Established by a presidential decree in 2010, the public register of oppositions is a tool that was designed to place in the hands of citizens a means of evading insistent commercial telephone calls ( telephone spam ). When making commercial, promotional, or market research calls, each telemarketer must avoid contacting any number registered in the public opposition register.
Operators who use telephone contacts to promote initiatives, products, and services must send the foundation that manages the register the list of numbers of interest to receive the same private list of users that cannot be reached. It must be said that if the user had granted consent to processing his data in another form (think of the many promotional and commercial initiatives promoted by the various companies), he could still be contacted despite being registered in the opposition register.
The legislation grants users the broadest rights regarding the definitive removal of their data. As explained in this handbook, on page 34, it is possible to send reports to the Guarantor Authority to protect personal data on subjects who ignore the registration in the opposition register and continue to make unwanted calls (you can eventually use this form ). Unfortunately, however, more than the opposition register is needed to block unwanted calls on a landline.
Some companies continue to call registered numbers despite repeated requests to remove their data and comply with the law. Some of them also hide the number of calls, a practice that is already prohibited in itself. For further information, we suggest reading the article Unwanted telephone calls: Guarantor advice.
Given that, if registered in the register of oppositions (if one’s consent to the processing of data has not been agreed otherwise), is it always possible for the Judicial Authority or the office of the Guarantor, which are – in practice – the best methods to block unwanted calls on a landline?
Also Read: What Is Cloud Telephony In 2023?
How To Block Unwanted Landline Calls Using Blocklists
With mobile devices, how to identify the caller, it is pretty simple to establish the caller’s identity and possibly block any subsequent contact attempt. As regards incoming calls on a fixed network, the question is more complex. However, it is still possible to put practical solutions against nuisances that allow you to avoid unnecessary waste of time.
To block unwanted calls on a landline, having the Who is it, Who is calling, or similar service active is necessary. These services, which can be enabled upon request by contacting your telephone operator (sometimes they are already included in the subscription or the type of contract stipulated), allow you to receive the caller’s telephone number (or caller ID ) in clear text – on the display of your telephones.
The generic name of the caller number display service is CLIP, while, as previously mentioned, the commercial name may vary from operator to operator. In the case of calls with an unknown number, failure to display the caller’s telephone number is, in any case, signaled on the display even if the Who is or similar service is not active.
By accessing the respective settings, many commercial telephones offer the possibility of creating blocklists or “blacklists” of telephone numbers that must permanently be blocked.
When an incoming call from a denied listed number is detected, the phone will not even ring.
Some Gigaset cordless phones, for example, allow you to draw up a blocklist indicating the permanently blocked numbers. These cordless phones also allow you to block anonymous calls (the phone will not ring). A simple search on Google is often enough to indicate only the telephone number being read on display to have immediate feedback on the caller’s identity.
Use AVM Router Modems As Telephone Switchboards
The most advanced AVM branded Fritz! Box routers can also brilliantly perform the function of real telephone switchboards: we have illustrated how they work in the article Choosing a WiFi modem and router, the Fritz proposal! by AVM. This means that it is possible to connect PSTN/ISDN lines and also configure different VoIP accounts: in this way, using the telephones connected to the various RJ11 ports located on the back of the device, it will be possible to make and receive calls on the multiple numbers or part of them.
Using the web configuration panel of the AVM router, you can define the rules for all incoming and outgoing telephone traffic. For example, you can make it so that when a call is received on an analog, ISDN or VoIP number, only the telephones are connected to a specific port ring.
It is even possible to draw on an online address book (for example, Google contacts; see also Recover Android address book, here’s how ) and use it on AVM devices (the router will periodically check for all updates to the address book content).
Unwanted and legitimate calls can also be directed to an answering machine, managed independently by the AVM router without the need for other devices. AVM routers enable multiple answering machines, each with a different voice message. The AVM Fritz! Boxes equipped with telephony management features allow you to block specific numbers that make incoming calls, anonymous calls, and even outgoing calls to particular numbers.
The procedure to follow is straightforward: after logging into the administration panel of Fritz! Box from a web browser, click Telephony, Call Management, Call blocks, and then select New call block. The AVM router allows calls between extensions, collective conversations, three-way calls, forwarding calls, etc. Furthermore, many models can also act as a DECT base and therefore allow the connection of cordless telephones compatible with this telephone system.
The more advanced AVM routers, then, can also act as fax responders and allow sending documents to less and less used fax machines. This page offers a helpful comparison between the various Fritz! Box models. A complete AVM router, also equipped with VDSL (fiber optic) support and ADSL/ADSL2+, is the Fritz! Box 7490 (its cost is around 200 euros; see the article Choosing a WiFi modem and router, the AVM Fritz! proposal ).
It also acts as a switchboard (PBX). In this regard, it should be noted that not all AVM Fritz! Boxes offer this possibility. Anyone who is not interested in 802.11ac WiFi support (which the Fritz! Box 7490 guarantees) (see 802.11ac, do you need it? ) nor in VDSL support (ADSL/ADSL2+ only) can evaluate the sold Fritz! Box 7272 for about 150 euros. The Frit! Box 7490 and 7272 offer telephone switchboard (PBX) functionality on an analog network, VoIP numbers, and VoIP/PSTN gateway features.
Also Read: 5 Ways Your VoIP Phone System Can Support a Winning Marketing Strategy
