calls from lots of people or businesses I only talk to once or twice, and I don't know in advance what number they may use to call me:  for example, it might be a DID extension number at a business with a different main number.  It might be my doctor's clinic, dentist or vet calling from their "private line" or cell phone or whatever.  It might be someone from a large company's customer service department calling me in response to an earlier call I made, or an email exchange...and so on.

I don't want to whitelist or blacklist all callers in a particular area code or TFN.  I get spam calls all the  time from local fundraisers, duct cleaning services, guys selling alarm systems, or political surveys, using my area code...don't want to whitelist those.  I get important calls from TFNs.  I don't want to blacklist those.

And, I am not so introverted, afraid of talking on the phone, antisocial or easily upset that I can't deal with handling one inbound call from an undesirable caller, where I can deal with it myself, and then blacklist their number after the fact.  So, trying to "profile" by area code isn't a good solution for me.

Of course there is no "perfect" technique but I thought this post could give people a starting point that they can tailor and possibly introduce them to some techniques they aren't aware are available to them.

I have 2 extensions that ring me at home.  Extension 1 is for my whitelist.  This account has a distinctive ring.  Account 2 is for numbers that can't be identified.  Their are very few numbers that I blacklist.  Usually I get on the phone with them and get myself unsubscribed if the same number calls me multiple times. 

I rarely get unsolicited calls from 3 local area codes(aside from an occasional accidental dial).  Calls from those area codes can also get my distinctive ring.  The only important robocalls I get are from Doctors, Dentists, ect.  They are all reminders and come from the three area codes I whitelist.

There are area codes that used to generate a lot of spam for me.  Particularly Indiana.  I have never had a legitimate call come from there.  Those can go to the telemarketer block.

The other calls just go to my second extension with a normal ring so I don't go rushing to pick up a call that likely isn't important. 

[Taoman]

Probably need to differentiate between Google Voice users and those calling CC DIDs directly. When calling Callcentric DIDs directly all call treatments should work as expected.

When forwarding to a Callcentric DID from Google Voice the majority of CC call treatments do not work because they use early media. The only call treatments I have found that work reliably when used with Google Voice are the Calling Card or sending to an extension (or extensions). The Telemarketer Block absolutely does not work with Google Voice.

You can certainly pick one of the other call treatments and your phone won't ring (if that's your goal) but the caller will hear nothing but a ringback tone until GV voicemail picks up. Something to keep in mind.


PS. My first rule (at CC and elsewhere) usually deals with anonymous callers. I send them to Lenny if possible.

[Taoman]

SteveInWA  brings up a good point in another thread about CC telemarketer block.  If you are using the telemarketer block with GV then GV will assume the call has been picked up(because it has been).  As a result any Voicemail left will end up on the CC server.  In addition your other forwarding phones either will not ring or will ring just 1 or 2 times for any call sent to the telemarketer block.

This is incorrect. If Google Voice "assumed" the call had been picked up then voicemail would not kick in after 25 seconds. It does.

When trying to use CC telemarketer block with Google Voice your Callcentric line will not ring but your other forwarding phones will most definitely continue to ring until one is answered or GV voicemail picks up.

Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself.

[giqcass]

This is incorrect. If Google Voice "assumed" the call had been picked up then voicemail would not kick in after 25 seconds. It does.

When trying to use CC telemarketer block with Google Voice your Callcentric line will not ring but your other forwarding phones will most definitely continue to ring until one is answered or GV voicemail picks up.

Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself.

EDIT: Let me clarify. Steve only said some Call treatments would not work correctly with GV.  How I said they misbehave was based on my earlier tests that I performed a long time ago and either something has changed or I simply remembered incorrectly.  It appears you are correct and it ignores the telemarketer block.  Good catch!  I updated the original post to reflect that.

I will also split the original post into a GV and NonGV section as you suggest.

[SteveInWA]

SteveInWA  brings up a good point in another thread about CC telemarketer block.  If you are using the telemarketer block with GV then GV will assume the call has been picked up(because it has been).  As a result any Voicemail left will end up on the CC server.  In addition your other forwarding phones either will not ring or will ring just 1 or 2 times for any call sent to the telemarketer block.

This is incorrect. If Google Voice "assumed" the call had been picked up then voicemail would not kick in after 25 seconds. It does.

