Call filtering / IVR ?

[cwajax]

Hello,

I'm currently with a different provider, I'm probably not allowed to mention them on these forums, so I wont, but, their per minute international rates have increased substantially (from a few cents to over 50c to UK) - making it very expensive to call relatives.

I'm considering switching to fongo, however, my current provider does have a very desirable feature which I'm looking for, a "digital IVR" which enables all kinds of tricks, but one that I mostly use for filtering telemarketers and scammers.

My question to fongo experts is, do fongo have a similar feature ?

[Liptonbrisk]

I'm considering switching to fongo, however, my current provider does have a very desirable feature which I'm looking for, a "digital IVR" which enables all kinds of tricks, but one that I mostly use for filtering telemarketers and scammers.

My question to fongo experts is, do fongo have a similar feature ?

Fongo Home Phone doesn't: https://support.fongo.com/hc/articles/2 ... ne-numbers

You can use Freephoneline with a Poly 4xx (Poly 402 or 400) series ATA or Obihai ATA/Obihai IP phone and use its Auto Attendant feature to force incoming callers to dial a digit (1, by default) to ring you. With one of those devices, you can, based on incoming caller ID numbers only, also create whitelists, blacklists (but unless you route known telemarketing caller ids to other numbers, blocked incoming calls will drop directly to Freephoneline's voicemail system), and force all other callers to press 1 (for example) to ring through. Basically, you are relying on the features in the SIP client (ATA or IP Phone) to do this for you--and not on the service provider.

However, Freephoneline does not offer any technical support, and its international rates can be more expensive than Fongo Home Phone's: https://www.freephoneline.ca/findMyRate.


The part I bolded below can apply to Fongo Home Phone. Fongo Home Phone uses Grandstream HT-801 ATAs that are locked to Fongo's provisioning server.

viewtopic.php?p=76638#p76638

I can, with an Obihai ATA, use wildcards to send all calls starting with 55 elsewhere (to another phone number or to FPL's voicemail system).
The Obihai PDF guide I mentioned earlier explains how to do that: http://forum.fongo.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 805#p73839.
For example, XX. means match any phone number you dial.
55XX. means match any number starting with 55.


You would need a phone set with a call blocking feature that allows wildcards or allows you to block numbers that have a pattern.
I've never used this product and know nothing about it, but this might help: https://www.amazon.ca/CPR-V5000-Call-Bl ... B0191XMBV2.
I'm not advocating that you buy it. I've never used it. I have no clue whether it allows you to block country codes. There may be similar products available.

I'm not aware of a way to route telemarketing calls elsewhere with Grandstream ATAs. Obihai ATAs offer more powerful call routing features.

[Liptonbrisk]

their per minute international rates have increased substantially (from a few cents to over 50c to UK) - making it very expensive to call relatives.

If all you want to do is make outbound calls to the U.K., you could try the Fongo Mobile app, provided you have a compatible device:
https://www.fongo.com/services/fongo-mobile/

U.K. rates are located at https://account.fongo.com/calling/long-distance/#U
There is a 4 cent connection fee in addition to the per minute rate in CAD.