Hi. My daughter has an iPhone 5 on 8.0.2 that she uses at school to contact my wife and I. She mostly texts us, but has on rare occasion needed to call us. She has been getting phone calls while at school from telemarketers as well as other various numbers. Is there any way to change the phone's settings so only calls from those on her contact list (me, my wife, my parents, my brother (her emergency contact) and sister) will be received?
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Blocking calls
- Thread starter SHirsch999
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aside from jailbreaking the phone or using the DND function (and adding only those names to your favorite list.
no
I'm not sure if the device itself has the capability. But i know some carriers allows you to block a number.
Since iOS 7, iOS allows you to block calls, but it means creating a contact for the number(s). Once a telemarketer calls you add that number as a contact. Call it whatever you want and then scroll down to the bottom where it says "Block Caller" and select that.
Each time you get a new number, add it to the contact as an additional number. Once the callers in that contact call again there will be zero notification. I believe with this on stock iOS 7/8 it goes direct to voicemail as well.
I have a contact I call BLOCKED CALLER. In iOS 6 I assigned it a silent ringtone for calls and texts. Once I jailbroke my phone I used a tweak that essentially does now what iOS 7/8 does. It muted the caller - no notifications. I'm on iOS 7.1.2 now, but I still use that tweak even though it's possible now to do this stock.
Hope that helps!
Each time you get a new number, add it to the contact as an additional number. Once the callers in that contact call again there will be zero notification. I believe with this on stock iOS 7/8 it goes direct to voicemail as well.
I have a contact I call BLOCKED CALLER. In iOS 6 I assigned it a silent ringtone for calls and texts. Once I jailbroke my phone I used a tweak that essentially does now what iOS 7/8 does. It muted the caller - no notifications. I'm on iOS 7.1.2 now, but I still use that tweak even though it's possible now to do this stock.
Hope that helps!
Actually, as near as I can tell on 7.1.2, you don't need to set up a blocked contact anymore. Go to Recents in the phone app. Pick a call off the list and tap the i on the right. Scroll down and there'll be an action to block that caller. If you use that, no additional contact will be visibly added either to Contacts in the Phone app or anywhere I can see in the Contacts app. But that does require going through that routine every time a sales call from a new number comes in.
My understanding is that Google Voice *does* have a "contacts only" whitelist, so setting up a GV number and forwarding your daughter's phone to that one, then forwarding the GV number back to her phone, would allow you to limit which calls reach her. (Some prepaid services don't allow you to forward your line, but most postpaid plans do.)
I personally jailbreak and use iBlacklist for the same function. I hate sales calls.
My understanding is that Google Voice *does* have a "contacts only" whitelist, so setting up a GV number and forwarding your daughter's phone to that one, then forwarding the GV number back to her phone, would allow you to limit which calls reach her. (Some prepaid services don't allow you to forward your line, but most postpaid plans do.)
I personally jailbreak and use iBlacklist for the same function. I hate sales calls.
Hi. Thanks for the responses. One of the problems with blocking the specific numbers is that they have all been different. She has received 7 calls since getting the phone a month ago and all 7 are a different number. I reverse-dialed 2 of the numbers, and both were collection agents! I told both of them to not call again since the phone belongs to a child. The even weirder thing is that those 2 calls were seeking different people! Anyway, I will contact ATT to see if there is anything they can do prior to just changing the phone's number.
They don't care about that list. They make their robo calls whether you are on the list or not. It's up to person receiving the call to prove it, and go to the web site, fill out forms, etc and hope the calls stop. The key is never to answer the call. The minute you answer, they know they got a hit and then sell your number to others.
Funny, I don't get hit with telemarketer calls since I started enrolling my numbers. I think you're wrong about how serious they take those registrations. Prior to enrolling, I used to get 3 to 4 a day.
You're very fortunate then. Both my home & cell numbers have been enrolled (and renewed) on that list for years. I still get 20-30 unwanted calls a month between those two numbers. I certainly wouldn't count on it being enough to keep a child's phone line from being called.
There is no whitelist capability as far as I know, just blacklist. In other words what you're asking for (only let certain through) isn't there without turning on do not disturb.
If she's getting THAT many spam calls your best bet is change her phone number. Call your carrier and request a number change. It may require a new SIM, which she should be able to get with a simple trip to a carrier's store.
If she's getting THAT many spam calls your best bet is change her phone number. Call your carrier and request a number change. It may require a new SIM, which she should be able to get with a simple trip to a carrier's store.
