Does that “Telezapper” thing really work ??? (1 Viewer)

[Shawn Sefranek]

I see Radio Shack and others advertising this device for 49.99
Does anyone know if it really works or not?
Shawn S

From the Radio Shack website:
************************************************** ******
Sick of telemarketing calls during dinner, or while you're spending quality time with the family?
This unique device virtually eliminates annoying telemarketing calls for you. It connects to your regular phone and covers all phones connected to the same line.
When a telemarketer calls, the TeleZapper sends a "disconnected" signal. The auto-dialer then records your number as disconnected and takes your name off the telemarketers' calling lists. The best part is, TeleZapper won't interfere with your computer, fax or answering machine.
The TeleZapper emits its tone whenever your telephone goes "off-hook". If the telephone company "answers" your calls through voicemail, your phone does not go "off-hook" at your house and the TeleZapper cannot "zap" telemarketers. However, if you answer your phone the TeleZapper will emit its tone and "zap" telemarketers.

 

[Micah Cohen]

Man did I click on this thread in a jiffy, thinking it would a cell phone blocker, like maybe wristwatch sized so I can just wear it and block (or "zap" I guess I was hoping) cell phone use within a hundred yards of me... Oh well. If there was one of those, I'd buy it.

With telemarketers it's always more fun to announce in solemn tones that the person they are asking for has [pause] very recently died. [sniff!]

MC

 

[Wade K]

With telemarketers it's always more fun to announce in solemn tones that the person they are asking for has [pause] very recently died. [sniff!]

That's almost what this device does. It sends out the 3-tone signal that the phone has been disconnected very quickly. The computer-dialer at the other end marks the number as such and won't try to call again.

 

[Nathan_R]

so is this for those empty telemarketer calls-- the ones where it hangs up the very second you pick up-- or for *ugh* human telemarketers?

~~Nathan

 

[NickSo]

so is this for those empty telemarketer calls-- the ones where it hangs up the very second you pick up

Those are better known as prank calls. usually made by goody-goodies and mamas boys who dont have the guts to actually talk to the person... :p

 

[Nathan_R]

Nick, in my case I seriously doubt it. I posted a thread about a week ago asking if anyone knows how to stop it, but here's the quick story.
A string of 10 phone number when 10 digits of each other (ie-- 404.479.6151, 404.479.6152, 404.479.6153, 404.479.6154, 404.479.6155, 404.479.6156 up to ...6162) are calling me constantly. When I pick up, the line is dead. I would think it's just kids, but this ould have to be a massive youngster conspiracy to get those 10 or so people to keep calling me again and again. If this Radio Shack thing is for real, I'll buy 500 and pass them out for Christmas.
~~Nathan

 

[Denward]

Okay, I own the Telezapper and have had it for about a week now. It's hard to know if it works yet since it's intended to reduce telemarketing calls in the future. For now, the caller id still comes up with "Unknown Name" a few times a day. I've also thought about buying them as Christmas presents if I determine that it's actually effective. I still have the package and receipt in case I decide to return it. FYI, I bought mine at K-Mart (or is that Big-K now?)

 

[BrianW]

Does this device emit the tone every time you answer the phone? That could get annoying.

 

[Denward]

Yes, it does emit the tone every time you pick up the phone, whether it's to answer or make a call. It may emit 3 tones, but it sounds like one short tone. It's not annoying at all. The person on the other end also hears the tone, but most people won't think anything of it. Just part of the electronic background noise in all of our lives.

 

[alan halvorson]

So, this thing blocks calls made by computer but allows calls made by a person, even if both come across on my caller id as "unidentified"? If this is the case, I'm getting one.

 

[Denward]

Alan,

It doesn't "block the call" in the sense that the phone still rings. When you or your answering machine pick up the phone, the Telezapper emits the tones. According to the product claims, a computer will interpret this as a disconnected line and hang up immediately and remove you from its dialing list. This should reduce calls in the future. The ideal product would id telemarketers immediately and prevent the phone from ringing in the first place, but I suppose that's not really feasible.

I have a caller id question. When mine says Unknown Name / Unknown Number, it's a telemarketer so I ignore those. People who block their info from transmitting via caller id come across as Private Name / Private Number and I answer those. Do real people ever show up as Unknown Name / Unknown Number?

 

[Eric Kahn]

If someone calls on a cell phone from an analog only area, it will often come up as unknown on the caller ID, I know this from experience, called a friend while traveling on my cellphone from the middle of nowhere and he did not answer and I left a message and hung up, he called back immediately and said he had not answerd because the caller ID had said Unknown on it like he gets from telemarketers

 

[Danny R]

so is this for those empty telemarketer calls-- the ones where it hangs up the very second you pick up

This might very well be wardialers. Not that I know anything about this personally, ahem, but hackers often use wardialers to basically poll phone numbers in the hopes of finding modem connections. If they get anything other than the modem pickup tones, then they hang up and cycle on to the next number.

