The Sound of Silence

For several years, we have had an increase in the number of telemarketer calls we receive on our landline phone. However, recently, the number of calls we get has been astronomical. The phone rings up to six times an hour! Sometimes, one telemarketer will hang up and then a few moments later, another telemarketer will call!

I could not tolerate this. I was at my breaking point. The endless phone calls were driving me crazy. I checked with the national call registry. Yes, our phone has been on the do not call list for the last 15 years. But it does not seem to matter. The telemarketers are calling from overseas. The penalties for violating the do not call registry cannot be enforced on international companies.

I read online up about blocking telemarketer calls. I discovered we could block most telemarketers by blocking the area code it shows on our caller ID. Almost all the calls come from one area code. However, there was a problem. We get real calls from that area code. If we blocked all numbers with that area code, we would be blocking real phone calls.

Thankfully, our telephone company has a special feature in which all phone calls with that specific area code can be intercepted before it rings our phone. The person calling is given a random three digit code and told to enter it. If the code is entered correctly, our phone then rings. If the wrong code is entered, the phone call will not go through.

Since setting this up last week, we have only had TWO telemarketer calls; the telemarketers were calling from a different area code which is not blocked. I am so relieved! It is so nice to not have our phone ring all day long.

Today, I am once again enjoying the sound of silence. Ah, silence. What a beautiful sound!