I'm still learning about the capabilities of my Pixel 7 Pro. There's one
super nice feature that is not on any other Android phones that I know
of, and is also not on the iPhone: Rejecting a call _without_ sending
the caller to voice mail.

I'm sure that most of us have been subjected to spam calls where the
caller is spoofing the Caller-ID so it looks like they're calling from a
local number. On both Android and iOS devices, as well as on Google
Voice, if you decline to answer, either by swiping or by just letting
the phone ring, the call goes to voice mail. Apparently this is a
carrier feature where declined and unanswered calls ALWAYS go to voice
mail (unless voice mail is not set up or is full).

On the Pixel, you also have the choice of answering the call and having
the phone do call screening. Since the call is actually answered, when
you then "hang up" the caller is not sent to voice mail.

What would be nice is if Android and iOS introduced an option to turn on
"Enhanced Call Answering and Rejection" with multiple options: i.e.
a) Don't answer, don't send to voice mail, don't send an SMS to the caller
b) Don't answer, don't send to voice mail, send an SMS to the caller
c) Don't answer, send to voice mail, don't send an SMS to the caller
d) Don't answer, send to voice mail, send an SMS to the caller
e) Answer the call normally

In article <ttefi9$2nkvs$2@dont-email.me>, sms
<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> I'm still learning about the capabilities of my Pixel 7 Pro. There's one
> super nice feature that is not on any other Android phones that I know
> of, and is also not on the iPhone: Rejecting a call _without_ sending
> the caller to voice mail.

it's up to the carrier how to handle rejected calls.

sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> I'm still learning about the capabilities of my Pixel 7 Pro. There's one
> super nice feature that is not on any other Android phones that I know
> of, and is also not on the iPhone: Rejecting a call _without_ sending
> the caller to voice mail.
>
> I'm sure that most of us have been subjected to spam calls where the
> caller is spoofing the Caller-ID so it looks like they're calling from a
> local number. On both Android and iOS devices, as well as on Google
> Voice, if you decline to answer, either by swiping or by just letting
> the phone ring, the call goes to voice mail. Apparently this is a
> carrier feature where declined and unanswered calls ALWAYS go to voice
> mail (unless voice mail is not set up or is full).
>
> On the Pixel, you also have the choice of answering the call and having
> the phone do call screening. Since the call is actually answered, when
> you then "hang up" the caller is not sent to voice mail.
>
> What would be nice is if Android and iOS introduced an option to turn on
> "Enhanced Call Answering and Rejection" with multiple options: i.e.
> a) Don't answer, don't send to voice mail, don't send an SMS to the caller
> b) Don't answer, don't send to voice mail, send an SMS to the caller
> c) Don't answer, send to voice mail, don't send an SMS to the caller
> d) Don't answer, send to voice mail, send an SMS to the caller
> e) Answer the call normally

Call screening is available with many dialer apps. In Google Voice (the
account), I have call screening enabled. If the caller is a contact,
they get to skip call screening. For unknown callers, the call gets
answered, and the caller is prompted to say their name, and then told
the call will be transfered to the callee. When I answer a screened
call, I'll hear what they said (or nothing if they didn't say anything).
Spam calls don't know how to respond to prompts. Wrong number callers
often just hang up instead of saying "Sorry". Call screening gets rid
of spam and wrong dialers.

https://support.google.com/voice/answer/9262934?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid

Yes, the screened call when rejected goes to voicemail, but what
robocaller, spammer, or wrong dialer is going to wait for my OGM
(outgoing message) to play to then start leaving a message. What I end
up seeing in voicemail for Google Voice for robocallers, spam, and wrong
dialers are "messages" that last only 6 seconds long which is the time
to disconnect from a caller after they've hung up. Sometimes a
robocaller will start puking its message regardless of how a call is
handled. They start playing once the callee answers, so I see their
truncated message.

Note that spammers aren't the only ones using robocallers. Business use
them, too. My dentist uses robocalls as reminders to their clients
about an upcoming appointment. They want me to confirm, but it's not my
job to validate their calendar, plus I cannot respond to them in their
voicemail.

