On Tue, 22 Dec 2015 13:51:03 -0600, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On 12/21/2015 10:40 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 12/21/2015 8:56 PM, Mark Lloyd wrote:

I'd imagine the worse problem would be a machine waiting until the
*eighth* ring to pick up -- at which point, many may have abandoned
the call (and you've no record of it).

You have the caller ID record.

If the machine -- and the subscriber -- have CID! :

It's a very useful thing to have. Yes, junk callers do spoof the number
you see on caller ID, but the seldom take the time to find one of the
few that could really fool you. CID is still useful.

BTW, answering machines may not have CID. That appears to be a phone
function.

My answering system is part of my cordless phone "network" - one base
connected to my VOIP box, with hadsets scattered around the house in
different rooms - CID is on the base and the handsets courtesy my VOIP
provider.


Isn't technology wonderful??! :

I have my answering machine set to answer after 2 rings. Almost all
the calls I
get now on the home phone are junk calls (caller ID shows city, state
like
"AUSTIN TX" or "TOLL FREE CALL" in most cases). I won't answer unless
I see a
familiar caller ID, and in that case will be holding the phone and can
answer
quickly.

Ours is set to 2 rings but the ringer is turned off. We try to look
at the machine every day or two to see if anyone called AND waited through
the outgoing message (if they hang up before then, the machine doesn't
record the call -- so we see no notification).

I'm about to do that (turn off the ringer). There's just too many of
those annoying calls.

BTW, I also never answer calls from charities. If I did I feel like
saying "I'm not your ATM" and hanging up.

Folks that want to get in touch with us use email or the front door.
Cuts down on the "nuisance contacts" as very few junk callers are
willing to come to the door *or* know any of our email addresses! :


There's also cell phones. AFAIK, most allow you to assign a different
ringtone to a specific number. You may even be able to make others
silent. Then you know which calls to ignore.