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Robocaller 2.0

One amusing difference to the voice-interactive robot calls is that if you say something, it does interrupt the currently-playing spiel to try to respond. Live callers on a script, by contrast, will rarely stop talking for anything including a referee's whistle into the mouthpiece.
 
Loss Leader said:
I pick up the phone and if someone doesn't immediately start talking, I hang up.
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In my experience, that would cut off most of my (legitimate) friends and business calls. I think ordinary (non-robot) people expect a "Hello" or a business name given at the recipient end or they are confused.

It's unfortunate that scammers/spammers, human and robotic, expect that, too. Some sophisticated calling robots will tailor their response according to the kind of sounds they first hear; if it's short, they proceed with their message; if it's long, they may assume they have reached an answering machine or voicemail, and take a different course of action (hanging up, waiting for a pause to leave a message, whatever).

I've tried picking up the phone and listening carefully before saying anything. Sometimes I can detect a boiler room atmosphere and act accordingly.

I've even tried, "This is the Major," and repeating that phrase in answer to every question. 10 points if you recognize the reference; the callers never do.
 
Trebuchet said:
That's what we're talking about, yes. Although "TRIES to interact with you like a person" would be more accurate. If you hang on long enough, they'll eventually ask you to press a number and then you'll get a real criminal instead of a coumputerized one. (I'm very fond of pointing out to telemarketers that they are violating federal law, and therefore are criminals. Actually had one of the "windows technical center" guys from India get rather upset about that. I assume he was new there.)
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I usually just go straight to, "You're gonna get raped in prison."
 
Primus said:
I get a lot of the prerecorded stuff but I've never had one that interacts with you like you're a person. Is that the sort you've been getting?
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I don't know as I've never got past the first 20 seconds, and that was only the first time because I was confused at what was happening. :D
 
Edx said:
I don't know as I've never got past the first 20 seconds, and that was only the first time because I was confused at what was happening. :D
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It all depends on how bored I am. I'll keep them going for several minutes sometimes. It's a personal triumph if I can get them to hang up before I do.
 
Trebuchet said:
It all depends on how bored I am. I'll keep them going for several minutes sometimes. It's a personal triumph if I can get them to hang up before I do.
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I prefer them screaming in rage so badly they forget much of their English and just babble in their native tongue. Then I know I have served justice and done my duty!!
 
There is a quite amusing theory to work on cold callers where you pretend you are a policeman at a murder scene and refuse to let the caller hang up without getting their details and alibi
 
Trebuchet said:
It all depends on how bored I am. I'll keep them going for several minutes sometimes. It's a personal triumph if I can get them to hang up before I do.
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I don't see much fun in keeping a toaster on the phone.
 
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