Google Voice incorporate a spam filter which is very good. I've yet to
get a false positive (a good caller marked as spam), but have gotten rid
of LOTS of spam calls. I get maybe 2 spam calls per month that get by
Google's spam call filtering. Also, if a good caller calls my GV
number, but they're on the spam list, they are prompted to hit digits on
their phone for a code they're given. This is like a web site CAPTCHA.
Good callers get through. Spammers are usually caught by GV's
filtering, and, if not, get castrated when they hit call screening.
Wrong dialers don't get spam filtered, but extremely rarely do they
survive past call screening, and if they do the OGM message with my name
(first name only) lets them know they reached the wrong number.

A bunch of blank voicemails all of 6 seconds long is trivial to ignore.
After all, in your scheme, you answered the call, and already wasted
some time on spam and wrong dialers. For robocallers, spammers, or
wrong dialers that get screened, they hear the prompt, and hang up.
While the subsequent action would've delivered them to voicemail,
they've already hung up. You don't get voicemail because they're not
there anymore when they would've been transferred to voicemail. If they
get transferred to voicemail, they hang up during playback of the OGM,
so no voicemail from them, either.

I get extremely little spam that gets past the server-side spam
filtering, call screening, and the OGM for voicemail, and the tone after
the OGM.

I have Google Voice configured to send me an e-mail when there is a new
voicemail. I just looked in the Trash folder (since that's where
they'll end up after deleted from the Inbox) which gets purged of
month-old messages, and nothing there for voicemails that were spam.
So, in the last month, no spam survived filtering, calls screening, and
the OGM to end up leave a voicemail. When I have gotten some, I usually
find they are empty voicemails (6-second recordings until GV realizes
the caller had hung up), but then those could be wrong dialers.

On 2/26/2023 1:14 AM, VanguardLH wrote:

> Call screening is available with many dialer apps. In Google Voice
> (the account), I have call screening enabled. If the caller is a
> contact, they get to skip call screening.

I just use the built in Do Not Disturb setting of my phone.

> For unknown callers, the call gets answered, and the caller is
> prompted to say their name, and then told the call will be
> transfered to the callee. When I answer a screened call, I'll hear
> what they said (or nothing if they didn't say anything). Spam calls
> don't know how to respond to prompts. Wrong number callers often
> just hang up instead of saying "Sorry".

If you're not on my phone's contact list it doesn't ring.

> Call screening gets rid of spam and wrong dialers.

Mine has the same effect.

> Yes, the screened call when rejected goes to voicemail,

My rejected calls go to voicemail too.

> but what robocaller, spammer, or wrong dialer is going to wait for
> my OGM (outgoing message) to play to then start leaving a message.

Most of mine don't wait for voicemail either. Maybe one or two a month
actually leave a message.

> What I end up seeing in voicemail for Google Voice for robocallers,
> spam, and wrong dialers are "messages" that last only 6 seconds long
> which is the time to disconnect from a caller after they've hung up.

My messages are generally much longer than 6 seconds but I can determine
they're spam in just a few seconds and immediately cancel them...

> My dentist uses robocalls as reminders to their clients about an
> upcoming appointment.

All my medical folks use email for appointment reminders. Check their
website, you may have that option also.

> They want me to confirm, but it's not my job to validate their
> calendar

In my case the email confirmation often saves me office hassles later.
If I don't fill out their recent health questionnaire online I have to
do it on their tablet when I arrive at the office perhaps pushing my
time to be seen back...

In article <ttg0o2$2v5ei$1@dont-email.me>, AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:

> In my case the email confirmation often saves me office hassles later.
> If I don't fill out their recent health questionnaire online I have to
> do it on their tablet when I arrive at the office perhaps pushing my
> time to be seen back...

just how long is that questionnaire??

the ones i've seen can be completed in a couple of minutes, if that
long.

