Caller ID.. why are the charging for it???

[dan330]

remember when we all had landlines? and when someone called.. it would show who was calling.
there was no charge for it.

but our cell phones.. only show the number.
or if the number was in our contacts then it would show the ID.

after ATT updated my Note3 to Lollipop...
I got a call from someone new.. and my dialer said, "call from a person NOT in you contact"
and it displayed the Number and the NAME!!!

I was shocked to see that.. then after the call ended.
and app popped up and explained it was a 10day trail.. and would cost $2.99 / month.
the app must have been some bloatware (thanks ATT) called: Caller Name ID

so, this is another way for the carriers to charge us.. for something that was always available.

 

[Clementine_3]

Welcome to Verizon! Haha.

They have such an app as well, I've always disabled it right away assuming there was a charge. I don't really know if there is but since I'm on Verizon I'd guess yes.

 

[Thom]

I use ...
Reverse Lookup – Look-up information about caller from their phone number
.... after a call is over.

... Thom

 

[AZgl1500]

I use ...
Reverse Lookup – Look-up information about caller from their phone number
.... after a call is over.

... Thom

ditto, works like a charm.
also, it can include information about telemarketers, bill collectors, etc... that has been gleamed from forums or other sources complaining about that number and what folks have reported about them

 

[funkylogik]

Ahh knew it. "reverse lookup is not available in your country"
Anyone know of a Euro/UK counterpart?

 

[Hadron]

I wonder how well it would work. The majority of UK landline numbers are ex-directory, and directories for mobiles never took off in the first place, so official sources would be limited.

 

[Duckster]

I would suggest https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.truecaller (TrueCaller). It blocks those who block their number AND if they are not in your call list. I recently discovered this app and it seems to work very well.

 

[zuben el genub]

There's also 800 Notes, and Who Calls Me? (not apps, but web sites) I don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number or the prefix is long distance. I look up the number immediately, and if it's a spammer, into harassment it goes.

When we had a landline, caller ID was not free. You had to pay for it, and pay to keep number out of directory.

 

[AZgl1500]

I let most unknown numbers go to Voice Mail.
My experience has been telemarketers will not take the time to leave a voice mail because they want to be able to harass you personally.

If it is someone important, like the doctor's office, they will leave that voice mail and I will have a return phone number to use.

 

[Hadron]

My landline voicemail is mainly telemarketing calls. They mostly use robots these days, so when voicemail kicks in they start their recorded message. And the robots are based offshore because that's cheaper than making the effort to comply with UK laws on this (even though I'd infer from the topics of the spam that they are acting as intermediaries for UK companies).

Don't get these on the mobile, presumably because it does cost them more to call that (unlike in the US, where cellphone numbers look like ordinary numbers and the receiver of the call pays the extra, here mobile numbers have their own number ranges and the caller pays the extra if they choose to call them).

The doctor's office will just send me a text

 

[dan330]

I am giving this Caller ID app a 10day trail.
I really like it. I get a lot of calls from new clients daily. And this really does help.
it might be worth it to pay for it. but I am a cheap ASS.

I would suggest https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.truecaller (TrueCaller). It blocks those who block their number AND if they are not in your call list. I recently discovered this app and it seems to work very well.

I might have to give this a try. sounds good from the reviews.
is it a look-up the number after the call? or is it automatic in-call information?

There's also 800 Notes, and Who Calls Me? (not apps, but web sites) I don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number or the prefix is long distance. I look up the number immediately, and if it's a spammer, into harassment it goes.

When we had a landline, caller ID was not free. You had to pay for it, and pay to keep number out of directory.

my service.. it was free. we just had to get the equipment that does it.
or they can "rent" you the equipment for something like $5 a month.

 

[AZgl1500]

Interesting note:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.truecaller

* The block text feature is currently not supported for devices with Android 4.4 (KitKat).

It would seem that one day, we will all have to migrate to 5.0 to be able to use all the features of some modern apps.

I also noted that it has to have access to the internet, 3G or better, or Wifi....

For me, a guy who turns the internet off when the phone is asleep, it would not provide me with "real time" caller ID info....

I will stay with Reverse Number for the time being, but I like that app's feature set.
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