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Ask HN: Would you be interested in a Spam-call Blocker for your phone?

4 points by kidlogic ↗ HN
Would HackerNews be interested in a personal phone system that not only blocks spam callers, but also has pre-screening (e.g caller states their name before picking up phone), and working hours (i.e phone only rings at certain times, other wise goes to voicemail)?

Somehow my phone number was leaked and I am getting bombarded with spam calls. I am thinking of building a personal PBX system that solves this. Google Voice falls short and hasn't been updated in years.

Anyone else experiencing the same problems and/or looking at similar solutions?

10 comments

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dvcc
Google Voice (yes you mentioned it but it still applies) does all of this as of now, so I don't really get what you want to upgrade? All there would be is a personal spam list that would get outdated rather fast.

Screening: https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115083?hl=en

Spam: https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115089?hl=en

Ring Schedule: https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115145?hl=en&ref_top...

kidlogic
From my understanding, Google Voice is to be killed. They were suppose to do it in 2014 but have yet to phase out the product. I believe they'll roll parts of the product into Google Hangouts. Perhaps we'll hear of something at Google I/O
smt88
> blocks spam callers

True Caller does this[1], as does Google Voice.

> also has pre-screening

True Caller does their own version of this, where they'll tell you the name if it exists in their database.

> caller states their name before picking up phone

Google Voice does this exactly.

> working hours (i.e phone only rings at certain times, other wise goes to voicemail)

Google Voice does this, too[2]. There are also many apps that enable this. It may be a default feature of iOS and/or Android these days, for all I know.

1. https://www.truecaller.com/blog/avoid-spam-calls-with-trueca...

2. https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115145?hl=en

kidlogic
I used Truecaller and it's global spam block list had only a few hundred numbers on it.

I haven't been able to actually get Google Voice to prescreen callers. I know that they state they can do this, but haven't been able to implement it on my verizon phone.

smt88
You have to go into the web version of Voice and then into your Settings. You can't set it up from a phone, as far as I know.
kidlogic
I've tried enabling it from the web interface and, even though it's selected and my number is properly configured, it still wont work :(
smt88
> Google Voice falls short and hasn't been updated in years.

Please elaborate. I've used Google Voice for many years, and I've never had a problem with it. Hangouts integration took too long and wasn't perfect, but as a service, it's been reliable and great (especially for the price!)

mirchada993
I never got a spam call, been using a personal mobile phone for 13 years. I would love an SMS blocker tho. I get tons of unsolicited, either scams or adds.
kidlogic
Cool! I've only received a few spam texts. I'll add this as a potential feature.

Are the text messages from short-code numbers (e.g "3948") or are they long-code number (e.g "555-555-1234")?

kukudi1028
There're already apps for that https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sg.sledog

Every time after a user gets a spam call and hang up, he can tag the phone number and the tag will be stored in the database and used for all the other users.

So the more people tag, the more they benefit each other. If the call on your screen shows that it was tagged as freud, you don't have to answer it.