I've seen advertisers use the same technology looking for fax lines.

 

[Kevin P]

Yes, Virginia, the Telezapper DOES work!
I picked one up at lunch today and hooked it up tonight. Within 5 minutes, the phone rang, and guess what it was. Yep, a telemarketer. The 8th time they called today. I picked up the phone, the Telezapper emits a brief tone (about 1/4 second long), and the telemarketer's computer immediately hung up! I nailed one!! We'll see how long it takes for the rate of calls to decrease, but I can see this thing working great until the teletwits catch on and reprogram their computers. But then maybe they'll have an upgradeable Telezapper with monthly updates like they have for antivirus software...
KJP
A satisfied Telezapper user for, uh, about 15 minutes now and counting...

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Guy's, I used to be a telemarketer about 5 years ago, I know, I HATED it and got out fast, I quit after a week. Point is, we used to dial all the numbers ourselves, and talk to the people, no computers were involved at all, this device will do nothing to stop those types of calls.

 

[Kevin P]

Point is, we used to dial all the numbers ourselves, and talk to the people, no computers were involved at all, this device will do nothing to stop those types of calls.

90% of telemarketing calls are done with computer auto-dialers. If you have an unlisted number, you don't tend to get called by the "manual dialing" telemarketers, just the computerized ones. They're easy to recognize--you get a second or two of silence after you answer the phone before the teletwit comes on. Also, if you ignore them (i.e. don't answer the phone when the caller ID says "OUT OF AREA"), they just keep calling, over and over, 8-10 times a day. I think the guy who invented the Telezapper should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize!

KJP

 

[Brett_B]

Point is, we used to dial all the numbers ourselves, and talk to the people, no computers were involved at all, this device will do nothing to stop those types of calls.

Good point.

Here's another thing to consider. What will be the next piece of technology to come out that the telemarkers will utilize? Whoever manufactures these "auto-dialers" still want to be in business, and will search for a product that will continue to call and bypass this "Tele-zapper".

 

[AdrianJ]

Do real people ever show up as Unknown Name / Unknown Number?

In addition to cell phones, all international calls (except Canada) show up as unknown name and number. My girlfriend calling from Puerto Rico occassionally shows up this way. When my dad calls using one of those prepaid phone call, it shows up as Unknown also. Those are all that I know about.

 

[Ryan Wright]

90% of telemarketing calls are done with computer auto-dialers.

Has anyone here been in one of these facilities? There's one less than a mile from my home, & a friend of mine was their systems administrator for a few months. He brought me in once to show off the equipment. They have quite a large number of T1s coming in, and the system can dial some 300 phone numbers at a time. At his terminal, he had a list of hundreds of ports, and real-time status of what was going on with those ports. When I say real time, I mean it. The numbers progressed in groups of 50 or so. All at once. "Dialing 509-555-1212..." ; "Ringing..." ; "No answer" ; "Answering machine" ; "Answered; transferred to John Doe station 80". It was amazing to see such a large bank of numbers doing this all at once.
The floor has somewhere between 70 and 100 employees. Overlooking it is an office with three supervisors. From any supervising terminal, you have many options. You can listen in on any call at any time. You can take over a call. There is a coach mode that allows you to speak freely over the line, but only the salesperson can hear you - not the "customer". Tons and tons of other options. The supervisor's jobs are to basically sit there and randomly listen to different employees.
A major problem with the system? It dials more than twice as many numbers as it has employees available. Assume 50 employees are available, and 100 lines are dialed. If 75 people answer, 50 of them are going to get a sales pitch, and the system will simply hang up on the other 25. Worse, it puts those 25 into a queue, then calls them back just a little bit later. I've had these systems hang up on me 5, 6 times in a single evening before eventually being transferred. Until you speak to someone, the system will keep calling. It's enough to make you want to drive down there and beat the living f*** out of somebody, and personally, impressive as the equipment is I think the whole operation should be illegal. Either that, or force them to adhere to a no-contact list, and/or broadcast an identifying caller ID string and only dial any given number once per year.
You know the whole pitch about "Please take me off your list" and how they're supposed to have no choice under most laws? It's mostly BS. The company that is down the street from me does telemarketing for many other companies. You could get 5 different calls from 5 different companies and they'd all come from the same office. When someone wants to sell stuff, they contract with these telemarketing firms. They might agree to take you off their list, but they won't actually do it most of the time, as maintaining lists for 50 different clients is too time consuming for them. I once asked a guy to take me off their list and he said, "OK, I'll call you back tomorrow." I said, "No, don't call me back tomorrow, take me off your list." He said, "OK, talk to you tomorrow! Hahahahaha" and hung up. I wish I had my own personal team of lawyers to sue companies whose employees pull this sort of shit on me...

 

[Philip_G]

how much was the one at kmart?

I have a hard time paying 50$ for one...