In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 16/05/2019 10:51, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
Our GP surgery is fine, but the hospitals all withhold their numbers.
Why not send out the switchboard number, so you can recognise who is
calling or whitelist them on your phone?

Likely outgoing only lines. Which they don't want blocked with people
trying to call.

Yes, I understand that, but just stick the central switchboard number on
the outgoing calls - in all likelihood they are going through it anyway.

But could they do it to a group of outgoing lines? I've no real idea of
how these are organised, but may have lots of individual numbers.

(Going back to my Swap Shop days on BBC TV where we kept the outgoing
lines - used to put contributors on air - a state secret ;-)

Other than private household and mobile numbers, there should be no
excuse for not giving a valid number out, even if it is just a central
switchboard or head office.

I had a problem a few years ago where a rogue autodialler kept phoning
my mobile and giving silent calls, but the number was withheld and I had
no idea where it was coming from. My phone provider confirmed that it
was a rogue autodialler from a company, but would not give me any
information to identify them without the police being involved, but the
police didn't want to be involved as "we get loads of nuisance call
cases and we can't spare the manpower."

Which is where Truecall works so well.

All everyone kept saying was to change my number - which I couldn't do
as family, friends, HMRC, the MOT centre, banks, insurance companies,
and most of all, agencies that I get contracts through, all had the
existing number. I would never be able to be sure that I had informed
everyone of the change and would almost certainly lost work because of it.

With Truecall, you'd put all those numbers in its memory - via your mobile
phone list or whatever - and they'd not know you had a call blocker.

Luckily the problem resolved itself after five or six weeks. It would
have been so much easier if "a" number had been attached to the calls,
allowing me to track down the company involved and tell them to stop.

SteveW

--
*Change is inevitable ... except from vending machines *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 16/05/2019 14:50, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 16/05/2019 10:51, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
Our GP surgery is fine, but the hospitals all withhold their numbers.
Why not send out the switchboard number, so you can recognise who is
calling or whitelist them on your phone?

Likely outgoing only lines. Which they don't want blocked with people
trying to call.

Yes, I understand that, but just stick the central switchboard number on
the outgoing calls - in all likelihood they are going through it anyway.

But could they do it to a group of outgoing lines? I've no real idea of
how these are organised, but may have lots of individual numbers.

You can guarantee that they have far fewer lines than phones and run
them all through the switchboard. Many places will also have a few lines
that do not go through the switchboard for emergency use if the
switchboard goes down - this can sometimes involve getting a handfull of
emergency phones out of cupboards and plugging them in (I assume that
one pair in the socket connects to the switchboard and another [shared
by multiple sockets] connects to a real phone line).

(Going back to my Swap Shop days on BBC TV where we kept the outgoing
lines - used to put contributors on air - a state secret ;-)

Other than private household and mobile numbers, there should be no
excuse for not giving a valid number out, even if it is just a central
switchboard or head office.

I had a problem a few years ago where a rogue autodialler kept phoning
my mobile and giving silent calls, but the number was withheld and I had
no idea where it was coming from. My phone provider confirmed that it
was a rogue autodialler from a company, but would not give me any
information to identify them without the police being involved, but the
police didn't want to be involved as "we get loads of nuisance call
cases and we can't spare the manpower."

Which is where Truecall works so well.

All everyone kept saying was to change my number - which I couldn't do
as family, friends, HMRC, the MOT centre, banks, insurance companies,
and most of all, agencies that I get contracts through, all had the
existing number. I would never be able to be sure that I had informed
everyone of the change and would almost certainly lost work because of it.

With Truecall, you'd put all those numbers in its memory - via your mobile
phone list or whatever - and they'd not know you had a call blocker.

But I don't want to do that - some callers, of calls that I really do
need to receive, won't leave a message and also withhold their number -
so I HAVE to accept and actually answer calls with withheld numbers just
in case. And I can't guarantee that I'd manage to enter every possible
genuine number either, so some non-withheld numbers would get blocked.
Part of why I wish it was a legal requirement to give at least a central
number, so I could see which are valid ones for myself at the time.

