You know, I got my FritzBox and my ISDN telephone configured such that callers who do not transmit their phone number only reach a computer voice without ringing which says (translated):

“Good day. You are calling without transmitting your number. Since this is typical for unwanted commercial calls, you are directly – without audible ringing – directed to this answering machine. Please enable your caller ID transmission, or leave a message so you can be called back. Thank you.”

(I wrote about configuring it in this comment in German.)

In the last few weeks, this has proven more and more useful again, after some time with only very few calls – though there were never useful messages left on the answering machine, because except for the lottery call robots (which can’t tell a machine from a human), at most a few short call center background noises were recorded. Except for now:

Yesterday a probably little experienced female call center agent could be heard (*** mark incomprehensible parts from other people; my translation from German, of course):

*** — “If you- if the number is suppressed, you are automatically… put on the answering machine. Had… here I currently have a tape like that, I am to activate my number, or leave something on the machine” — “*** …a tape… ***” — “I don’t know!”

And this afternoon three in a row (by the way, all callers had no number transmission in the first place; no case-by-case suppression and no old analog line):

15:08: No recording.

15:09: Man 1: “What program or something like that does that one have installed?”

15:10: Man 2: “Is cool, huh?” — man 1 (same as before): “That is cool, isn’t it?” — man 3, maybe other conversation: “Maybe that is for him/you…***”