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Persistent Telemarketers...

Started by gary-gary, April 18, 2017, 08:28:57 PM

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azrobert

For testing you should be able to call GV#1 on SP1 using GV#2. The call won't be routed to the phone port, so there shouldn't be a conflict.

When I was testing the AA I had an audio problem and when I checked the Call History there wasn't a transfer. I made the call using an SIP softphone and called directly to SP2 on my OBi110, so this is totally different than your scenario. I fixed my problem by port forwarding the RTP ports to my OBi110's IP address. If this is an RTP problem, I don't know why it would work on SP2 and not on SP1, but I have nothing else to try.

Are you familiar with port forwarding in your Router? The OBi110 RTP ports are found here:
Service Providers -> ITSP Profile A/B RTP -> LocalPortMin thru LocalPortMax

SP1 RTP Ports are 16600 thru 16798
SP2 RTP Ports are 16800 thru 16998

You can use 1 entry in your router forwarding ports 16600 thru 16998 to the IP address of your OBi110.

gary-gary

Quote from: azrobert on April 19, 2017, 07:29:58 PM

Are you familiar with port forwarding in your Router? The OBi110 RTP ports are found here:
Service Providers -> ITSP Profile A/B RTP -> LocalPortMin thru LocalPortMax

SP1 RTP Ports are 16600 thru 16798
SP2 RTP Ports are 16800 thru 16998

You can use 1 entry in your router forwarding ports 16600 thru 16998 to the IP address of your OBi110.


I forwarded these ports in my router, and confirmed that they were indeed the correct ones as listed in the OBi's settings... but the issue continues.

It seems that a good percentage of the time (40%?) the call goes to voicemail rather than properly handled by the OBi110.  It does not appear to be limited to either SP1 or SP2, or even the calling source... it occurs with any of the above.

My call history shows the call, shows the intended end point as AA1, but on the failures it does not complete the "Transfer to Announcement" for some reason.  :(

-gary


azrobert

I created a custom greeting containing 2 SIT tones. I tested a dozen or more times and heard the tones every time. You won't see the "Transferred" message in the call history unless the OBi110 tries to transfer the call. I had to enter "1" or wait long enough for my OBi110 to automatically try to transfer the call. I don't know why you don't hear the tones.

I created a Tropo app that plays the SIT tone 3 times. I thought you can test with my app and if works I would help you create your own app, but I forgot your OBi110 defined with 2 GV accounts can't make SIP calls. You could get a free phone number from IPComms or Callcentric and point the number at the Tropo app. Callcentric requires you to purchase e911 for $1.50/mo unless you lie and say you will only use the number for international calls. You also need the free Callcentric IP Freedom account.

Another method is to convert 1 of your GV numbers to SIP by purchasing Simon Telephonics GV Gateway for a one-time fee of $5.99. Now your OBi110 will be able to make SIP calls.  The GV Gateway has an added feature of CallerID Name.

http://www.ipcomms.net/freedid
https://www.callcentric.com/products/
https://simonics.com/services/

gary-gary

OK, I think I may have figured out the issue...

I think the problem was that I did not allow for enough delay time in my "message" before recording the SIT tones.  I suspect that GV was somehow still on the line during the hand-off to my OBi box... thought it was an out-of-service line and therefore did not complete the call.

I temporarily reverted to the original "Welcome to OBi..." message and all was well.  I have since rerecorded my SIT tones with a bit longer pause at the beginning.

On a side note, I had configured the OBi110 to generate syslogs and was attempting to see what sort of clues I could find in there.  I had placed several calls to the OBi to produce some data and while examining the logs, suddenly some additional call data appeared!  Looking at the OBi's call history I saw it was the notorious telemarketer which had sent me down this path.  Their call was successfully intercepted without my phones ringing and ended with their hangup 9-seconds later!   ;D

-gary


gary-gary

I just wanted to follow up on how this has been working so far...

Perfectly!!!

My phones connected to the OBi110 no longer ring when the pesky telemarketer calls, plus the OBi unit grabs the call before it can be forked to my cell phone, so it too stays quiet.

My call log shows the telemarketer is still calling however, so the SIT tones have not stopped their attempts.  They do seem to disconnect quickly as the call lasts only about 8-10 seconds.

I have also increased the range of my filter to cover the entire exchange, as examination of my call logs showed several older calls were outside of the original filter which blocked only part of the exchange.

I'm a happy camper!   ;D

-gary


lhm.

Quote from: drgeoff on April 18, 2017, 11:03:39 PM
Lenny can be reached as a SIP call to 2233435945@sip2sip.info

Lenny may cause a risk with the "Can you here me now" scam, as Lenny's dialog contains about four "Yes" words in a row after about 2 minutes in to the recording.

The truth about the 'Can you hear me?' scam - CNET
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/can-you-hear-me-scam/
Feb 1, 2017 - The truth about the 'Can you hear me?' scam ... you. This scam has previously targeted businesses but is now allegedly going after individuals.

Lavarock7

I wouldn't worry too much about the "Can you hear me" scam and Lenny. Let them produce part of a recording to prove you agreed to anything. Now let them prove you are a senile British/Australian gentleman. In seconds you can produce the Lennt recording showing how they cut and pasted an answer supposedly from you.
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

N1KMP

#27
let's start an army of "Silent Hello Robo-Answerers".

When you get a robo/telemarketer, punch through and set the phone down. Don't say or do anything until they hang up (or ma bell or ma Google hangs up for you).

Now imagine if hundreds of thousands of robocalls were answered that way.  The people doing the robocalling would have to hire a huge staff to handle the "silent hellos".  Their queues would be full and without handling each silent hello, they may lose the chance at the few people who fall for the call.  It would kill the robo-call business.

And it is kinda fun to listen to them "hello, hello, are you there, can you hear me, hello..."

Spread the word, Help build an army of us who answer the calls, punch through and then be silent (or put by the radio).  An army of "Silent Hello Robo-Answerers"

Update:  It turns out that this technique is affecting robocallers and is why some systems now require a 2nd button press.  It is an attempt to overcome those who start their answering machine message with the 1 DTMF tone. So maybe there is something we could do with AA where the message starts with a 1 DTMF tone.