Now You Can Block Calls For Rs 99!

[Arun 795]

Business Standard

October 05, 2007 09:48 IST

Call blocking is one facility that telecom service providers claim is meant for the chosen few, for instance, the celebrities. Not withstanding its niche appeal, service providers in the country are in various stages of implementing the technology.

GSM service provider Vodafone Essar became the prime mover in introducing a call filtering service for its users, while BPL Mobile is in the advanced stage of installing it. Other players such as Mahanagar Telecom Nigam (MTNL [Get Quote]), Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Aircel are also planning to introduce the technology.

According to Vodafone Essar Director (marketing & new business) Harit Nagpal, "We received a lot of calls from subscribers asking if calls from certain numbers could be blocked, as these were harassment calls. These are not telemarketing calls, but calls made by people who knows the user, in most cases film stars and cricketers."

Even though the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has launched its Do Not Disturb Registry (DNDR), this doesn't protect users from unscrupulous elements.

This had prompted Vodafone Essar to roll out the service to protect its customers, he added.

The benefit of this service is that it can be activated on a normal cell phone and does not require a high-end or smart phone. It is also available to both post- and pre-paid subscribers. The company charges a fee of Rs 99 per month.

BPL chief executive officer S Subramaniam said: "There were complaints from many users of repeated harassing calls from certain numbers. Even though, this issue was raised only by a fraction of our users, we decided to install a suite to block rogue callers".

The Mumbai-based GSM service provider is close to launching the service and has already developed a suite for this. The service works much like the spam blocking facility on e-mails, but only for calls.

A user can list certain numbers with the operator from which he does not want to receive calls, and calls from these numbers would be blocked. Around 10-15 numbers can be blocked, while the caller will get a "busy tone or a recorded message".

Reliance Communications [Get Quote] uses a different method to block persistent calls that create problems for its customers. The company has introduced a spam controlling software in most of its handsets that can block up to 10 prior-listed numbers.

S P Shukla, president (personal business), said: "A majority of our handsets have spam call blocking facility, while the remaining would be taken care of by the telecom ministry's DND registry. The service being on the handset, we don't charge additional fees".

[KumaarShah 143]

Call restriction feature is available only on Nokia mobiles, while it is also available for LG FWP phones. Even the latest LG mobiles do not support this feature AFAIK.

However the call restriction feature on Nokia is a bit confusing. If we restrict calls from a particular number, it does not operate properly. Calls are still received from that particular number which has been blocked. Can some techie expert on this forum throw more light on how to use this call restriction feature optimally? Nokia CC/ASC and RCL CC as usual do not extend much help. The best call restriction logic goes to LG FWPs. It is flawless and very very simple to use.

The call blocking feature offered by Vodafone at Rs 99 per month for 10 to 15 numbers is expensive, though the necessity of it is debatable.

AFAIK, all Symbian phones and most of the PDAs have this feature on the handset itself. Even S40 GSM phones may have this pre-loaded, I am not too sure though.

[@ksh@T 20]

i use this facility to block certain incoming ridiculous rim marketing numbers from various vendors and me never received any call from that blocked number, and yes also used this feature with poutgoing calls tooo!

[raccoon 53]

So if you need to block out just one number you need to pay Rs. 99 ...expensive!!! In fact thats approximately equal to the monthly rental for many plans!!

This facility BADLY needs to be implemented properly in handsets itself! Dunno why most call manufacturers are sleeping on this basic requirement!

[manishag 17]

the technology launched by Vodafone is not new. previously this service was provided by the Spice Telecom in Punjab. later on HUTCH copied it and as usual Vodafone started marketing and Advertisement of the Technology as if it's owned by the vodafone. I remember few days before one of the senior person in Vodafone Essar claimed that they are not a innovator they are just copier. So they are not planning to launch anything but they will copy the things which are succesfull in the market.

as far as this feature is concerened it's not a handset dependent it's network dependent. so you will create black list or the whitelist on the network. at a time only one list will work(either white list or black list). I have tried this service it's really good service.

But if you want to fool the peoples you can try one more way just forward your calls to the no which doesn't exists so if someone will call you will hear the message that no you have dialed doesn't exits.

or if you are using symbian phone just install smart Answer on your phone and set the selective response

[Honest 836]

Around 10-15 numbers can be blocked, while the caller will get a "busy tone or a recorded message".

My dear friends this blacklist or white list facility is not restricted to only 10-15 numbers.

We can blacklist or whitelist UNLIMITED numbers. Their is no restrictions on numbers, you can add as many as you wish.

Although this facility is too expensive but at the same time this could be very very beneficial to many of us.

Hopes that the charges for the same must be dropped soon.

Regards.

[smartbuddy_82 0]

Business Standard

October 05, 2007 09:48 IST

According to Vodafone Essar Director (marketing & new business) Harit Nagpal, "We received a lot of calls from subscribers asking if calls from certain numbers could be blocked, as these were harassment calls. These are not telemarketing calls, but calls made by people who knows the user, in most cases film stars and cricketers."

Only that justifies the cost Rs.99/month . If it was for all customers they would have priced it normal like 25 or 30Rs/month.

Edited October 9, 2007 by imranais

[h1ghlander 9]

To avail the call restriction facility in nokia the user has to simply add the numbers to be

restricted in the incoming call restrictions of mobile with the exact number

for ex: 0222554447 or 09877457778

i.e the number which appears before receiving.

Or as an alternative the user can restrict all calls or select the numbers to be restricted

[Honest 836]

To avail the call restriction facility in nokia the user has to simply add the numbers to be restricted in the incoming call restrictions of mobile with the exact number

@h1ghlander

My dear friend, you are 100% correct that the Nokia users can restrict calls by feeding the same numbers in the incoming call restrictions menu of the mobile. But it will be be upto a certain limit in the phone itself. In case of Vodafone's CALL FILTER service, their is no restriction of numbers. You can restrict as many numbers you want.

At the same time I want to state that the call restriction facility which is provided in Nokia handsets can be of great use for those who want to restrict only certain calls.

Regards.