@dust2dust wrote:
Koodo and Telus have a service called Call Control where you set up a list of numbers that can call through but then for everyone else it asks for a code or something. I say that's a hassle. I just answer every call.
@dust2dust Call Control is very very effective with calls though it does not help at all with spam SMS.
Anyone on any network can block numbers on their phone that have spam/robodialed them, but this has two big limitations:
1) because the call is blocked at the phone and not the network, the caller gets redirected to voicemail where they can leave you annoying automated voicemails that just waste your time calling in to check and delete, and
2) robodialers keep changing up the number they call you from, so blocking the previous outbound won't help with the next call, and the one after that.
Call Control is different because it's at the network level. Like you said you can allow-list people you actually want calling and to not be hassled by the prompt--they connect straight through and your phone rings. For anyone you explicitly add to the block list in the Call Control, they are blocked at the network level and hear a message that the person they are calling is not accepting calls and are hung up on, so no annoying voicemail message is recorded. For anyone on neither list, they hear a short request for them to press a randomly selected number (I believe it's a single digit). If it's a real human on the phone, they will press the number and your phone will ring. If they complain and it's someone you want calling you, you could add them to your allowlist and they'll never have to do that again. For all those robodialed calls however, they fail this prompt and are told you're not accepting calls and the call drops, again with no annoying voicemails left behind.
I had a life event where I was expecting to get some unexpected calls for a while which I needed to receive, so I turned off call control for about a month. Before turning it off, I was getting zero spam calls and emails. After turning it off, they returned. There wasn't a ton but it was a noticeable increase over the zero while active. Once I turned the feature back on again, the robocalls and voicemails stopped again. It's almost miraculous how effective it is!
As mentioned however it does not help with spam sms, which I've noticed are starting to get more frequently lately. I think a lot of spammers are moving on to this as a way to avoid call-based mechanisms like Call Control.
One additional option: for anyone with a Pixel phone (might be limited to 6a/6/6 Pro but I'm not 100% sure) with Android 12, you can use the call screening feature built into the dialer. Your phone still rings (unlike with Call Control), but you can have Google interact with the person asking what they want and you see a transcript of them talking in real time on the screen. If it's a legit call, you can then accept it, and if it's someone you don't want to talk to, one tap has Google tell them you're not accepting and hang up on them. I've tried it a few times (particularly while I had Call Control disabled for a while) and it works pretty well.
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