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Solar-panel company may have picked wrong Brighton man to robo-call

A Brighton resident who says he got an unsolicited robo-call from a Lexington solar-energy company has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against it.

James Lebowitz's lawsuit against Solar Five, filed this week in US District Court in Boston, alleges the call violates the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, because he has no connection with the company and never consented to let it call him.

Lebowitz alleges that on June 18, an automated dialer rang up his cell phone - displaying a "spoofed" 617 number not actually belonging to Solar Five - and that when he was told to press 1 to speak to an operator, he did so to find out who had the temerity to call him.

The person who answered refused to give his name or company, but said that if Lebowitz offered up his name and address, he could save money on his electric bill. Still curious, Lebowitz provided the information, and then got a call from Solar Five, in 781 land, offering to sell him solar panels.

Plaintiff was personally affected because he was frustrated and distressed that Defendant called him on his cell phone without Plaintiff's permission.

Defendant's calls force Plaintiff and class members to live without the utility of their cellular phones by forcing Plaintiff and class members to silence their cellular phones and/or block incoming numbers.

The calls from Defendant's telephone number of Plaintiff's cellular telephone number were unsolicited by Plaintiff and without Plaintiff's permission or consent.

Lebowitz's suit seeks $500 for each such robo-call made by Solar Five's dialer - to a group he estimates to number in the hundreds - plus $1,500 in damages allowed under the federal law for each call.

Lebowitz's complaint (2.5M PDF).

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I'm sorry, the number you are calling from is not recognized by the number you have dialed.

Please send email with your name and phone number to the party you are trying to reach. Or, if you need assistance, you may stay on the line and leave a voice mail message.

This is a recording.

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Answering Services... What are the best answering services, old fashioned friendly human answering services?

 

besides Susanswerphone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bells_Are_Ringing_(musical)

Bells Are Ringing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnr-w5JHGBE

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IMAGE(https://ubiquitousthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/switchboard.jpg)
Twenty-some years ago, I was walking down the street in Albany, New York, and glancing in a window I was astonished to see operators running cord switchboards! I had been an expert in running switchboards since I was a little boy, but I hadn't seen a real cord switchboard still in service for many years.

I just had to get my hands on it, so I came back and applied for a job as a part-time operator. My extensive knowledge and experience in telephony, and my professional "telephone voice" got me hired on the spot. It was a long-time, family-owned answering service called Answerphone.

The job of an answering service operator is different than a regular telephone operator because instead of connecting calls, it's mostly taking and relaying messages. With hundreds of clients from obstetricians to undertakers, you're literally dealing with situations from birth to death, and everything you can imagine (plus things you wouldn't imagine) in between. I loved the job!

While I was there, Answerphone replaced their old cord switchboards with a modern computerized system. Of course, it didn't have the same look and feel, but we still got the same calls— more of them actually, as the business expanded with new clients beyond the Albany regional area.

Their website shows the name has changed from Answerphone to "A Better Answer", but it's still run by the same lovely people, Sherry and Doug Lindsey.

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It's better if your answering service is actually in the same town.

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In the olden days, The Telephone Company would run an extra pair of wires to the answering service switchboard. The costs associated with this would increase the farther a customer was from the answering service location. Nowadays, calls are forwarded via VOIP— essentially over the Internet— so distance becomes irrelevant.

There may be very rare instances where an operator's local knowledge could be useful, but modern technology has made it unnecessary. Every client of the answering service has a detailed file which comes on-screen as the operator handles their calls. All the information for any scenario is instantly available to the operator, so each individual caller receives customized assistance, no matter where they're calling from.
   ( yes, you could even use an answering service based in India —
               — but I wouldn't recommend it! )

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I get anywhere from 10-20 unsolicited calls per day, always with spoofed phone numbers. They come from shady pollsters, "electric" companies like that mentioned in the suit, robo-calls from "Card Services" and similar scammers, and the infamous Indian fake-Microsoft calls.

I don't even want to get paid, I just want the calls to stop and the offenders to be executed by cheese grater.

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For a number I've had for well over 15 years now, I get some spam calls. I do keep my DoNotCall updated every 5 years, but even still.. it doesn't stop everything

I've pretty much stopped answer calls from the same NPA as my cell number. Its spam.

I fear this is gonna get worse as time goes on. Spammers are getting more crafty to get around blocks, and I'm going to take a guess that our current administration in Washington doesn't care all that much for consumer rights or be interested in stopping these calls.

Honestly if I don't know the number or its not programmed into my phone.. I won't answer. Sucks for work stuff because I have out of state users who call me on my mobile.. but *shrug* not gonna get stuck fielding spam calls all day.

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I have actually installed a device on my land line that shuts all calls that aren't white listed to a recording which demands they prove they're a live human. Only then will the phone ring. I've whitelisted the people I want to talk to, and I used to blacklist any number that didn't ring through, but I've given up. The phone still doesn't ring for robo calls, so it is still effective.

Just figured out how to block spammer/scamers on my cell too. Hopefully that leads to a little more quiet. I use it for business so I can't just set it to silent.

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1. Make sure Contacts are up to date
2. Set default ring to SILENCE.
3. Give everyone who you would like to able to interrupt you a ringtone.
4. Others can still leave a message.
5. Enjoy the peace and quiet.

This works for me.

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Yes, I still have one of those.

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Turning the ringer off is still an option, unless you've got one of those vintage crank phones.

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We use nomorobo on our landline--it's great. Robo calls make the phone ring only once. It hasn't blocked any legit automatic calls, like doctor's appointment reminders. It's free for landlines but I see that they have now added mobiles for a fee.

https://www.nomorobo.com/

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Not all heroes wear capes.

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Funny u say that. My first thought after reading the story is that this guy is my new hero.

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Advocate favorite researchers hack autodialing software/equipment used by bad telemarketers. Detect weaknesses in software/equipment used by bad telemarketers. Develop better more software/equipment against that used by bad telemarketers.

https://www.runningfoxtechnologies.com/

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But, long ago, I got a google phone #; every family member and close friend has that google #. My actual cellphone # I only use for people I don't really know or some casual business. The google # automatically transfers to my phone and shows it's my google #. When making a call I have the option to usemy phone # or google voice #. Everything works flawlessly. I never answer my cellphone # if I haven't saved the #. All my robo calls and false calls by people trying reach a former owner of my cellphone # originate this way. I get zero robo calls from my google #.

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As you say, the forwarded calls to your actual number only show that they are coming from your Google #, not where/who the call itself is from. If there's away around this, I'd sure like to know. Because unless you completely curate who gets your Google #, answering GV calls are a crapshoot.

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You can set Google Voice to display the caller's number instead of your GV number.

But then you won't know it's a GV call. Unless you have it ring another phone such as your landline, and make sure they're both ringing before you answer.

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