The number of spam calls these days are increasing at a rapid pace. With the advent of Robocalls, it is becoming more and more difficult to block unwanted calls. Fortunately, there are a few ways in which you can do so. If in recent times you have been wondering, how to block unwanted calls on landline free? We will today share with you numerous ways to do so. Once you adopt any of these methods, you will no longer have to worry about unwanted calls on your landline.
How to block unwanted calls on landline-free: 6 Best Ways
The simplest way to block unwanted calls is to register on the do not call Registry. Other than these include contacting your service provider, manually blocking unwanted numbers, reporting the numbers, and so on.
We will go into the details of these methods and more below. Once you go through the methods below, it is self-explanatory how you can do so.
1. Register in the Do Not Call Registry:
Every country has something which is known as a do not call registry. While it might go with the different names in different countries, the concept and functionality are similar.
In the United States, FTC provides you with the do not call Registry. All telemarketers need to follow this list. The numbers present on this list shouldn’t be called. You need to understand that FTC in itself does not block these calls. It is just illegal to call the numbers on this list.
While it might not block all unwanted calls to your landline, most corporate companies follow this list. That is why, once you submit your number to the do not call Registry, the number of calls that you will receive will reduce significantly.
Since you need not spend anything to submit your number to the do not call Registry, it is certainly worth a try.
After that, if you receive unwanted calls, you can take action against the caller since what he/she is doing is illegal. That is why the first step which you need to undertake to block unwanted calls on a landline is to register your number with the do not call Registry.
2. Contact your service provider:
Your service provider can help you out when it comes to blocking unwanted calls as well. Even though this might sound surprising, but many service providers can indeed help you out.
Most of them offer you a basic free service when it comes to blocking unwanted calls. Even though not 100% of the calls might get blocked, most of them will be. That is why the number of spam calls you will receive will fall significantly.
For the same, you have to contact the customer service department of your service provider. Only they will be able to inform you regarding the service they provide you to block the unwanted calls.
The working of the services is pretty simple. Service providers often make a list of numbers used by the spammers for calling. They after that block these numbers from calling the customers ever again. However, they cannot do that without your request.
That is why you need to first contact your service provider and ask them to block these spam callers.
The service providers might divert these calls to junk voicemail in many cases. You can check the junk voicemail from time to time to ensure that you haven’t missed out on any important call.
Even if your service provider charges you for such a service, the charges are pretty minimal. That is why; you won’t have to worry about shelling out a lot of money for the same.
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3. Manually block unwanted numbers:
There is another option which you have to block these unwanted calls. It is to manually block the numbers. However, this process is pretty time-consuming.
Spammers often change their numbers. That is why, if you block one of the numbers, they are likely to call you from another number. Even with their resources, they have a limited list of numbers that they can use. That is why, once you block most of the numbers, you will no longer have to worry about unwanted calls.
It is one-time work, but you will no longer have to worry about these unwanted calls once you build up a list of blocked numbers.
These days, most landline phones have an easier way to block calls. That is why; it will not take you more than 20 to 30 seconds to block any specific number. If you want to block an entire range of numbers, you can do that as well. That way, you won’t have to worry about blocking every number manually.
If you receive a genuine call from any of those numbers, it is likely to be transferred to the answering machine. That’s how smart landline phone models today are.
That way, you will not have to worry about missing out on a call from a friend. You can easily go through the answering machine and after that call them back.
If you strictly do not want to spend any money on blocking unwanted numbers, doing so manually is the best way to go for it. Since you can do that by area the range of numbers, it will likely take you less time than what you have thought of.
4. Report the numbers:
If a spammer is harassing you a lot, you can go a step further than just blocking the numbers. You can think about reporting those numbers as well. Once you start reporting those numbers, the government authorities might likely take some action or ask spammers to justify their calling habits.
If they are not adhering to the rules and regulations; they are likely to refrain from calling anyone.
The question is, should you report these numbers too?
We will share a list of authorities to whom you can report such numbers.
Federal Trade Commission:
If you’re in the United States, you can report the numbers to the Federal Trade Commission. Whether you have received a spam call or received the Robocall, you can report the number in both cases. If you have registered your number on the do not call Registry and still receive unwanted calls, you can report the numbers to the Federal Trade Commission. After that, Federal Trade Commission is likely to take certain legal action against those spammers.
