We are getting increasing numbers of anonymous one second calls which we would like to close out using privacy manager. Unfortunately, we have to modify the CID by removing a “+” sign and adding “00” in order for superfecta to work (on German telephone numbers) - for details: Handling inbound calls containing cpc=ordinary. Thus, anonymous calls are “Anonymous” <00> - which privacy manager does not catch.
All I could do is set up an inbound route directing plain “00” calls to voicemail. I suppose it would also be possible to set up an IVR similar to privacy manager. To avoid that, is it possible to forward a call to privacy manager by other means, i.e., does something like a hidden feature code exist for this?
Why don’t you just send the call to “Terminate Call - Zapateller”. That way, if the “person” calling is a robo-dialer, they will stop calling that number, and if they are a person, they will think they misdialed the number and should (theoretically) call you back.
Also an option - send the call to an announcement that says “This call is being blocked because of invalid caller identification” and then send the call to terminate call - Zapateller. This way, the “people” on the other end will get a notice that something on their end is messed up, and the robo dialers will still get the “three beeps and you’re out.”
Thank you very much for your response. Yes - what you explain is among the valid options. However, we do have some (numbers decreasing a lot over the last few years) legitimate anonymous callers, sometimes internationally sometimes from mobile phones configured that way and the like. Therefore, we would not like to close them out completely. Another option could be a voicemail box with a specific announcement. Still the best option might by the privacy manager as implemented in the system - if I was only able to direct the call there in this setup.
The problem you are experiencing is that Privacy Manager isn’t a module - it’s only an option on the inbound route. Writing a custom context that simulates privacy manager is reasonably doable, but I wouldn’t think that there would be a lot of call for this specific set of “PBX skills.” It’s on or off - there’s no logic associated with it. Maybe one of the devs like Lorne (@lgaetz) might be able to offer up some insight.
Yet another approach would be to set up a “special Caller-ID-Free” number. Set up an announcement that says “Your Caller ID identifies you as an anonymous caller. If you are trying to contact us, please dial “xxx-xxx-xxxx” to leave us a voicemail.” You can even give them the number twice - don’t publicize it, just make it available to your “preferred customers.”
Thank you very much! While I do understand the idea (within my limits of comprehending regex related issues), I am facing the issue that after using that in my cid_cleanup, the CallerID is still “Anonymous” <00> for anonymous calls (i.e., no change). This is probably a consequence of the carrier providing it this way?
This guy asked “basically” the same question and has done some testing to figure it out.
If you look through this thread and still have questions, please let us know. I’m pretty sure you can use the information he found to solve your problem almost the same way.