Get Rid of Telemarketers

submitted by Sang on 06.22.2006 in Life

It’s the summer, and you’re sitting at home. Every now and then, the phone rings, and you pick it up expecting a call from a human.

But the thing on the other line is not a human. It’s an automated telemarketer that uses Predictive Dialers that dials random numbers in the phonebook hoping that it will get lucky.

When you pick up a phone, how do you greet the person on the other line? “Hello,” or another short outburst. If this software detects a short outburst, it marks your number as valid which it will call later on with actual people, or maybe sell your number to other telemarketers.

If your answering machine picks up the call, it’s usually a long outburst such as “Hello, welcome to the Mental Health Hotline. If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly….” or something similar. In this case, the software marks your number as valid, but it will try again later.

Now, if it hears the three beeps that you usually hear when you call a dead number, then it marks your number as invalid. You win!

Here’s what to do: Download the three beeps and stick it at the beginning of your answering machine. Your new message will sound a little something like this:

“[three beeps] [pause] Hello, welcome to the Mental Health Hotline. If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly….”

Of course, you will have to explain your new message to your friends, or they’ll be tricked, too!