Some people and companies can use pretty devious tactics to get you to pick up the phone, even when they know there is a good chance you have no desire to talk with them. One thing many do is make their number come up on your caller ID as 'unknown' or 'anonymous'. What that happens, you take your chances when answering. This is something that debt collectors do in many cases, and is also done by survey firms, and even telemarketers. If you don't want these types of calls to come through, there are a few ways that you can try to block them.

These calls can come in any time of the day. Some of them are marked as unknown or anonymous, but there are also some that are marked as private. Private numbers might be people you know who have blocked their number by being seen by those they call. Most do that in an effort to stay off of calling lists. Those people have the option of unblocking their number on a call-by-call basis, so they can call you with their number displayed if you have it set up so their call cannot come through otherwise.

Most companies offer you a way to block these calls, and it can usually happen by just dialing a code on your phone. If you have Time Warner Cable digital phone service, just as an example, you can dial (*77) on your phone and wait to hear confirmation that your unknown and anonymous calls are now being blocked. There is also a code (*87) that you can use to turn this type of service off. If you have service through Vonage, you can use the very same codes.

You may find that most all phone companies use the same codes for the sake of simplicity, but if you try it and nothing happens, you may have to contact your particular company to see what the code is. Some may not offer this, and it is not available in some parts of some states. You can look through your local phone book for this information (usually in the very front sections) to see if something is listed there.

This code and service usually work very well. It forces someone to identify themselves before they can ring through to your line, or they can't get through at all. What you should remember, however, is that you may still get some 'out of area' or 'unknown' calls that do come through. This is not because your phone code is not working, but rather, because their phone provider failed to send through the proper data to display the number. In these cases, it is simply a matter of technology not working correctly.

Martin Verite is a freelance reporter and technologist who has spent years covering the telecommunications industry. Find out everything you need to know about reverse cell phone lookups at his site http://www.freecellphonelookups.com

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