- Step 1: Buy this Obihai OBi200 VoIP adapter on sale with promo code for $33 (normally $60, expires 12/17). This lets you plug VoIP service into your home telephone wiring and use your existing land line phones, fax machine, etc.
- Step 2: Sign up for a free Google Voice account. This gives you a free local telephone number and free domestic calling. A few years ago Google considered discontinuing this service, but instead re-purposed it for Google Hangouts. The OBi200 box employs the ObiTalk service to interact with the voice calling features of Google Chat basically to give you free VoIP phone service.
- Optional step 3: Be advised that Google Voice does not offer 9-1-1 services. Apparently there are fees involved in 9-1-1, and Google ain't paying them. If you need 9-1-1 service you'll have to subscribe to a separate paid VoIP provider. ObiTalk recommends a few cheap ones, or this guy recommends netTALK for $3.33 / month for (from what I can see) unlimited domestic calling.
- Step 4: Buy a year subscription to the Jolly Roger Telephone Co. landlubber + Google Voice service. An annual subscription costs $8.88.
- Step 5: Add your Jolly Roger telephone number into Google Voice.
This will make all notorious telemarketers, robo callers, and other nuisance callers have their time wasted by a chat bot. When caller ID shows a known telemarketer's number, the Jolly Roger landlubber service will automatically answer the call for you and waste the caller's time. If an unrecognized telemarketer makes it through and you answer the regrettable call, all you have to do is hit the star key on your phone's keypad to let Jolly Roger take over. When the call ends, you'll be emailed an amusing recording of the call. All calls to your VoIP number will trigger an email to be sent prompting you either to blacklist or whitelist the number.
The landlubber service also includes the ability to conference a bot in on your mobile phone. This takes a little practice to pull off though. It might be easier just to ask them to call you back, then reject and blacklist them when they do. Jolly Roger is offering a
beta voicemail replacement service, currently included with the landlubber service. If you forward calls on busy / no answer, then any call you reject or ignore on your mobile will be sent to Jolly Roger for the caller to demonstrate he's not a robo dialer. Caller is greeted courteously and professionally if human, or directed to a conversation with chat bots if the Touring test fails.
You don't have to have the OBi200 VoIP gadget to have Jolly Roger waste the telemarketers' time. I just thought $33 for unlimited phone / fax service in your home for life (maybe) was a steal.
Here are more examples of telemarketers arguing with bots for your amusement.