On 2/26/2023 12:14 AM, VanguardLH wrote:

<snip>

> I have Google Voice configured to send me an e-mail when there is a new
> voicemail. I just looked in the Trash folder (since that's where
> they'll end up after deleted from the Inbox) which gets purged of
> month-old messages, and nothing there for voicemails that were spam.
> So, in the last month, no spam survived filtering, calls screening, and
> the OGM to end up leave a voicemail. When I have gotten some, I usually
> find they are empty voicemails (6-second recordings until GV realizes
> the caller had hung up), but then those could be wrong dialers.

In my experience with Google Voice, if you reject a call using call
screening, it then goes to Google Voice's voice mail. But you're correct
that many spammers won't leave a voice mail, though some do.

Apparently it's a carrier thing that unanswered or declined calls are
automatically sent to voice mail, perhaps because they assumed that
that's what the called party would always want. It would be nice if
there was a button on the screen, or a direction to swipe, that was
labeled "Reject" or something that just answered then immediately hung up.

On weird thing on the iPhone is that when the screen is locked you can't
decline a call using a button or swipe on the screen, you are supposed
to press the power button twice. When the screen is not locked you can
decline a call on the screen. Apple needs to hire some human factors
engineers!

On 2/26/2023 9:46 AM, nospam wrote:
> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:

>> In my case the email confirmation often saves me office hassles
>> later. If I don't fill out their recent health questionnaire online
>> I have to do it on their tablet when I arrive at the office perhaps
>> pushing my time to be seen back...

> just how long is that questionnaire??

Depends on the doctor. Some were quite long for a first visit. Others
not so much.

> the ones i've seen can be completed in a couple of minutes, if that
> long.

YMMV...

In article <ttg322$2valb$1@dont-email.me>, sms
<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> On weird thing on the iPhone is that when the screen is locked you can't
> decline a call using a button or swipe on the screen, you are supposed
> to press the power button twice.

the first press silences the ring, the second will decline the call.

> When the screen is not locked you can
> decline a call on the screen. Apple needs to hire some human factors
> engineers!

they did.

what you describe is how it used to work. they *added* the flexibility
to choose to silence or decline.

On 2/26/2023 8:18 AM, AJL wrote:

<snip>

> In my case the email confirmation often saves me office hassles later.
> If I don't fill out their recent health questionnaire online I have to
> do it on their tablet when I arrive at the office perhaps pushing my
> time to be seen back...

My provider will send an SMS, and an e-mail, and sometimes call, besides
all the information being available in their app. But they don't ask for
confirmation, it's just a notification. If there's an advance
questionnaire then it's done on their website or their app.

They don't do WhatsApp, WeChat, etc. of course.

On 2/26/2023 8:57 AM, sms wrote:

<snip>

> On weird thing on the iPhone is that when the screen is locked you can't
> decline a call using a button or swipe on the screen, you are supposed
> to press the power button twice. When the screen is not locked you can
> decline a call on the screen. Apple needs to hire some human factors
> engineers!

I should have pointed out that there is a jailbreak Tweak called "Let Me
Decline" on the iPhone that adds this functionality to the screen. See
<https://repo.packix.com/package/com.p2kdev.letmedecline>.

It's amusing that so much useful functionality that's built into
Android, or is available via an Android App, requires jailbreaking an
iPhone to get that same functionality (if it's possible at all).

I can understand this in some cases, where the functionality would
somehow affect Apple's revenue, or if their are privacy concerns, but
some of the functionality that requires jailbreaking to get is just bizarre.

I just went through some of this with a relative that's visiting and
that just switched from a Samsung S10E to an iPhone 12 Pro. She's asking
me how to do stuff on her iPhone that she did on her S10E, and some of
it is not possible without jailbreaking, some of it is possible but
requires annoying kludges, and some of it is possible but just odd (like
pressing the power button twice to decline a call when the screen is
locked). Then she asked me "do iPhone users not know what can be done on
Android that can't be done on an iPhone?" She essentially condensed much
of the iPhone/Android debate into five minutes of free tech support from me.