When trying to use CC telemarketer block with Google Voice your Callcentric line will not ring but your other forwarding phones will most definitely continue to ring until one is answered or GV voicemail picks up.

Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself.

I don't recall that discussion, vs. all the other stuff we have discussed on this topic.  Perhaps I mis-stated something at the time.  It should be clear that Callcentric's telemarketer block feature won't work when forwarding a call from GV to CC, because the GV caller won't have any way to respond to the CC "press a key" prompt.  GV is just going to keep ringing all forwarding phones.  I explained why this is the case, in yesterday's discussion. 

Taoman, you keep bringing up the "GV doesn't support early media" issue. The point is, GV is ignoring what goes on during the early media period, on purpose, so that it can properly simulring all forwarding destinations, and give the call to the first destination that actually answers the call within the 25 second time period.

[giqcass]

I don't recall that discussion, vs. all the other stuff we have discussed on this topic. 

I had worded that post very poorly the only comment I meant to attribute to you directly was the part where I said.
"SteveInWA  brings up a good point in another thread about CC telemarketer block."

[SteveInWA]

OK, thanks.

Not to derail your thread, but to further clarify the "early media" issue:  Big picture:  GV, itself, is designed to be the one inbound call handler/manager, and thus, it is not designed to interact nor to otherwise be compatible with any subsequent call handling technology.  GV, itself, is using early media on inbound calls to your GV number:  when you enable GV call screening, for example, the caller hears ringback tones, while GV forwards the call to the forwarding number.  At that point, when you "answer" the forwarding phone, the call is still in the early media period, and the person answering will hear Kiki tell them to press "1" to accept the call or press "2" to send it to VM.  Only after that happens, or 25 seconds expires, is the call actually answered (meaning, the VoIP equivalent of "answer supervision" is sent, and the parties are connected).

This same early media behavior is occurring on every inbound call to a GV number, while GV forwards the call to all the forwarding targets (forwarding phones, Chat and/or Hangouts).  Thus, GV, by design, intentionally ignores subsequent early media behavior on the called number, as there would be no way to interact with it from the calling party's end.  This is the same reason why various inbound services, like human answering service bureaus, or certain TFN IVR systems, are incompatible as forwarding destinations for a GV number.

Bottom line:  some OBi users think of GV as a free inbound VoIP trunk, like a SIP VoIP DID.  It's not.  It's a call forwarding and call management system, and it's intended to be used in that manner with forwarding phone numbers that don't do further call processing.

[Taoman]

Taoman, you keep bringing up the "GV doesn't support early media" issue. The point is, GV is ignoring what goes on during the early media period, on purpose, so that it can properly simulring all forwarding destinations, and give the call to the first destination that actually answers the call within the 25 second time period.

Semantics. In your honor, Steve, I will now start posting that Google Voice ignores early media. Will that appease your sensibilities?

In my view, this is a distinction without a difference. I am fully aware of why GV "ignores" early media. But is that really "the point?" Isn't the real point that destinations using early media just don't work for the caller when using Google Voice? I doubt someone trying to troubleshoot this issue is going to care all that much about why Google Voice ignores early media.

But if you feel compelled to continually post why Google Voice ignores early media by all means knock yourself out. To me it is irrelevant. In the end, all that matters (to me) is that destinations using early media don't work with Google Voice. The caller will just hear a ringback tone until GV voicemail picks up the call. And after all is said and done isn't that really "the point?"

[SteveInWA]

Well, yes, it's semantics.  But no, the "point" is that "supports" is a vague term, that can lead to discussions of how to work around it, or why it doesn't work.  In fact, you're right; it doesn't work, and that is all that really matters.  But, it's not working on purpose, by fundamental technical design of the system, not that Google chooses not to support early media.  I am just trying to clear up the fact that GV is working correctly according to its design, and that design precludes using two different call-handling systems chained in series. 

We deal with this issue on the GV forum occasionally, and users will flail around, either arguing that Google "should support this", or wanting to know why Google won't "support this", so it is actually a significant point over there.  So yeah, call it the "Steve Weinberg memorial nit-pick answer" if you wish, but "ignores" is a more accurate term.

[Taoman]

..... but "ignores" is a more accurate term.

Agreed. "Ignores" is a more accurate term and one I will use in the future.

[SteveInWA]

Great!  I'd post a photo of puppies, but I'll just say "Thanks for the good conversation, and for your contributions to the forum."