“Hi! Please do not hang up… only for today the T.. offers at an exceptional price…? It’s a call center, another call center… Today, call centers represent 50 percent of all phone calls. Only in 2024, call centers spammed us with 26.3 billion calls. And it will only get worse- call centers will become more and more in the coming years.
The moment you hear that voice, everything stops. Your wrist is accelerating; your blood pressure increases. It doesn’t matter what you were doing before. Maybe you were laughing at a joke. Maybe you were enjoying lunch. Maybe you were watching your favorite team’s game.
None of this matters now. You took that call and you will regret it. You want to scream- don’t call me anymore. I don’t care who you are. Go away! Your words would have gone unheard. They will continue to call.
It’s time to end these call centers forever. Fortunately, you have a whole arsenal of smartphone tools at your disposal. Block the numbers, activate the Do Not Disturb mode, use your operator’s tools or use third-party apps to end this telephone pest.
Here are our suggestions to minimize or eliminate these unwanted calls.
1. Automatically reject anonymous calls
Many call centers are “anonymous” on your caller ID, while some companies present themselves as identifiable phone numbers. So let’s see how to refuse anonymous calls on Android and iPhone.
Android
- Start the phone application.
- Click on the Menu button of your phone, which is usually located at the bottom left and choose the Call Settings item.
- Go to Call Rejection.
- Now press on List automatic rejection and then check the box next to the Unknown label. Done!
iPhone
- Press the Settings icon and then select Do not disturb from the screen that opens.
- Choose Manual mode to immediately activate call barring.
- Now click on Allow calls from and choose all contacts. Thus, all and only the contacts in your address book can call you.
Landline phone
- TIM, the calling number display service cost € 3 / month.
- Vodafone, the calling number display is active by default and does not include additional costs.
- Wind / Infostrada, the calling number display function is called InVista and, for most active offers, it costs € 2 / month. Other tariff plans, on the other hand, include the service free of charge.
- Fastweb, On the latest offers, it is active for free by default. For some old tariff plans, instead, it is identified with the Calling service and costs € 1 / month.
2. Register with the opposition register
Millions of people rejoiced when the Register of Oppositions was created – and in a perfect world, signing would have prevented call centers from calling you. Technically, it is illegal for call centers to call you if you are on this list.
But the world is not perfect. Scammers do not follow the rules, nor do they care about this list. It is always good to register your number as an additional level of protection against unwanted calls.
You can also call your customer care number. This is all you need to do and your number remains on the list until you ask for it to be removed.
3. Use the best apps to block call centers
Another way to stop annoying calls on your smartphone is via a call blocking app. These apps are able to identify who is calling you and block unwanted calls that appear in a list of spam and call centers.
Here are the best call blocking apps:
Nomorobo
Nomorobo is an app for iOS and Android that offers real-time protection from a growing list of call centers and phone scammers. Nomorobo makes the phone ring once, then tries to identify the caller. If the number is in the list of spam or call center numbers, the app will automatically block the call.
Nomorobo is free for 30 days, then it costs more or less € 2 a month or € 20 for a whole year. To register, you will need to provide Nomorobo with information. List the type of phone you have – wireless or landline – and select your telephone operator.
TrueCaller
The Truecaller app for iOS and Android lets you find out who’s behind that unknown number. Copy and paste the number into the search bar of the app. TrueCaller will search for the unknown number to find out who it is. With a list of spam based on the community of over 250 million users, it is an excellent resource to avoid responding to an unwanted call center.
Another great feature of Truecaller is its ability to block spam calls. When an annoying call center calls, there will be a big warning in red, which tells you it’s a spam call. Just scroll up when that happens to automatically block that caller and add it to the spam list.
The Truecaller app is free for both download and use. However, there is a professional version that can be purchased as an in-app purchase for $ 1.99 a month.
Hiya- block and caller ID
The Hiya – Caller ID & Block app is perfect for identifying the calls you want to accept and block the calls and messages you want to avoid. The Hiya app is available for free on Apple and Android gadgets without advertising and is simple to use. If I had to choose one, this is the best choice, in my opinion.
It allows you to block calls, insert unwanted phone numbers and text messages into the blacklist, reverse the phone search for incoming call information and receive spam alerts. The app is powered by a database of hundreds of millions of phone numbers confirmed as spam by other users.
Call Control – Call Blocker
Call Control – Call Blocker automatically blocks spam calls and calls from other numbers from which you do not wish to listen. You can block entire prefixes (like 888) if you receive tons of calls you don’t want from a particular location. The Call Control app is free and available for Apple and Android.
Are you worried about losing important calls? Call Control – Call Blocker offers you your personal white list and contact protection to make sure that the people you know can call. App users actively report their spammers so that their list is always up to date.
4. Some phones automatically block robots
Did you know that some smartphones already have antispam protection and an integrated call center? Samsung’s flagship Galaxy and Note smartphones have a native function called Smart Call that allows you to screen and automatically mark suspicious numbers.
Android smartphones from Google like the Pixels and the old Nexus and Android One have integrated protection for spam calls. With this feature, users with enabled caller ID will be notified if they receive a suspected spam call or call center.
In addition to ignoring the call, the user has the option to block the number or enter it in the whitelist if the spam report is considered an error. Any blocked number can be unlocked at any time. An option is available to report the call to Google.
Don’t answer: it’s the only thing you can do to stop call centers.
Then there are also devices that block unknown calls or from call centers.
5. Common sense prevails
If you receive a call from an unknown number or the caller ID is not displayed, do not answer. If it is an important call, the person will leave a message and will be able to contact you again or you can contact him again.
