Forum Discussion

swifty-one's avatar
swifty-one
On our wavelength
11 months ago
Solved

I need to change my landline number

Can I please change my landline number? I am being targeted by people I know who know my landline number but I do not know theirs my phone says "Number Withheld"  I am disabled and I live with my elderly 86-year-old mother-in-law (after my wife passed away two years ago) These phone calls are both frustrating and disturbing for us...I have contacted the police and they have suggested that I change my landline number....How do I do this, please? Can I choose a number and what is the cost? Many thanks.

Steve

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    11 months ago

    If the people calling you are people who you know, then changing your number may be the way to go. But, as already mentioned, the 'new' number you get will be recycled from a general pool of VM phone numbers. Your new number might bring with it its own past history of nuisance calling problems.

    VM used to offer one number change free of charge for customer affected by nuisance calls. Disappointing to see the suggestion of a £25 charge for this now.

    What features does your existing phone system have?

    Some allow you to block 'withheld' numbers (although this might also block callers such as doctors, hospitals etc. who may legitimately withhold numbers).

    Some phones have a 'do not disturb' feature which keeps the phone silent and send calls to answering machine. It can also be configured so that VIP callers (who are stored in the phone address book) can break through the 'do not disturb' setting meaning only people in your phone book can ring through.

    There is also a trueCall device

    https://www.truecall.co.uk/category-s/116.htm

    which can be configured in various degrees of severity to screen incoming calls. A new unit is £109.99 but second hand units come up on eBay regularly at much lower prices (with the usual caveats when buying from eBay).

    If the person calling is known to you though, you may need to begin with some severe screening restrictions until they realise they won't be able to get through, after which you may be able to reduce the screening settings.

  • Matthew_ML's avatar
    Matthew_ML
    Forum Team
    11 months ago

    Hey swifty-one, thank you for reaching out and I am sorry to hear this.

    This will be scammers or people messing around with you which is frustrating.

    We can of course give you a new number but all our numbers are recycled meaning this wouldn't be a fresh new number and therefore we can't guarantee something like this could happen again the future.

    This is normally a one charge of "£25.

    Please do let us know.

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    11 months ago

    If the people calling you are people who you know, then changing your number may be the way to go. But, as already mentioned, the 'new' number you get will be recycled from a general pool of VM phone numbers. Your new number might bring with it its own past history of nuisance calling problems.

    VM used to offer one number change free of charge for customer affected by nuisance calls. Disappointing to see the suggestion of a £25 charge for this now.

    What features does your existing phone system have?

    Some allow you to block 'withheld' numbers (although this might also block callers such as doctors, hospitals etc. who may legitimately withhold numbers).

    Some phones have a 'do not disturb' feature which keeps the phone silent and send calls to answering machine. It can also be configured so that VIP callers (who are stored in the phone address book) can break through the 'do not disturb' setting meaning only people in your phone book can ring through.

    There is also a trueCall device

    https://www.truecall.co.uk/category-s/116.htm

    which can be configured in various degrees of severity to screen incoming calls. A new unit is £109.99 but second hand units come up on eBay regularly at much lower prices (with the usual caveats when buying from eBay).

    If the person calling is known to you though, you may need to begin with some severe screening restrictions until they realise they won't be able to get through, after which you may be able to reduce the screening settings.

  • swifty-one's avatar
    swifty-one
    On our wavelength
    11 months ago

    Thank you goslow for your helpful response, I don't know which is the worst getting a used number and taking on someone else's spam and sh*t or having the privilege of paying £25 for it!!

  • swifty-one's avatar
    swifty-one
    On our wavelength
    11 months ago

    There are things that I can try now that you have pointed me in the right direction...I very much like the Truecall, even if it is a little expensive.

    • Carley_S's avatar
      Carley_S
      Forum Team
      11 months ago

      Let us know if you do still want to change your landline number or try the options and advise goslow has kindly posted first. 

      We'll be here to support further if you need swifty-one 

    • goslow's avatar
      goslow
      Alessandro Volta
      11 months ago

      I used the trueCall device for about 18 months and it totally killed off generic scam callers on my line.

      Slightly different scenario for you if you think those calling you are known to you but read the manual

      http://www.truecall38.co.uk/manuals/callblocker.pdf

      and have a look at the various screening options for incoming calls and see if the combinations might suit your situation to screen out the unwanted callers. The way you set it up will depend on how much/little you use the phone for incoming calls. As already stated, you might have to start off with some severe screening settings which you can reduce over time when the callers realise they can't get through to you.

      The 'Lock Down Profile' on page 8 is a pre-set or you can opt for a custom profile where is allocate each incoming 'caller category' on page 9 to a particular 'call flow' (outcome) on page 10.

      So, for example, you can customise 'withheld' numbers from the caller category to always leave a message. Or a more extreme setting that withheld numbers get a number unobtainable tone which would give your unwanted 'withheld' callers the impression your line was disconnected (although that would also affect any withheld callers which might include legitimate withheld callers such as medical services).

      I have to tweak and adapt the custom profile until it got the call processing as I wanted it. After that I got no more general scam callers ringing my phone.

      The trueCall is a pass-thru device, so you connect the trueCall to your main phone socket and your phone connects to the trueCall so it is best used with a cordless base station so that all calls are processed through the trueCall device which controls whether the phone rings or not. The answering machine on the trueCall should take over answer machine functions instead of VM voicemail or a home answering machine.