On 8/18/2021 1:17 PM, Michael Trew wrote:   
   > On 8/14/2021 4:38 PM, Fred Atkinson wrote:   
   >> Folks,   
      
   >> Some years ago, I had a friend [who is now departed] living in   
   >> Bishopville, South Carolina.  He had a feature added to his phone   
   >> service that required the caller to enter a four digit PIN in order   
   >> to get through to his phone after you dialed his phone number.  I   
   >> knew the PIN so I could call him when I needed to.  But it shut   
   >> down the telemarketers pretty quickly.   
   >   
   > (Moderator snip)   
   >   
   >>            I do not what the name of this service would be.  So, I   
   >> can't tell my cousin what to ask for if he calls her phone company   
   >> to see if it could be added to her service.   
      
   >>           She lives near Atlanta, Georgia.  She is on a POTS line.   
   >>   
   >>           Can any of you help me by providing me with the name of   
   >> this service?   
   >   
   > Is AT&T the incumbent telco for Atlanta, GA?  Have you tried calling   
   > AT&T customer service?  If they can't help you, call the "retention   
   > team"; they are more experience in handling these matters.   
      
   The name of this service is "Security Screen" and it is a proprietary   
   CenturyLink "exclusive" feature as far as I know. I mapped out all of   
   their custom features some time ago and the description matches the   
   code and prompts that I have.  If CenturyLink is not the RBOC/ILEC   
   (depending on where you live), it may not be an option. I have the   
   feature on my personal switch.   
      
      
   ***** Moderator's Note *****   
      
   I have a friend who uses Google Voice to screen his calls: whenever I   
   call him, GV asks me to state my name and then promises to try and   
   find him. I don't know what's involved or what it costs.   
      
   I assume that if I knew his actual cell phone number, I could bypass   
   Google Voice, but it's better than nothing.   
      
   Of course, most AutoSleazers dial random numbers, so that might not be   
   a viable solution.   
      
   Bill Horne   
   Moderator   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)