Canadian Anti-fraud center:
In Canada, any kind of suspicion calls can be reported to the Canadian anti-fraud Centre. It does not matter whether the call was for a pyramid scheme or spoofing a government agency, or trying to extort a password from you. Any kind of suspicious call can be reported to the Canadian anti-fraud Centre.
Once you report the calls, the organization will conduct its inquiry and dig deeper into the details of the caller. Chances are the spammer calling you does not have proper permission to do so or was indulging in some illegal activity. That is why once Canadian anti-fraud Centre starts digging deeper into the details, they will refrain from calling you or anyone else.
National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Center:
The agency that can resolve your complaint in the UK goes by the national fraud and cybercrime reporting Centre. You can report any suspicious call to them. The agency will dig deeper into the caller’s details and, if anything illegal is going on, take appropriate legal action against them.
Thus, if you want to end unwanted calls once and for all, it is good to report the same to government agencies. You can choose from the list above depending on the country, and after that you will no longer have to worry about unwanted calls on your landline.
5. Services by providers:
You will be surprised to know that service providers also want you to have a good experience with their landlines. That is why; they provide you with a few tools at your disposal which you can use.
It is a good idea to use these tools rather than just complaining to the service provider (as we have highlighted above). That will certainly help you block unwanted calls on your headline.
AT&T:
AT&T offers you a call protect feature. You can visit your account overview on the AT&T website and after that activate this feature under the phone features step.
With the help of call protect, most spam and unwanted calls are blocked. That way, you will not even notice an unwanted call.
Learn Also: How to Get AT&T Hotspot for Free?
CenturyLink:
CenturyLink offers you two different ways in which you can block unwanted calls. The first is to block a particular number whenever you receive such a call. You can do so with the help of calling features on their landlines. Secondly, you can contact their customer care to block telemarketing and spam calls. This includes the Robocalls as well. Their customer care will be able to help you out with the same.
ComCast:
Comcast offers you a call screening feature. Once you put a number on this list, it will be blocked, and no longer will you receive calls from this number.
To activate the same, you have to press *60 after hearing the dial tone. Once you press that, you can enter the numbers you want to block. If you want to deactivate this feature, you can dial *80 and press 3. You need to keep in mind that this feature is included in some of the plans, whereas, in others, you might have to pay extra for this feature. Nevertheless, Comcast offers you the option to block the numbers you want with the help of the call screening feature.
Frontier Communications:
Frontier Communications offers call blocking features that are very similar to Comcast.
You have to redial 1160 or dial *60 from your landline. Doing so will let you know the status of the call blocking service and the numbers currently on that list. After that, you can add or remove the numbers according to the key you press.
Spectrum:
Spectrum allows you to add calls are numbers to your block list online.
You have to sign in to your spectrum account and, go to the voice step after that. After that, you have to select the global call settings and select call rejection. After that, you will be able to add or remove the numbers which you want to block. Since you can do that online, it shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes if you’re using the spectrum landline.
Verizon:
Dial *67 or 1167 on your Verizon number to reach the call blocking list. After that, you will add new numbers to it or remove the existing ones from the list.
As you can see, most service providers allow you the option to block unwanted calls for free.
6. Use Nomorobo:
You might be thinking, isn’t Nomorobo paid?
No, it’s not for landlines. For landlines, the package is completely free. It offers you 24/7 real-time protection. Just because it is free does not mean you will have to deal with ads. It has a list of over 4.8 million Robo callers. Even if you have a VoIP landline, it can also protect that. Since it protects you from so many spam calls and Robo callers, it makes sense to activate this third-party service to prevent unwanted calls.
However, there is a charge if you want to activate it on your smartphone. For landlines, however, it is free. You can choose between these methods to free block unwanted calls on your landline. Using any of these methods will not cost you any money, and therefore you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to blocking the unwanted numbers. We will now answer some FAQs related to the same to understand more about blocking unwanted calls on the landline.
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Frequently Asked Question (FAQs)
Q. What does *60 do on a landline?
*60 is the number for AT&T landlines to access the call screening feature. You can add up to 10 phone numbers that you want to block completely. However, it won’t work from the landlines of other providers.
Conclusion:
No longer will you have to opt for any expenses service when you’re trying to figure out how to block unwanted calls on landline free? With the help of our detailed guide above, you can use the free options to get rid of unwanted calls. That way, you can save your money and a lot of time by not attending to these calls.
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