Hack-a-Bot
Last night, I was working on some audio recording. The phone rang.
Never a good sign after 7pm and before 9pm, I reluctantly answered. Predictably, it was a telemarketer. But not just any telemarketer. It was a "phonebot." Those are the pernicious auto-dialers that are programmed to call a range of phone numbers, and when they connect, play a pre-recorded message.
However, if the machine originating the calls hears the U.S. Special Information Tone signal for "vacant circuit," it will assume the number is not functional, and will remove it from its system.
Some annoyed homeowners have recorded this tone at the beginning of their answering machine's outgoing message. Then, by screening calls via the answering machine, they can successfully get rid of a significant number of auto-dialed telemarketing calls.
Of course, not all phonebots are programmed to respond to the tone, and not all telemarketing calls are dialed by machines. Still, if you are feeling harassed by persistent calls, it's worth a try.
You can download the vacant circuit tone WAV file at the Art of Hacking site:
Never a good sign after 7pm and before 9pm, I reluctantly answered. Predictably, it was a telemarketer. But not just any telemarketer. It was a "phonebot." Those are the pernicious auto-dialers that are programmed to call a range of phone numbers, and when they connect, play a pre-recorded message.
However, if the machine originating the calls hears the U.S. Special Information Tone signal for "vacant circuit," it will assume the number is not functional, and will remove it from its system.
Some annoyed homeowners have recorded this tone at the beginning of their answering machine's outgoing message. Then, by screening calls via the answering machine, they can successfully get rid of a significant number of auto-dialed telemarketing calls.
Of course, not all phonebots are programmed to respond to the tone, and not all telemarketing calls are dialed by machines. Still, if you are feeling harassed by persistent calls, it's worth a try.
You can download the vacant circuit tone WAV file at the Art of Hacking site:
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