SteveW

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 16/05/2019 10:51, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
Our GP surgery is fine, but the hospitals all withhold their numbers.
Why not send out the switchboard number, so you can recognise who is
calling or whitelist them on your phone?

Likely outgoing only lines. Which they don't want blocked with people
trying to call.

Yes, I understand that, but just stick the central switchboard number on
the outgoing calls - in all likelihood they are going through it anyway.

But could they do it to a group of outgoing lines? I've no real idea of
how these are organised, but may have lots of individual numbers.

(Going back to my Swap Shop days on BBC TV where we kept the outgoing
lines - used to put contributors on air - a state secret ;-)

Other than private household and mobile numbers, there should be no
excuse for not giving a valid number out, even if it is just a central
switchboard or head office.

I had a problem a few years ago where a rogue autodialler kept phoning
my mobile and giving silent calls, but the number was withheld and I had
no idea where it was coming from. My phone provider confirmed that it
was a rogue autodialler from a company, but would not give me any
information to identify them without the police being involved, but the
police didn't want to be involved as "we get loads of nuisance call
cases and we can't spare the manpower."

Which is where Truecall works so well.

All everyone kept saying was to change my number - which I couldn't do
as family, friends, HMRC, the MOT centre, banks, insurance companies,
and most of all, agencies that I get contracts through, all had the
existing number. I would never be able to be sure that I had informed
everyone of the change and would almost certainly lost work because of it.

With Truecall, you'd put all those numbers in its memory - via your mobile
phone list or whatever - and they'd not know you had a call blocker.

Luckily the problem resolved itself after five or six weeks. It would
have been so much easier if "a" number had been attached to the calls,
allowing me to track down the company involved and tell them to stop.

SteveW

In my limited experience as a user, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by a
simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.
Informing users how to do this and convincing departments that they
should was were it fell down, in the NHS at least.
--

Roger Hayter

On 16/05/2019 16:12, Roger Hayter wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 16/05/2019 10:51, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
Our GP surgery is fine, but the hospitals all withhold their numbers.
Why not send out the switchboard number, so you can recognise who is
calling or whitelist them on your phone?

Likely outgoing only lines. Which they don't want blocked with people
trying to call.

Yes, I understand that, but just stick the central switchboard number on
the outgoing calls - in all likelihood they are going through it anyway.

But could they do it to a group of outgoing lines? I've no real idea of
how these are organised, but may have lots of individual numbers.

(Going back to my Swap Shop days on BBC TV where we kept the outgoing
lines - used to put contributors on air - a state secret ;-)

Other than private household and mobile numbers, there should be no
excuse for not giving a valid number out, even if it is just a central
switchboard or head office.

I had a problem a few years ago where a rogue autodialler kept phoning
my mobile and giving silent calls, but the number was withheld and I had
no idea where it was coming from. My phone provider confirmed that it
was a rogue autodialler from a company, but would not give me any
information to identify them without the police being involved, but the
police didn't want to be involved as "we get loads of nuisance call
cases and we can't spare the manpower."

Which is where Truecall works so well.

All everyone kept saying was to change my number - which I couldn't do
as family, friends, HMRC, the MOT centre, banks, insurance companies,
and most of all, agencies that I get contracts through, all had the
existing number. I would never be able to be sure that I had informed
everyone of the change and would almost certainly lost work because of it.

With Truecall, you'd put all those numbers in its memory - via your mobile
phone list or whatever - and they'd not know you had a call blocker.

Luckily the problem resolved itself after five or six weeks. It would
have been so much easier if "a" number had been attached to the calls,
allowing me to track down the company involved and tell them to stop.

SteveW

In my limited experience as a user, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by a
simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.
Informing users how to do this and convincing departments that they
should was were it fell down, in the NHS at least.

