Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with calls

Stop calling me!

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:48:45 -0800

Should I pick up the phone or change my number? I dated this guy about a year ago and I broke it off. (both of us are in our early twenties) He told me he loved me and I never got there with him. When I look back, I don't know what the hell I was thinking (really!!) dating this guy. Sometimes I get nauseous just thinking about the time I had spent with him and what a low-life he is.

Since we broke up we had spoken about two times. None in the past 8 or 9 months. He has called me though, once at home (I wasn't there) and usually once every two months, on my mobile, from a restricted number (I know it's him because no one I know has ever called me from a restricted number but him, and plus he calls twice or three times in a row when he does). He has never left a voicemail, but the other day he did. He left me two and had called me about ten times one right after the other. I NEVER pick up and didn't this time. I don't want to speak to him, hear him and if it were up to me I would erase him from my past. In the voicemail he told me he misses me, asks me why I won't pick up, tells me he remembers the good times we had, blah, blah, blah, and that he won't stop calling me until he hears my voice even if it is to tell him to stop calling him. I just don't know if he will do exactly that, stop calling me, if I decide to pick up when he calls to tell him "Not to call me". He should have gotten the hint already that I don't want to speak to him. For some godforsaken reason he still wants to remain friends and see how I am doing. I don't. Sometimes I get scared that he is going to escalate this and start stalking me or if I bump into him on the street he might go crazy and try and get my attention. So my question is...should I just "change my phone number (fearing he might try to get in touch with me some other way, like showing up at my door, now that he can't call me)" or "keep my number and NEVER pick up" or "pick up when he calls to tell him Not to call me (but fearing he still will call me again)"? Btw..he called again while I was in the middle of typing this. I didn't pick up. This is worrying me a lot, even more now that I'm in a serious relationship in which I am extremely happy in and I don't want this guy popping up and calling.

I need your advice, please. Thanks.

A programme to record mobile phone calls

peatree — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:00:10 -0800

Hi. I'm just wondering if anyone can recommend a programme to record mobile phone calls i make so that i can edit them in Garageband on my mac? Do i need a specific attachment for my mobile/cellphone?

Forwarding U.K. calls to U.S.

computech_apolloniajames — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:16:43 -0800

Can I set up a U.K. land line to forward incoming calls to a U.S.-based number? I work for a company in New York, and we'd like to field calls from the U.K. here.

Are there any other alternate methods of having a U.K.-based number ring on my U.S. phone?

What would be the costs (and any other factors, such as hassle) involved with this?

Off the hook.

I EAT TAPAS — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:44:20 -0800

Has anyone here changed their mind after receiving a call from a campaign phone bank? Alternately, has anyone here who has worked the phone banks had a positive experience, feeling like they were able to connect with and influence one of the people they called? I've received a very large number of political phone calls this year, to the point where they became absurd and depressing, a continual interruption. I initially had positive opinions of one particular local candidate, but that candidate ended up losing my vote after his volunteers called every night to ask for our support, sometimes multiple times per night.

In another bizarre instance, my partner went to phonebank for a different candidate. While my partner was phonebanking, another person at that candidate's same phonebank actually called to ask my partner to come phonebank. Afterwards, we received frequent calls from representatives of that phone bank asking for our support.

My reaction to these calls -- which I never cared much about in prior years -- has became extremely negative across the board, and I found myself giving preferential treatment to candidates who did not call me. My reactions have been so negative that I've begun to wonder if anyone has actually had a positive reaction to the calls -- on either end. This article on Salon makes it seem like the phone banks are a waste of time.

In your experience, have you actually had an experience with political phone banking that's been productive and/or positive?

Open-Source VOIP for personal / educational use

amtho — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:00:24 -0800

Can anyone recommend an open-source-protocol-based just-for-home-use VOIP provider & software? I'm pretty sure I don't want Skype, pretty sure I don't want Yahoo Messenger - security issues, not knowing what's really going on with these packages once they're installed, plus the license/privacy/etc. agreements are long and pretty bad. I'd be new to VOIP, but based on the research I've done (and I _actually read_ the Skype EULA/TOS, and started to read the > 20 pages (two columns) I printed out about Yahoo Messenger), I don't want these. But I want to talk to new friends in France and French-speaking Africa as I continue studying the language!

Can anyone recommend a secure, friendly, audited VOIP system? I read a little about Asterix, but that sounds more like it's for businesses setting up a whole VOIP system with server. Maybe a VOIP provider using Asterix? What do I even want?

I don't mind paying a little (can't pay as much as a cell phone plan would charge), but I think I'll need something that my pen pal / whatever pal can install and use for free, even if he or she is in Côte d'Ivoire or something. And pay or not, I think I really want open source.

I did see other VOIP questions on AskMe, but nothing addressing these specific needs.

If anyone local to Chapel Hill wants to help me practice awful French in exchange for help with English (I'm real good at English), I might be interested in that, too.

