TECHNOLOGY TRIUMPHS OVER FTCâ??S â??DO NOT CALLâ? LIST
New Caller ID Screener Allows Only ‘Invited’ Callers to Ring – Free of Fees

Telemarketing companies and exempted groups may have found loopholes in the new National "Do Not Call" List, but telecom automation groundbreaker Bill Sasso of Digitone Communications thwarts them again with his latest invention, the Privacy Call ID Screener.

A small, tabletop device designed for customers who subscribe to Caller ID, the Privacy Call ID Screener allows only ‘Invited’ callers to ring their phone. All other callers are handled as the consumer chooses.

Although the device is customizable, its use is simple. Callers on the consumer’s ‘Invited’ list ring through without interference, while anonymous or unfamiliar callers are asked to identify themselves or leave a message, without ringing the phone. Callers on the consumer’s ‘Excluded’ list cannot ring the phone or leave a message, including cell phone, out-of-state, and international callers.

"We call it ‘Caller ID with attitude!’," says Sasso. "Now consumers can choose who can ring their phone, and when, without the limits and extra monthly charges from your telephone service provider. Using the unit’s Caller ID screen, it only takes a push of a button to add callers to your ‘Included’ or ‘Excluded’ list. And, using the ‘Wildcard’ feature, the consumer can ‘Invite’ or ‘Exclude’ entire area codes, prefixes or number sets. With the ID Screener, exemptions like those to the National ‘Do Not Call’ List simply do not exist."

A snap to install, the Privacy Call ID Screener prevents telemarketing calls, predictive dialers, misdialed numbers, hang-up calls, false faxes, pollsters, political organizations, exes, creditors and anyone else the consumer doesn’t want to talk to…ever again.

Additional benefits include a call-forwarding feature that, on a single line, seamlessly connects ‘Invited’ callers to a cell phone or alternate location, as well as a ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode. This feature prevents all callers from ringing the phone during set hours, such as bedtime and study time, either on a one-time or daily basis.

"The ID Screener is particularly useful for people who keep unusual hours, such as those working the graveyard or swing shifts," says Sasso. "During ‘Do Not Disturb’ hours, ‘Invited’ callers can leave a message, but the phone will not ring, ensuring total privacy." A secret emergency code is provided in case of emergencies.

The Privacy Call ID Screener is the latest addition to the Privacy Call series, designed to help residential consumers and business owners better manage their telephone communications and reduce monthly telephone charges. Consisting of six different models, Privacy Call Series products are available at the Privacy Call website http://www.Privacy-Call.com or by calling (888) 833-5333.

The Intelescreener can also block the “Unknown” or “Unavailable”, or “Out of Area” telemarketer calls in addition to specific number blocking, for those of you who did not know it or wrote out of your own assuming ingnorance without reviewing the Intelescreener product first.

There are laws against people breaking into your house but a lot of people seem to be buying alarm systems for additional protection.

There are too many loopholes in the DoNotCall list and just wait until the politicians start calling you every night for your vote or donation. What will you do then? They are exempt from the DoNotCall list.

Apparently you doesn’t actually have Caller ID yourself. If you did, you’d realize that most telemarketers’ numbers don’t show up. Hence, your choice as a phone-owner is to let most telemarketers get through, or to block all calls from people with unlisted numbers, even if you want to talk to them. (By definition, you can’t selectively choose which of those people to let in, since there’s no way to distinguish them from the others.)

Ultimately, I don’t understand the point of your argument about “market alternatives.” There are “market alternatives” to calling the police if homeless people decide to camp out in your living room, uninvited, but that’s what the government is there for. The fact that you could have locked your door or rented guard dogs or signed up with an alarm company in no way justifies the actions of said homeless people, and in no way makes your decision to call in the government to evict them illegitimate.

Dan Drezner is refereeing a libertarian smackdown over the National Do Not Call Registry. In one corner stands Pejman Yousefzadeh, whose Tech Central Station essay concludes that “conservatives and libertarians needn’t feel discomfited by the creation …

Radley Balko and Pejman Yousefzadeh have dueling articles in Tech Central Station over whether the Do Not Call registry — about which I’ve posted here — is consistent with the libertarian credo. Start off with Yousefzadeh’s original TCS essay. Then…

-Chris

I would tend to think that this would actually be *good* for economic efficiency (and for telemarketers) as it may reduce the number of non-responsive no-sale phone calls they have to make. Anyone motivated enough to put themself (voluntarily) on this list probably isn’t worth the expense of calling.

But I could be wrong.