How to Block Skyrocketing Robocalls for Good
By Space Coast Daily // November 12, 2022
Help end the robocall plague once and for all with these easy steps. While the frequency of robocalls hasn’t yet returned to its all-time high of 2019, it remains at one of the highest in recent times.
In 2021, Americans had to contend with an estimated 50.5 million incidences of robocalls—a 10% jump from the 46 billion calls received in the previous year.
The time it takes one to answer a spam call, decipher that it is a robocall, and get back up to the levels of productivity pre-interruption might seem like no more than a few minutes. But with at least one or more daily calls, these minutes pile on, leaving a severe dent in productivity.
Despite joint efforts from the government and cell service providers, robocalls have continued to persist. But does that mean that you have to live with them in acceptance? Heck no! Get your peepers at the ready as we outline a few surefire ways to protect yourself from up to 99% of spam calls.
How robocalls impact productivity
According to a report released by the independent third-party spam-blocking service RealCall, The impact of robocalls on work and life is enormous.
If you think it possibly couldn’t get worse than 50.5 billion in robocalls, think again. Experts in the telecommunications industry project the number to rise even further in the coming years.
And unlike you might think, robocalls aren’t just some benign distraction that people should have no problem swatting away. It’s way more hydra-headed in its ramifications and implications. As mentioned earlier, the minutes wasted on robocalls can add up quite quickly. But that’s not even all. In an attempt to block robocalls, people are not uncommon to adopt detrimental solutions. For most people, the go-to solution for avoiding robocalls is simply ignoring calls from unknown numbers.
But as we well know, many such calls are genuine. And for white-collar workers, especially salespeople, such a strategy can lead to a severe loss of business. Let alone the drain that had to contend with these frustrating robocalls can have on team morale.
How can you tackle robocalls and spam calls?
When you begin getting robocalls or notice an uptick in the frequency of calls, is a phone number switch top of mind? That’s been way too many times (unless you’re involved in a criminal cartel using burner phones, or you’re not just good at paying up your bills, we don’t advise.)
As a professional, you were randomly changing your contact information like that could end up costing you significantly. Besides, that move is not guaranteed to shield you from these pesky calls. Instead, you can adopt some of the solutions that we mention below.
Subscribe to your carrier’s call filter service
Considering the extent of the spam call problem, most mobile carriers in the US now offer add-on services that enable subscribers to block spam calls. So, in tackling robocalls, you may first want to consider researching the options provided by your carrier.
Your phone probably has call-blocking features built-in
Another step you can take is to enable your phone to block incoming calls from unknown callers. Both the iPhone and many Android devices now come with such built-in features.
The previous call-blocking feature enabled users to block calls from individual numbers added to a so-called blocklist. But that was hardly effective against the spam call menace. This new feature, however, proactively declines calls from unknown phone numbers, directing them to your voicemail instead.
One drawback of this feature is that there is no way to distinguish between genuine callers calling you for the first time and spam callers. Thankfully, they can always leave you voicemails.
Get on the national do-not-call registry.
As part of its efforts to combat the spam and robocall menace, the federal government created a national do-not-call registry. All you have to do is to visit the website and add your phone number. You’ll receive fewer telemarketer and robot calls in about a month or less.
However, this solution isn’t absolute. Spammers and scammers who have no regard for the law may continue to call your phone regardless.
Get the RealCall App
To block out robocalls for good, your best option is to sign up for a third-party service solely dedicated to spam call blocking, like the RealCall app. RealCall is an AI-powered solution that maintains a database of spam callers and automatically blocks calls from any suspicious number in that growing database, whether they are telemarketing calls, robocalls, or spam calls.
On top of that, the app also boasts a reverse lookup feature that allows you to search for any number to figure out who your spam caller is. To confuse spam callers, you can customize answer bots with pre-recorded audio messages.
It’s designed to fight back against any calls identified as spam based on a robot answering service. Furthermore, RealCall provides a more precise blocking experience tailored to your practical needs. You can customize your own blocking rules based on call types, like calls except for contacts, VoIP calls, anonymous calls, international calls, area codes, etc.
RealCall strengthens your network’s defenses, safeguards your privacy, and keeps you from being scammed to the greatest extent possible.
Conclusion
The robocall menace isn’t going away anytime soon. If anything, it’s projected to get even more significant. But as we’ve mentioned earlier, you can do much better rolling with the punches. You can deliver total energy of your own rather than accept this as a “new normal.”
Your first stop should be the do-not-call registry, after which you can proceed to opt into call-blocking services provided by your mobile carrier or phone manufacturer. With the rollout of blocking technology like the AI-powered RealCall app, you can now stop robocalls dead in their tracks.