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Ghost call

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Yngvadottir (talk | contribs) at 20:45, 24 July 2020 (2 refs on causes, unref'd to more sources (I wish templates didn't keep getting changed, not all of us use automated tools to insert them). Added phantom calls. Tightened prose, removing "you", adding port scanning. Removed Bradbury short story - the only trace I can find is a Twitter inquiry leading to a different story. I note expansion from a redirect to pocket dialing was only article edits by Standingontv, in 2012, & included Bradbury. This edit is not an endorsement of the WMF.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A ghost call or phantom call is a telephone call for which, when the recipient of the call answers, there is no one on the other end of the call. The term is also used in managing IP PBX systems. Ghost calls on the lines that cannot be explained or are some residual output of one Real-time Transport Protocol or RTP stream interacting with the PBX. Ghost calls differ to silent calls which tend to be from telemarking organisations with no agents available to speak at the time an automated call has been placed.

Causes

Ghost calls are generally caused by a neglected autodialer or indirectly as a consequence of restrictions applied to autodialers used for telemarketing by agencies such as the FCC that restrict how long they can tie up a phone line; the call is disconnected automatically at the calling end. Another cause is port scanning.[1][2] Ghost calls can also be caused by accidental pocket dialing.

Consequences

A ghost call sometimes can be repetitive or completely tie up a phone line, making it impossible to call 911 in an emergency. In some cases an autodialer may be overlooked or even abandoned.

Stopping the calls

Several websites collect reports of ghost calls.[citation needed] Repeated reports of the same number provide insight into where the machine is located and hopefully aid in having it shut down.

Improvements

Today's autodialer supposedly runs a smarter software, claiming a less than 2% hangup rate. However, most telemarketing companies place thousands of calls an hour, bringing that 2% back up to an annoying level.

References

  1. ^ Zenica Joy, "How To Stop Ghost Calls", blog, VOIP Review, March 29, 2019.
  2. ^ Tyler Kunkel, "Identifying/Stopping 'Phantom' or 'Ghost' calls", Spectrum VoIP, August 15, 2019.