In article <ttg8io$2vqv0$2@dont-email.me>, sms
<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

>
> It's amusing that so much useful functionality that's built into
> Android, or is available via an Android App, requires jailbreaking an
> iPhone to get that same functionality (if it's possible at all).

what's amusing is how much useful functionality already exists with
iphones that you refuse to admit, or more likely, don't even know
about.

On 2/26/2023 11:19 AM, sms wrote:
> On 2/26/2023 8:18 AM, AJL wrote:

>> In my case the email confirmation often saves me office hassles
>> later. If I don't fill out their recent health questionnaire online
>> I have to do it on their tablet when I arrive at the office perhaps
>> pushing my time to be seen back...

> My provider will send an SMS, and an e-mail, and sometimes call,

I CHOSE email for my routine doctor contacts. They of course have my
phone number so they can call or text if my immediate attention was
required. (Unless they call from the wrong office number in which case
they are blocked... :-O

> besides all the information being available in their app.

No apps for my doctors. They all use websites (they call them portals).
For things like test results I am referred to a portal.

> But they don't ask for confirmation,

My emails do have a please confirm push button. I don't find complying
all that big of a deal...

> it's just a notification. If there's an advance questionnaire then
> it's done on their website or their app.

All my docs are still Covid paranoid so there's ALWAYS a questionnaire...

AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> Call screening is available with many dialer apps. In Google Voice
>> (the account), I have call screening enabled. If the caller is a
>> contact, they get to skip call screening.
>
> I just use the built in Do Not Disturb setting of my phone.

So, you leave DND enabled all the time? That turns your phone and
cellular service into a outbound service only. No incoming calls, not
even from good callers, like Mom.

I'm not aware DND is bypassed for callers in your contacts list.

>> For unknown callers, the call gets answered, and the caller is
>> prompted to say their name, and then told the call will be
>> transfered to the callee. When I answer a screened call, I'll hear
>> what they said (or nothing if they didn't say anything). Spam calls
>> don't know how to respond to prompts. Wrong number callers often
>> just hang up instead of saying "Sorry".
>
> If you're not on my phone's contact list it doesn't ring.

Hmm, I thought DND applies against all callers.

I use 2 ring tones: a loud one assigned to each contact, and a soft one
for unknown callers. Easy to ignore the soft ring. When in the belt
holster, and somewhere there is some noise, like at the grocery store or
at work, I don't even hear the soft ring.

>> Call screening gets rid of spam and wrong dialers.
>
> Mine has the same effect.

And gets rid of spammers, and good callers, like Mom.

Your DND on your phone still allows contacts to ring your phone? Geez,
DND isn't of much use then, like to sleep without interruption.

>> My dentist uses robocalls as reminders to their clients about an
>> upcoming appointment.
>
> All my medical folks use email for appointment reminders. Check their
> website, you may have that option also.

Alas, no such option. First they used to have their receptionist make
the reminder calls. Yes, maam, I know I have an appointment. My
calendar app and wall calendar work just fine. Then they switched to
robocalling. All it wants is for me to confirm, yes, I know I have an
appointment. With the doctor, however, they do send a reminder e-mail,
but also a link to fill out their check-in form (am I with the same
health provider, any Covid symptom in the last N days, have I been out
of the country in the last X days, yadda yadda yadda). When I go to the
clinic, they still ask me the same questions again. If the dentist had
switched to e-mailing, I could easily filter out that nuisance. The
same for the doctor visit reminder e-mails.

sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> On 2/26/2023 12:14 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> I have Google Voice configured to send me an e-mail when there is a new
>> voicemail. I just looked in the Trash folder (since that's where
>> they'll end up after deleted from the Inbox) which gets purged of
>> month-old messages, and nothing there for voicemails that were spam.
>> So, in the last month, no spam survived filtering, calls screening, and
>> the OGM to end up leave a voicemail. When I have gotten some, I usually
>> find they are empty voicemails (6-second recordings until GV realizes
>> the caller had hung up), but then those could be wrong dialers.
>
> In my experience with Google Voice, if you reject a call using call
> screening, it then goes to Google Voice's voice mail. But you're correct
> that many spammers won't leave a voice mail, though some do.
>
> Apparently it's a carrier thing that unanswered or declined calls are
> automatically sent to voice mail, perhaps because they assumed that
> that's what the called party would always want. It would be nice if
> there was a button on the screen, or a direction to swipe, that was
> labeled "Reject" or something that just answered then immediately hung up.
>
> On weird thing on the iPhone is that when the screen is locked you can't
> decline a call using a button or swipe on the screen, you are supposed
> to press the power button twice. When the screen is not locked you can
> decline a call on the screen. Apple needs to hire some human factors
> engineers!

