Robo calls

[ankh]

OK.

How about a tool to incorporate a homemade audio file into the voicemail answering message? So I could capture those disconnect tones somewhere and splice them in as the beginning of my vm answer?

Simple matter of programming?

[virtualmike]

If you have the three tones (called a SIT, BTW), you should be able to play them into the microphone that you're using to record your outgoing message. Believe it or not, the fidelity of the tones doesn't have to be perfect.

[ankh]

ok. Anyone know where to find the three tones as a playable audio file?

(or want to try that and tell us if it works?)

[ankh]

Or there's the alternative -- find someone who will blow a whistle
(I wonder if there's a bounty paid to whistleblowers)



| FCC Hangs Blockbuster $37.5 Million Fine Over Robocaller Accused of Spoofing Real Numbers |
| from the bills-to-pay dept.|
| posted by mrpg on Friday September 28, @03:40 (Techonomics)
| https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/09/27/2321213
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

chromas (from IRC) writes:

[0]FCC Hangs Blockbuster $37.5 Million Fine Over Robocaller Accused of
Spoofing Real Numbers:

The FCC has announced its proposal to impose a fine of $37.5 million on a company accused of making robocalls and hiding the calls' origin behind the real phone numbers of consumers. The agency is attempting to show that it's cracking down on the out of control robocall industry, but critics say it's too little, too late.

On Wednesday, the FCC said that it was alerted by a whistleblower about the robocall practices of an Arizona-based company called Affordable Enterprises. According to the announcement, the company "made more than 2.3 million maliciously-spoofed telemarketing calls to Arizonans during a 14-month span starting in 2016 to sell home improvement and remodeling services."

Spoofing is the term for using various techniques to display a different phone number on a robocall target's caller-ID than the number that's actually being used by the caller. What makes the Affordable Enterprises case different is that it's accused of intentionally using phone numbers that belong to consumers. This makes it hard to file a complaint against the company and leads to confused Americans fielding angry phone calls out of the blue.

[virtualmike]

The link to a Wikipedia page I provided in my earlier message has multiple versions of SITs that should be downloadable (as OGG files). Otherwise, I'm sure a web search for "telephone special information tone" should yield some recordings. I downloaded some many years ago, though I'm not sure where they are in my terabytes of archived files.

[ankh]

Thanks, I somehow did not see your Wikipedia link above (and still don't see it)
Found it given the hint though. Thanks for patiently repeating yourself til I got the information.

In North America, the AT&T/Bellcore SIT standard allows the frequency and duration of the tones to vary slightly - making eight distinct messages specifically for automated equipment; indicating not only the call failed, but also the specific reason for the failure (e.g., disconnected number, busy circuits, dialing error, etc.). The equipment can then make an intelligent choice about what to do next. If the circuits were busy, calling back later makes sense; if the number was disconnected, then the calling back is futile.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_information_tone

Looks like this is the one to try:

Intercept IC short, short, long low, low, low Number changed or disconnected

[ankh]

But I may still want to turn off Sonic's voicemail and go back to the Record-A-Call so I can listen and hear a real person while he/she is in the process of leaving a message and pick up the call, instead of checking later to see if it was a real call. Modern inconveniences, sigh.

[virtualmike]

Thanks, I somehow did not see your Wikipedia link above (and still don't see it)

The word "SIT" in the first line of my earlier message is a hyperlink to the Wikipedia article. For some reason, the forum doesn't underline links. However, in my browser, the letters"SIT" are blue, while the rest of the text is dark gray.

[ankh]

And I use a yellow filter to reduce screen blue light, to protect my eyes. That explains that. Thanks.

[ankh]

... legitimate companies began outsourcing illegal robo-calls to third parties. (Last year, a federal judge hit Dish Network with a $280 million penalty in part for doing that. Dish Network says it's appealing.) ...

and

Now, on the horizon — perhaps — is a moonshot called Caller ID authentication, which would function like the blue Twitter check mark that verifies a user's identity. Developed by a consortium of telecom providers, it's being tested by AT&T, Comcast and others. It may or may not see the light of day in 2018.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyl ... story.html


Heads up, Sonic folks ---if Comcast and ATT can make "Caller ID authentication" work, they will have a huge competitive advanage in the local telecom market.

Freedom from intrusive annoyance will trump fast fiber service for a lot of people.

Please get Sonic on board with that program.