Thanks!

How can I make the telemarketing calls to my cell phone stop?

agent99 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:52:15 -0800

Anyone know where or how can I get a grancentral.com invite? My cell phone is being besieged by telemarketing calls and I'm going insane. Anyone know how I can get a grandcentral invite, or know how I can make the calls stop? I'm on the Do Not Call List, but it doesn't seem to be making much of a difference.

WebCast Recommendations/Warnings

Gratishades — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:14:53 -0800

Looking for webcast audio and video and sharing of desktop for small group of international users. Having trialled Webex then read a lot of bad reviews I wonder if people could recommend a solution that will do all or most of the following (free is nice but cheap OK).
1. Audio and Visual calls for free internationally (more than 2 way)
2. Ability to present what is on one person's screen to aothers in different countries
3. Ability to collaborate on a document on one persons computer while in a different country.

Thanks in advance for recommendations/horror stories. If it matters then all users are on Windows machines,

"This phone is not accepting calls"

grablife365 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:46:43 -0800

My Nokia Net10 prepaid cell phone will not accept calls from certain people. Does anyone know how to fix this? I've had this Nokia Net10 1600 model phone for the last month and have not been able to get calls from certain people.

They get the message that says something like "this person (or phone) is not currently accepting calls."

The Nokia customer service people aren't helping. Says that it'll take at least a few days to figure out. Right now this is my only phone and I'm going to have to keep for at least another month.

Has anyone had this problem before and how did you fix it other than to upgrade?

Thanks.

How to stop robotic collection calls (that aren't even for me?)

taumeson — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:39:50 -0800

I'm getting repeated collection calls for somebody who used my phone number when running up high bills. Here's the kicker -- the calls are multiple times a day, and BY COMPUTER. Basically, they're asking ME to call THEM to get this sorted out. Is this legal? Is there anything I can do?

Sales help

josher71 — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:54:51 -0800

How can I sell better when the interaction begins with a cold call and is transacted entirely over the phone? I work for a company that sells special finance leads to car dealerships and the sales is all over the phone. I just started two weeks ago and I'm having some problems getting anyone to sign up for our services. I'm looking for some tips for better cold calling and selling. I don't usually have any problem getting people on the phone or reaching the decision maker. My problem lies in creating urgency and not being argumentative enough (I guess agressive) with people that tell me they aren't interested for various reasons. In the two weeks I've been doing this I've only sold one deal and I'm starting to get a little freaked out about my ability to do it at all. However, I think this skill can be learned, so please help me learn it! Any book recommendations would be helpful as well.

Zombie calls?

_sirmissalot_ — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 11:58:27 -0800

Someone I know is getting multiple phone calls per day to their cell phone from an unlisted "Private Number" (so says the cell screen). The caller hangs up after about 10 seconds without saying anything. Nothing can be heard in the background, except possibly a rustling sound. Because of the nonresponse, it is unclear whether a human is making the call or if it is somehow automated. These calls come in clusters of 4-6 calls spaced out at every minute or so. Even if the person does not answer the phone, the caller will 1) not leave a message, then 2) call back in a minute. The person has stopped answering any call from "Private Number," but the calls keep coming.

So far there have been 3 of these bursts of calls over the last 4 days. Two times were very early AM and the other time was in the evening.

A call to the cell service provider was unhelpful -- they can't tell who the private caller is and say they can't block the number. Their only offer is to change the phone number free of charge, since this could be considered harassment.

Any theories? And what to do?

Collections Calls to wrong phone#

diamondsky — Mon, 09 May 2005 16:15:11 -0800

What recourse do I have to stop a collections company from repeatedly calling my home for somebody who does not reside here? First Premier Bank calls my house several times a day regarding a collection account for somebody I don't know. I have asked them multiple times to stop calling, I have explained that I don't know this person, and they refuse to take my phone number out of my system and say they are legally allowed to call me as often as I like. The privacy feature that blocks "out of area" calls is not an option for me as I receive work calls at home which are forwarded by a computer and can't come through to me if I have Bellsouth's Privacy feature installed. I live in Louisiana, if that matters. What can I do? Thanks!

Incoming Charges on Mobile Phones

brownpau — Tue, 03 Aug 2004 10:02:09 -0800

Why do US mobile phone companies get away with charging for incoming calls and SMS/MMS? What can customers do about it?

Is there any free software to record interviews on my computer from the modem?

NekulturnY — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:17:26 -0800

Recording calls. I sometimes need to record interviews on my computer, and I've been using CallCorder for the last years. Now I've upgraded my system and I was wondering: is there any free software to do this? I need to grab the sound directly from the modem or via TAPI.

I know there's a program called Coaster, but it only works on Apple machines.

Also: is there a way to test if my modem supports voice (if not, I'll have to use my old modem)? No takers? What about just a list with phone recording software? I'll settle for that. Please!