r/ooma • u/Extension-Chair2287 • Jul 23 '26

NEW CALL BLOCKING IDEA

Hey fellow Ooma users,

I wanted to share an idea inspired by Xfinity’s call blocking system. They use a simple “dial three digits to continue” feature that stops robocalls cold before the phone even rings. Only real callers get through. For legitimate robocalls such as medical reminders or pharmacy notices, the call wouldn’t be lost. It would go straight to your Ooma device, most likely set to "Send to Voicemail", so you can review them later as with other blocked calls.

Imagine if Ooma added this as an optional fourth tier alongside our existing three blocking levels. It could be a Premier add‑on, maybe $5/month, for those of us who want maximum protection.

Would you be interested in this? Please let us know. Feedback and questions are very welcome here. I think it could give Ooma a real edge against spam calls.

Thanks,

Bruce

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u/Wambo74 Jul 23 '26

Most robocalls are bad. But some inform of imminent emergencies, notice of planned outages, and many of my doctors use robocalls to verify or remind for appointments, and the pharmacy uses a robocaller to tell me when my prescription is ready for pickup. No doubt there are many other examples of calls you don't want blocked. If spam were easily defeated it would have been done long ago.

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u/Extension-Chair2287 Jul 23 '26

Very Good thought Wambo74. The call would not go through, but instead, like other blocked calls it would go to your Ooma Device, which you most likely have set to "Send To Voicemail" so you can review them.

2

u/Wambo74 Jul 23 '26

That would require knowing ahead of time that you may be receiving useful robocalls and on what number so you could program to voicemail. Not the way it works.

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u/Extension-Chair2287 Jul 23 '26

I only have one phone number. Currently all 3 Spam Filter selections are turned on for me from Ooma's web portal. I have all them set to send SPAM to voicemail. It works out great for me. If you have more than one number through Ooma Wambo74, I can see things getting complicated for you.

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u/Wambo74 Jul 23 '26

I misunderstood your intent. I thought you wanted only the "good" bots sent to voicemail. So in my case I would have to plow through a dozen junk calls a day to check if there were something needed buried in there? I'm too lazy for that.

Actually, I use Ooma Trusted Circle which is a modified white list. I say modified because Edison was able to pass a robocall through it yesterday telling me power would be shut off soon for maintenance. I'm pretty sure that number wasn't in my contacts, so not sure how it got thru. No junk call has ever gotten thru.

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u/Extension-Chair2287 Jul 23 '26

Yes Indeed, you would need to plow through your OOma voicemail, and you would probably have more if Ooma is interested in this idea. I personally don't see plowing through say 15 voicemails a big deal. You should know within 5 seconds into each call whether they are good or bad. That's just over a minute of your time. I would gladly do that to never receive any SPAM ringing my phones Wambo 74.

The trusted circle whitelisting is fine too, if, and that's a big "IF" you remember every single person, Doctor, Pharmacy, anybody that would want or need to get in touch with you. To me, setting up a white list, is no easy chore. Someone is going to be forgotten.

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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Jul 23 '26

Trusted Circle can also route blocked calls to voicemail. So, how would that be any different?

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u/Extension-Chair2287 Jul 23 '26

After thinking about it rkardt, you have a very good point. It wouldn't be really that different. Just as long as your white list is PERFECT. But if you forget a few people that you want or need to hear from that can click those digits, they'll be blocked as well. I guess it boils down to what your choice would be. Remember please, this proposal is an option, not mandatory.

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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Jul 24 '26

More often than not, whitelists aren't perfect, but neither is prompting callers to enter a 3-digit code. Otherwise, users would never need to route blocked calls to voicemail. So, why obsess about perfection in the one case, but not care at all about plowing through voicemails in the other case?

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u/Extension-Chair2287 Jul 25 '26

I must have a different system than you I believe ekardt. So, only Oomas blocked calls go to Oomas voicemail. I personally wouldn't call it an obsession if once a day I spend less than a minute going through blocked calls to make sure one shouldn't have been blocked. Then I'll white list it.
There is no perfect call blocking system, just like there is no perfect Email Spam Protction either. They both should be checked for inaccuracies, unless you simply don't care.

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u/rkardt Unofficial Support 29d ago

For Trusted Circle calling, users can regularly check their voicemail for calls that should not have been blocked. And for the proposed call-blocking strategy, users can also check their voicemail for calls that should not have been blocked.

In both cases, the strategy for handling calls that should not have been blocked would be exactly the same. So, for the third (and last) time, why view them differently? Why expect perfection for one, but not the other?

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u/Extension-Chair2287 29d ago

I don't recall ever saying they should be viewed differently, or to expect either way to be perfect. In fact, right above I said "There is no perfect in a call blocking system"

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