I know some users that have auto-answer enabled. They're using flip
phones. When they flip it open, they answer the call. They don't get a
chance to see who is calling them. Since they're already connected,
they cannot dump the call to voicemail. And declining isn't possible
because they already answered the call. When I first saw that option,
ooh, looked handy until I realized that I really don't want to answer
every call. I get far more phone spam than e-mail spam despite I have
not anywhere published my Googe Voice number, and it isn't my contacts
or anyone to whom I've given my GV number that are spamming me. Almost
all spam calls are coming direct to my phone through my cellular phone
number for the phone, not through GV to my phones. It's hard for them
to get through GV (that then calls my cellular phone number). It's easy
for them to random dial to hit my cellular phone number.

I'd like to block all calls direct to my cellular phone number allowing
only GV-sourced calls to get through. Wow, my spam call level would be
nearly zero. Alas, I use an MVNO (Tracfone) and they have no such
option to block all but one caller, and whomever they assign me for
cellular service (AT&T, Verizon) won't give me an account to see if such
an option exists, because I'm Tracfone's customer, not Verizon's. I get
an account at Tracfone (no options). I don't get an account with the
actual carrier (might have options). You get great pricing as the cost
of few or no configuration options.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_virtual_network_operator

The only option that's possible is to have GV not forge the caller's
phone number for their own. Currently, when someone calls my GV number,
the call is simultaneous rung at my other numbers, and GV changes the
CallerID from their number for the caller's number. That's spoofing,
but with good intention. I get to see the caller's CID when I get the
call transferred to my phones. I could change GV to send its own number
when it transfers the call (however, GV has more than one call center,
and I don't know all the numbers at each call center, and for all their
call centers). I'd see GV's number, not the caller's number. Every
call would then be seen coming from GV, not the caller to GV. I still
have no server- or account-side option to block all but GV's own phone
numbers, but I could add filtering at the client-side in an app. Not a
setup that I like. I do want to see who is calling me, not the PBX
service that is rerouting the call.

caller directly calls my cellular phone number = no ring
caller calls my GV number (transfers to my cellular number) = ring

My cellular phone number is active to anyone that dials it, not just
when GV calls it. You usually get the CID (Caller ID) data on a call.
You sometimes get the CNAME (Caller Name) data on a call. Too bad
another tag, like "GV" couldn't be added to identify a PBX-routed call.

In article <t7ww7yytlxue$.dlg@v.nguard.lh>, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH>
wrote:

> I know some users that have auto-answer enabled. They're using flip
> phones. When they flip it open, they answer the call.

that's not auto-answer.

> They don't get a
> chance to see who is calling them.

most flipphones have a second display on the outside that displays the
calling number (and time/date when idle).

> Since they're already connected,
> they cannot dump the call to voicemail. And declining isn't possible
> because they already answered the call.

not true. see above.

silencing and/or declining a call is possible and easily done by
pressing a side button (depending on the phone).

> The only option that's possible is to have GV not forge the caller's
> phone number for their own. Currently, when someone calls my GV number,
> the call is simultaneous rung at my other numbers, and GV changes the
> CallerID from their number for the caller's number. That's spoofing,
> but with good intention. I get to see the caller's CID when I get the
> call transferred to my phones.

that's not spoofing.

google voice simply passes the caller's caller id *through* to your
phones, as any forwarding service would normally do.

the caller might spoof *their* caller id, as is often the case with
spammers, and whatever they send is what you'll see.

