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New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:22 am
by emanning
Hi,
Just received Dane's email about call blocking and that it is on by default. Should we, as a result, visit the Member section and input the phone numbers we want blocked? Or is Fusion automatically blocking what it assumes to be unwanted calls by the area code or some other parameter?

Also, what exactly happens when a call is blocked? Is a message played for the caller or . . . ?

Thanks!

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:28 am
by Jonny
Yes. I would be interested to know how numbers are being added to the block list. Thanks!

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:29 am
by cnb_jeb
Yes, i am curious what "unsolicited" means. I know there are nigh-scam telecalls that by pass the national do not call list: if this cuts those out, that's great. (And if there is some way to tie up the telecaller's resources without affecting Sonic's, even better). On the other hand, what are the assurances that false positives won't be caught up in the block? Is there any logging of attempted calls that are blocked?

Thanks,

judith

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:32 am
by digitalbitstream
The feature as announced is very "black box". Who's list of numbers will be blocked? What if one of those numbers turns over and gets reused by a legitimate company? Can they appeal? Can I appeal? If I get dozens of calls from a number, can I add it to my blocklist? Is there any crowdsourcing? Timeout? If some company "war dials" a thousand sonic customers, does that put them on the list automatically?

If someone tells me they could not reach me, can I see a log of calls that were rejected?

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:35 am
by dane
The unsolicited telemarketing blocking rejects calls from known telemarkers to Fusion customers. The blocking list will not be published, but was generated based upon aggregated statistical call details for all of our customers over the last year. Not all telemarketers will be blocked, but the most prolific ones will. It is estimated that this blocking feature will allow our customers collectively to avoid over one million unsolicited marketing calls per year. Wow.

Bulk blocking of spam calls will satisfy one part of one of our most commonly requested feature, general blocking. It follows the recent option to also reject anonymous callers (which is off by default, you can turn this on in the Member Tools, Voice section).

Per-customer configurable call blocking is the final portion, and we will be adding that too at a future time.

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:38 am
by dane
BTW, there is a bit more info in the Wiki, here: https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Fusion_Voice_Blocklist

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:42 am
by cnb_jeb
Thanks -- it's not simply "unsolicited telemarketers" but "fraudulent and abusive" telemarketers whom you are blocking.

And THANK YOU!

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:46 am
by Jonny
If I never hear from “Jennifer from Cardholder Services” again, I will be forever grateful.

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:55 am
by dane
Jonny wrote:If I never hear from “Jennifer from Cardholder Services” again, I will be forever grateful.
While we are not publishing the blocking list, here are just a few of the Caller ID displays that we hope you won't see again:

LOWER INTEREST
CREDIT PROTECTO
LOWER BILL
CARD SERVICES (there are also legitimate forms of this one.)
TOLL FREE CALL
WINNER

Re: New Fusion call blocking service

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:56 am
by nuke
dane wrote:It follows the recent option to also reject anonymous callers (which is off by default, you can turn this on in the Member Tools, Voice section).
That is cool too. Do people who don't send Caller ID get a message about how to temporarily turn it on?
Per-customer configurable call blocking is the final portion, and we will be adding that too at a future time.
This is exactly what I was hoping to hear, and I hope that future time comes soon ;)

Thanks for all you do.