Liz Weston

Dear Liz: As to the woman who receives robocalls, this is what I do. Almost all such calls come on my land line, which is now exclusively reserved for telephone solicitors and robocalls. I have it on two rings and never answer it. I will pick it up if I hear someone I know leaving a message. About weekly I go through the messages, and most turn out to be junk calls or automatic calls from doctors’ offices reminding me of an appointment. All my friends and people I want to talk with have my cellphone number. If I receive a call on my cellphone that does not have caller ID or is from a number I do not recognize, I push the button to stop the ring and let it go to voicemail. The majority of such callers do not leave a message, so I assume they are junk callers and I go into history and block all calls from those numbers. Problem solved. With modern technology there is no reason to ever speak to any person you don’t want to speak with.

Answer: The technology exists to prevent many junk calls from even reaching that land line you’re paying for but essentially can’t use.

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is calling for phone companies to provide free tools to block these calls. You can sign its petition at consumersunion.org/end-robocalls/.

In the meantime, you can use the free NoMoRobo service on a digital phone line or use anti-robocall tools such as Digitone Call Blocker Plus ($110), HQTelecom.com ($59) or Sentry Dual Mode Call Blocker ($52).