Yeah this is the only thing you can really do but it will work - it will keep the phone from ringing EXCEPT from anyone in her favorites (you have to set it that way in Do Not Disturb). So, the phone will only ring or vibrate if it the people calling / texting are in her favorites. What you can do it just block every telemarketer call manually - may be a chore but eventually maybe you will get them all.
telemarketers are kinda like fleas or cockroaches... tough to stomp them all out without going nuclear...
Source?
It is law: 15 U.S. Code § 6151 - National Do-Not-Call Registry. Obama cannot defund law, only congress has that power. It's been in operation for over 10 years. The website is still operational. Wikipedia cites a Presidential economic report stating 72% of Americans signed up and 77% of those said it made a large difference in the number of calls they received.
I searched and didn't find any indication donotcall.gov was shutdown outside of the larger governmental shutdown in 2013, but that wasn't permanent.
The FTC has issued penalties in the millions and has obtained actions against almost 300 entities.
Do you have any reference material or are you just spouting off?
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Do you do anything about it? i.e. File complaints on donotcall? Laws only have teeth if they're enforced. It takes a village.
My telemarketer disruptions are *0*.
OP, it costs nothing. It's worth a try.
As I said, I jailbreak and have iBlacklist, set to whitelist only my contacts. None of those nuisance calls ever ring through on my iPhone anymore. I merely see them listed when I check the recent calls list in iBlacklist, and once in a while one is silly enough to leave me a voicemail trying to convince me to buy their product. I've already proactively fixed the problem on my end, I didn't wait in hopes that the government would fix it for me. Sadly, in my experience with various government agencies, I knew better. And sorry, but I'm not going to spend an hour a month going through a multi page process for each blocked call just to report a list of numbers that almost certainly were spoofed.
Happy to hear it worked for someone though. I agree adding a number to the Do Not Call list is worth a try--after all, as I mentioned, both my home & cell numbers are on there, have been since the list was created way back when, and I re-add them every few years in hope that it might do some preventative good. The OP should certainly do the same, assuming they're in the US. Even at its idealistic best though, it is NOT a quick fix for an immediate problem, which the OP definitely has.
From what I understand & have experienced, it also will not stop things like political, collection, or charity calls, all of which are equally annoying and apparently exempt. Nor, BTW, will it stop soliciting calls from companies you already do business with, which drive me up a wall. (Hi Comcast, I'm looking at you here. You too, Century Link. And my mortgage company. If I wanted additional services, I have your phone numbers right on the damn bills.) Since the OP has mentioned that some of the calls received on his daughter's phone have been from collection agencies presumably seeking previous owners of that number, I don't consider the Do Not Call list to be an adequate solution by itself.
Any of the other solutions mentioned, starting with calling the carrier to find out what's availble to help on their end, will have a more immediate effect than the Do Not Call list. That *may* prove to be a useful long term aid, but it's not going to stop a phone from ringing with yet another nuisance call tomorrow.
Do not have to post links for something to be true ! They are no longer going after people who violate the laws so it doesn't matter if you have your number on the do not call list these days. The increase in spam calls to my landline have only kept going up the last couple of years and the only way I have found to reduce them is with call blocking devices
Do Not Distrub
I concur with the solution using "Do Not Disturb". Turn on "Do not Disturb" while allowing calls from "all contacts". Problem solved...
I concur with the solution using "Do Not Disturb". Turn on "Do not Disturb" while allowing calls from "all contacts". Problem solved...
I concur with the solution using "Do Not Disturb". Turn on "Do not Disturb" while allowing calls from "all contacts". Problem solved...
That solution only seems to work if the phone has the screen off. If you're actively using it to browse, play with apps, etc., even supposedly blocked calls come through. (Just tested it on my own phone by calling from a landline, because I'd like it to be true for a couple of my non-jailbroken friends.)
(Edit: :facepalm: solution next post down)
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I concur with the solution using "Do Not Disturb". Turn on "Do not Disturb" while allowing calls from "all contacts". Problem solved...
That's the way I have my kids phones set up so they won't get calls at school.
In the DND section on settings, you can have silence set to "always" or "only while phone is locked." I believe if you have it set to "always,", calls won't go through. Of course, kids aren't supposed to be playing with phones while in school anyway.
In the DND section on settings, you can have silence set to "always" or "only while phone is locked." I believe if you have it set to "always,", calls won't go through. Of course, kids aren't supposed to be playing with phones while in school anyway.
LOL...that's what I get for not scrolling further down.
Briiliant...thank you for posting, it'll help the OP, and I'll pass this along to my friends!Riiiight, spouting off. Check.
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