# Phone rings, nobody there Help **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083 "2001-07-11T13:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083/1 "2001-07-11T13:24:41Z")
For the past couple of weeks my phone has been ringing 4-5 times a day and there is nobody there :mad:. It always shows up as ‘unknown’ on my caller ID – WTF. I really do not want to go through the aggravation of getting a new phone number. My phone number is listed in the phone book, can anyone tell me what is going on and how to stop it? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083/2 "2001-07-11T13:36:18Z")
A few questions. Are you young and/or an attractive female? Also alot of telemarketing companies do this to find times when people are home for research purposes. Outside of black ops i could perform for a fee, call an operator and ask what you can do. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083/3 "2001-07-11T13:36:56Z")
Just a WAG, there could be any number of things happening, but I also get a lot of hang ups, and I’m convinced it’s telemarketers. I think they sit there and have an automatic dialer dial up many numbers at a time; if a person answers one, the marketer is signaled and picks up the call. At that point, any other numbers that were getting dialed at the time are ignored, hence, when you answer, there’s no one there. This, of course, may or may not be what’s happening in your situation. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083/4 "2001-07-11T15:44:27Z")
Is peace of mind worth an extra $5 per month? If so, get [Call Intercept](http://www.bellatlantic.com/foryourhome/WV/Products/CIX-01/index.html). Callers with unidentifiable numbers are not allowed to connect unless they identify themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083/5 "2001-07-11T18:30:34Z")
Are you young and/or an attractive female? No and/or no/no ☹ > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Attrayant \* > \*\*Is peace of mind worth an extra $5 per month? If so, get [Call Intercept](http://www.bellatlantic.com/foryourhome/WV/Products/CIX-01/index.html). Callers with unidentifiable numbers are not allowed to connect unless they identify themselves. \*\* That sounds like a good idea but … > [@](#): > > Call Intercept is available in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia, where facilities permit. I’m not on the list ☹ I kind of thought it might be telemarketers, but I couldn’t figure out how they could make any money doing this. Now I have another reason to hate them, not that I needed it. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083/6 "2001-07-11T20:59:01Z")
It’s telemarketers. One of the more interesting solutions that I’ve heard is to record the “boo-boo-beep” sound that you get when you dial a disconnected number, and start your answering machine message with it. Then, the autodialer thinks that you’ve been disconnected, and quits calling you. -Vor ---
**Author:** ![lestrange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@lestrange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lestrange)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-rings-nobody-there-help/72083/7 "2001-07-11T21:22:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LordVor \* > \*\*It’s telemarketers. > > One of the more interesting solutions that I’ve heard is to record the “boo-boo-beep” sound that you get when you dial a disconnected number, and start your answering machine message with it. > > Then, the autodialer thinks that you’ve been disconnected, and quits calling you. > > -Vor \*\* Or you can just refuse to answer the phone for calls that don’t give an ID. It’s free, and doesn’t require any work on your part (unless you’re absolutely tormented by the sound of a ringing phone and can’t just let it go). When I was just home from the hospital with the elder lestrangelet, I was annoyed by something similar, but not exactly the same. I had just given birth, and wasn’t in a position to race to the phone, so whenever it would ring, the answering machine would pick up first. I would get 6 or 7 calls a day that just hung up on the machine. I got caller ID to find out who the hell was doing it, and it turned out they were all Out of Area or Number Unavailable or whatever. Once I was up to getting to the phone quickly, the calls stopped, annoyingly enough. After that, during the time I had caller ID, I didn’t answer calls that didn’t show on my caller ID box, because they were almost always hangups or telemarketers. In any event, I screen most of my calls these days. Nine times out of ten, when the phone rings the lestrangelets are in the tub, or I’m up to my elbows in diapers, or something else I can’t just walk away from. I don’t break my neck trying to get to the phone–people can leave me a message and I’ll get back to them in ten minutes, or I’ll get to the phone while they’re talking. If you’re not patient enough to wait a few seconds, it’s not my fault.