> I could change GV to send its own number
> when it transfers the call (however, GV has more than one call center,
> and I don't know all the numbers at each call center, and for all their
> call centers).

that's another option, and it's always going to be *your* google voice
number, which doesn't change (unless you manually change it). call
centers have nothing to do with it.

On 2/26/2023 2:43 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:
>
>> VanguardLH wrote:
>>
>>> Call screening is available with many dialer apps. In Google Voice
>>> (the account), I have call screening enabled. If the caller is a
>>> contact, they get to skip call screening.
>>
>> I just use the built in Do Not Disturb setting of my phone.
>
> So, you leave DND enabled all the time? That turns your phone and
> cellular service into a outbound service only. No incoming calls, not
> even from good callers, like Mom.

Turning on DND doesn't achieve the desired result.

The feature that the Pixel has is essentially to screen the call and
then let you just hang up on callers that you don't want to speak to and
that you don't want to be directed to voice mail.

The carriers don't allow you to just reject a call without it going to
voice mail.

Yes you can just answer spam calls and then end the call, manually, to
achieve the same result, but it's a nice feature to have to let the
phone do it for you.

The iPhone is even more of a pain because you can't decline a call on
the screen if the screen is locked.

In article <ttguqr$32a37$1@dont-email.me>, sms
<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> The iPhone is even more of a pain because you can't decline a call on
> the screen if the screen is locked.

false. it's very easy to decline a call or just silence the ring.

On 2/26/2023 3:43 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:
>> VanguardLH wrote:

>>> Call screening is available with many dialer apps. In Google
>>> Voice (the account), I have call screening enabled. If the
>>> caller is a contact, they get to skip call screening.

>> I just use the built in Do Not Disturb setting of my phone.

> So, you leave DND enabled all the time?

Yep.

> That turns your phone and cellular service into a outbound service
> only.

Nope.

> No incoming calls, not even from good callers, like Mom.

No incoming calls from Mom ever. She's been dead a long time...

> I'm not aware DND is bypassed for callers in your contacts list.

Yep. On my phone (Galaxy S10+) there's such a setting. YMMV.

>> If you're not on my phone's contact list it doesn't ring.

> Hmm, I thought DND applies against all callers.

Not on my phone (if so set).

> I use 2 ring tones: a loud one assigned to each contact, and a soft
> one for unknown callers. Easy to ignore the soft ring.

Easier to ignore no ring IMO. YMMV.

> Your DND on your phone still allows contacts to ring your phone?

Yep (if so set).

> DND isn't of much use then, like to sleep without interruption.

Course it is. I can also set DND to ignore all calls.

>> All my medical folks use email for appointment reminders. Check
>> their website, you may have that option also.

> Alas, no such option. First they used to have their receptionist
> make the reminder calls.

I used to get reminder calls some years back. No more these days though.

> When I go to the clinic, they still ask me the same questions
> [already filled out online] again.

Guess I'm lucky. The receptionist thanks me for doing my check-in online
and I take my seat.

> If the dentist had switched to e-mailing, I could easily filter out
> that nuisance. The same for the doctor visit reminder e-mails.

As I said I usually try to cooperate. Those folks likely deal with
enough old AHs as it is. I try to not make it one more...

On 26/02/2023 04:59, nospam wrote:
> In article <ttefi9$2nkvs$2@dont-email.me>, sms
> <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm still learning about the capabilities of my Pixel 7 Pro. There's one
>> super nice feature that is not on any other Android phones that I know
>> of, and is also not on the iPhone: Rejecting a call _without_ sending
>> the caller to voice mail.
>
> it's up to the carrier how to handle rejected calls.

I think the difference is it either sends "reject call" to the carrier
or it sends "accept call" followed immediately by "end call".

--
Brian Gregory (in England).

On 2/26/2023 6:57 PM, AJL wrote:

<snip>

>> I'm not aware DND is bypassed for callers in your contacts list.
>
> Yep. On my phone (Galaxy S10+) there's such a setting. YMMV.

You can make exceptions for certain contacts or all contacts. This has
also been available on iOS since iOS 12.