Robocalls are a real frustration for many of us. Although Do Not Call registry mainly stopped the calls generated in the U.S. The current problem is the calls that generating outside the U.S. and mostly without human interaction. Most of the time there isn’t even someone to talk on the phone. When a recipient of a call answer the phone computer establishes connection and let the admin of the network know that someone on the line connected. Due to the call speed of these computers and limited staff, callers are not even able to talk to the computer established connections. This is mostly the cause of the muted calls. About two – three years ago, I was having the same problem. I found out that it is not very hard to stop this type of the calls. Caller computer has to keep large databases of phone numbers. These systems are designed to erase the numbers that no longer valid and disconnected. Therefore, the key to stop automated callers is disconnected phone tone. Due to the more sophisticated features, cost and availability, today Voice IP phones are getting more popular than regular lines. For the VOIP systems, provider company can handle the incoming call for two second and send a disconnected signal to the caller. We can design an algorithm that can actively learn when to send a disconnection signal to the caller. Pseudo code of such algorithm may be following:

1-If incoming call does not contain the caller ID send disconnected phone signal before handing the call to the customer.

2-If incoming call has caller ID then the search script of the phone company searches the caller ID against customer’s call history.

If the match found, if this number called or customer received a call from this number, and two parties talk more than 40 seconds do not send a signal else send disconnected phone signal before handing the call over to customer. If the government requires similar implementation of algorithms, from the providers, that will potentially lead to better algorithms.

Unsolicited call to VOIP customers can be stop by the implementation of the algorithm. For the other traditional land lines, I found Telezapper the single most effective solution to unwanted automated calls. This device simply connects between the phone line and the phone. Coin battery operated device sends a disconnected phone line tone. It does not use any algorithm; therefore, the device generates the tone every time when dialed person picks up the phone. After testing these or alike units, subsidy program, similar to DTV program can help customers to buy these devices. The program may require a customer to register Do Not Call list. We can easily modify Do Not Call registration process to generate unique ID, and subsidy program can grant coupons by that ID. The Do Not Call registration requirement for the coupons will also eliminate some of these calls from automated callers.

After modifying the registration process to generate Unique ID, previously registered citizens can check their DNC status and obtain their unique IDs for subsidy program.