Presumably it can be set centrally? If so, simply set it up so some
selected extensions send their direct numbers, others send the number of
their department reception and the rest send the central reception
number. Don't give individuals or departments the ability or the
responsibility to do it themselves.

SteveW

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 16/05/2019 10:51, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
Our GP surgery is fine, but the hospitals all withhold their
numbers.
Why not send out the switchboard number, so you can recognise who is
calling or whitelist them on your phone?

Likely outgoing only lines. Which they don't want blocked with people
trying to call.

Yes, I understand that, but just stick the central switchboard number
on
the outgoing calls - in all likelihood they are going through it
anyway.

But could they do it to a group of outgoing lines? I've no real idea of
how these are organised, but may have lots of individual numbers.

(Going back to my Swap Shop days on BBC TV where we kept the outgoing
lines - used to put contributors on air - a state secret ;-)

Other than private household and mobile numbers, there should be no
excuse for not giving a valid number out, even if it is just a central
switchboard or head office.

I had a problem a few years ago where a rogue autodialler kept phoning
my mobile and giving silent calls, but the number was withheld and I
had
no idea where it was coming from. My phone provider confirmed that it
was a rogue autodialler from a company, but would not give me any
information to identify them without the police being involved, but the
police didn't want to be involved as "we get loads of nuisance call
cases and we can't spare the manpower."

Which is where Truecall works so well.

All everyone kept saying was to change my number - which I couldn't do
as family, friends, HMRC, the MOT centre, banks, insurance companies,
and most of all, agencies that I get contracts through, all had the
existing number. I would never be able to be sure that I had informed
everyone of the change and would almost certainly lost work because of
it.

With Truecall, you'd put all those numbers in its memory - via your
mobile
phone list or whatever - and they'd not know you had a call blocker.

Luckily the problem resolved itself after five or six weeks. It would
have been so much easier if "a" number had been attached to the calls,
allowing me to track down the company involved and tell them to stop.

SteveW

In my limited experience as a user, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by
a simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.

But plenty would still be using PABXs sold last century.

Informing users how to do this and convincing departments
that they should was were it fell down, in the NHS at least.

On Fri, 17 May 2019 07:26:12 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:


In my limited experience as a user, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by
a simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.

But

LOL In auto-contradicting mode again, you clinically insane, 85-year-old,
senile pest?

--
The Natural Philosopher about senile Rodent:
"Rod speed is not a Brexiteer. He is an Australian troll and arsehole."
Message-ID:

"Steve Walker" wrote in message
...
On 16/05/2019 16:12, Roger Hayter wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by a
simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.
Informing users how to do this and convincing departments that they
should was were it fell down, in the NHS at least.

Presumably it can be set centrally? If so, simply set it up so some
selected extensions send their direct numbers, others send the number of
their department reception and the rest send the central reception number.

But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why did
you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

tim

On 18/05/2019 16:38, tim... wrote:


"Steve Walker" wrote in message
...
On 16/05/2019 16:12, Roger Hayter wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by a
simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.
Informing users how to do this and convincing departments that they
should was were it fell down, in the NHS at least.

Presumably it can be set centrally? If so, simply set it up so some
selected extensions send their direct numbers, others send the number
of their department reception and the rest send the central reception
number.

But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why
did you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

Hard luck. At least people will know that it was the hospital or
whatever and have an idea who is likely to be calling them. Better than
people missing important calls because they won't anwer withheld numbers
or not knowing who has called and failed to leave a message.

SteveW

tim... wrote:

"Steve Walker" wrote in message
...
On 16/05/2019 16:12, Roger Hayter wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by a
simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.
Informing users how to do this and convincing departments that they
should was were it fell down, in the NHS at least.

Presumably it can be set centrally? If so, simply set it up so some
selected extensions send their direct numbers, others send the number of
their department reception and the rest send the central reception number.

But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why did
you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

tim

This is exactly the sort of problem one would expect computers to solve.

--

Roger Hayter

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why
did you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

Hard luck. At least people will know that it was the hospital or
whatever and have an idea who is likely to be calling them. Better than
people missing important calls because they won't anwer withheld numbers
or not knowing who has called and failed to leave a message.

