Method and apparatus for defeating computer-generated, telemarketing, and robo-calls to phones

摘要

A system for defeating computer-generated, telemarketing, and Robo calls is provided. An originating switch receives a call from a calling party and determines a call route to a called party. The call is received at a destination switch and the profile of the called party is assessed. If the called party is not a subscriber to the system, the call is then passed or connected to the called party. If the called party is a subscriber to the system, a digital audio track is played back to the calling party, the audio track indicating a call failure that can be detected by the source of computer-generated, telemarketing, and Robo calls. The signals are of such a nature that the calling party would determine that the number is not a valid number and remove it from a calling list. If a called party is not a subscriber, the call simply continues to the called party without interjection of any digital audio track. The system also may require the entry of dual-tone multi-frequency signals by the calling party to differentiate from those calls to be terminated.