The device I have just fitted is this
https://www.truecall.co.uk/category-s/116.htm
I have no connection with the firm. I was actually given it by someone who had stopped using their landline number and gone mobile-only for phone calls.
You can program it from the phone handset which is quite simple to do if you have basic tech skills. It sits in between the main phone and the master wall socket. Works best with a cordless base station and wireless handsets as extensions. Wired extension sockets/wired phones coming off the master socket are not protected and may ring when a call comes in, so cordless is best. Caller ID has to be enabled on the line, which it should be by default now and free of charge.
Only issue I had setting it up was it didn't work reliably on an extension socket. I had to plug the cordless phone base station and trueCall into the master socket and use the cordless extension elsewhere. Not a problem for me but worth noting, along with the wired phones on extension sockets limitation, if that affects your own phone setup and layout.
For the first year, I believe you get free access to an online portal to set up the device and check what is being screened. The unit can dial out (on the phone line) to update itself and the calls list. The person who gave it to me said he was caught out initially with some additional call costs as he had that set up automatically on a schedule rather than manual request only for dial-out.
I haven't used the online portal and did the programming from the handset which was simple to do by following a spoken phone menu from the unit.
Currently have mine set up so that those on my contacts list ring straight through. Anyone else gets an announcement that calls are being screened. They have to press a number on the keypad to proceed and then they are required to say who they are. Only at that point does my phone ring. I get to listen to the announcement they have just made and I can accept or reject the call and also add the number to either the approved or blocked list. The unit also acts as an answering machine so you actually need to disable any VM voicemail and/or answering machine and let the trueCall unit do the answering machine function in conjunction with the screening.
The unit blocks out the robo-diallers because (at the moment at least!) the automated calling is not clever enough to respond to the requirement to press a key on the handset and so the call is rejected.
You can set the screening to your own requirements even to the point of blocking out any call not on your contacts list or by types of call (anonymous calls, number withheld, international etc.). You can download the manual at the above link and browse the options available and see exactly what it can do.
Key points I found in setting it up and fine-tuning it were
- The limitation of wired phones on extensions not necessarily being covered by the screening process (but not an issue with cordless phones)
- The need (in my case) to plug into the master socket, but that could just be my extension wiring
- Works best with cordless phones/cordless extensions
- Awareness of the issue of the device dialling out for updates if using the internet service (either turn that off if not required or set it to dial during any free call-plan times)
Other than that, it is working very well now. I was sitting next to it working yesterday when I watched it silently block out two calls within 30 min of each other.
Before being given the unit, I was looking at this in some detail. The other products which seemed relevant were https://www.cprcallblocker.com/ (which offers more of a range on devices/prices) and also some models of BT phones. However, some of the phones only offer simple number blocking (which is useless for the auto-dialler problem). I believe one of the newest BT phone ranges may also incorporate some of the trueCall features/functionality.
As far as I know, the only service Virgin Media offer is an anonymous caller rejection service which, again, is no use for the auto-dialler problem. Although TPS is no use for the auto-dialler issue it does help in cutting down 'legitimate' spammers who play by the rules. Also going ex-directory can help etc. etc. as other 'defensive' measures!
That was a bit of a long reply but, having experienced the robo-calls myself for a number of months, I can appreciate how extremely irritating it is. The above might save you some leg-work in your quest for a resolution! Hopefully the above can give you some pointers and you can resolve it with some type of blocking/screening device.