If something is important and they can't get through to you by phone,
they'll try another method?

--
*No I haven't stolen it , I'm just a **** driver*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 19/05/2019 11:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why
did you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

Hard luck. At least people will know that it was the hospital or
whatever and have an idea who is likely to be calling them. Better than
people missing important calls because they won't anwer withheld numbers
or not knowing who has called and failed to leave a message.

If something is important and they can't get through to you by phone,
they'll try another method?

Which may be too slow - not much help to send a letter if they are
offering to do your operation tomorrow as there has been a cancellation.

SteveW

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 19/05/2019 11:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why
did you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

Hard luck. At least people will know that it was the hospital or
whatever and have an idea who is likely to be calling them. Better
than people missing important calls because they won't anwer withheld
numbers or not knowing who has called and failed to leave a message.

If something is important and they can't get through to you by phone,
they'll try another method?

Which may be too slow - not much help to send a letter if they are
offering to do your operation tomorrow as there has been a cancellation.

If I'm expecting an important call from the hospital, etc, I just switch
off the call blocker. But then they usually phone my mobile. My doctor's
surgery manages to leave a message with the call blocker on.

--
*Cover me. I'm changing lanes.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 19/05/2019 13:06, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 19/05/2019 11:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why
did you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

Hard luck. At least people will know that it was the hospital or
whatever and have an idea who is likely to be calling them. Better
than people missing important calls because they won't anwer withheld
numbers or not knowing who has called and failed to leave a message.

If something is important and they can't get through to you by phone,
they'll try another method?

Which may be too slow - not much help to send a letter if they are
offering to do your operation tomorrow as there has been a cancellation.

If I'm expecting an important call from the hospital, etc, I just switch
off the call blocker. But then they usually phone my mobile. My doctor's
surgery manages to leave a message with the call blocker on.

That's fine for an expected call. It doesn't work for an appointment
months away, that you get a call about to bring it forward due to a
cancellation and they won't leave any message due to "data protection."
The shortest notice we have had was bring an appointment for a scan
forward about a month - as long as we could get to the hospital in two
hours time!

SteveW

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
tim... wrote:

"Steve Walker" wrote in message
...
On 16/05/2019 16:12, Roger Hayter wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:


, all large PABXs sold this century
could present the extension number or any other chosen number, by a
simple series of pre-dialling codes, or as a policy unless cancelled.
Informing users how to do this and convincing departments that they
should was were it fell down, in the NHS at least.

Presumably it can be set centrally? If so, simply set it up so some
selected extensions send their direct numbers, others send the number
of
their department reception and the rest send the central reception
number.

But they don't like doing that, because people ring back and ask "why did
you call me" and the central reception don't have Scooby

tim

This is exactly the sort of problem one would expect computers to solve.

The best of them have. My old electricity supplier has one that does that.
Now, when you missed the call from them wanting to get you to change
back to them again, with a new even higher discount offer that they were
too stupid to offer when you asked them what the best offer they have
is to stop you from leaving, the system uses your caller ID to direct you
to the part of their operation that called you and shows them your details.

On Mon, 20 May 2019 16:13:31 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:



This is exactly the sort of problem one would expect computers to solve.

The best of them have. My old electricity supplier

NOBODY gives a ****, senile Ozzie pest!

--
about senile Rot Speed:
"This is like having a conversation with someone with brain damage."
MID:

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
If I'm expecting an important call from the hospital, etc, I just switch
off the call blocker. But then they usually phone my mobile. My doctor's
surgery manages to leave a message with the call blocker on.

That's fine for an expected call. It doesn't work for an appointment
months away, that you get a call about to bring it forward due to a
cancellation and they won't leave any message due to "data protection."
The shortest notice we have had was bring an appointment for a scan
forward about a month - as long as we could get to the hospital in two
hours time!

And do you know you've actually missed such a call due to a call blocker?

--
*Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.