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Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 8:42 am
by lmacmil
I signed up for Premier when there was a $60 for the first year promo. Last year, it renewed automatically with no notification. It seems the call blocking efficiency has dropped significantly since I originally signed up. For every call that the NMR database sends direct to VM, I get 4 or 5 that ring. I think the spammers are staying ahead of NMR because I seem to be getting almost as many calls now as I did before I had Premier.

So my question is: has anyone dropped Premier and, if so, did you find your robocalls increased enough to got back to paying $10/month?

Re: Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:38 am
by 9783690753
I have the same question/interest in evaluating the primary advantage of Premier.
Recently, the spammy calls have increased as a percentage of all calls.
-Neil

Re: Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 11:55 am
by MrDog
I'm considering it. You can into my ooma -> preferences -> call blocking and turn call blocking off. I don't really notice any difference when I do that. Call blocking was my main reason to go with premier.

Re: Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:37 pm
by thomasm
There are other benefits to premier in addition to call blocking. I use "do not disturb" all the time. I also set up call forwarding to my cell when I'm away from the house.

Before you drop premier be sure to check out all the services you will be losing. Besides, what can you get for ten bucks today?

Re: Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 7:16 am
by lmacmil
I don't use do not disturb or call forwarding so those features are worth nothing to me. When Premier blocked most of the robocalls it was worth it. It doesn't seem to do that anymore. I've turned off call blocking to see if there's a noticeable increase in robocalls.

Re: Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 9:36 pm
by Robek
lmacmil wrote:It seems the call blocking efficiency has dropped significantly since I originally signed up.
I had the opposite experience; my spam volume plummeted this year. Either my call blocking suddenly became much more effective, or a lot of spammers just stopped calling me. I can't tell which though, because Ooma doesn't log blocked calls. My biggest problem with Nomorobo has been too many false positives, so I had to divert blocked calls to voicemail instead. I don't know whether spammers would still count that as confirmation of a valid number. Some legitimate callers (and MFA-bots) need to talk to a real human though, so when I'm expecting a call from a new number, I often have to disable Nomorobo, until I can add that number to my Contacts. Organizing Contacts into groups helps with the clutter.

I don't rely solely on Nomorobo though; I add to my block list any spammer that calls more than once, or leaves a voice mail. With enhanced Caller ID, I can block calls by name, and with the available pattern filters, I can block a range of names and numbers, (for example, generic "City, State" names, or "neighbor spoofing" numbers). I set up two separate numbers, with two different ring-patterns: a private number for trusted friends and family, and a public number for everyone else. I ported the public number from my old carrier, so that's the one that spammers know about, and the one I use as my default outgoing number. When I travel, I can forward my private number calls to a different number, or to my Ooma mobile app, while my public number calls can keep going straight to voicemail. I couldn't do any of that without Premier.

Neil wrote:Recently, the spammy calls have increased as a percentage of all calls.
I also don't post my number in publicly accessible forums. Why make it easier for spammers to find it?

Re: Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:50 pm
by lmacmil
I turned off call blocking 5 days ago. I have not noticed any increase in robocalls. So for me at least, the call blocking features of Premier aren't helping.

Re: Have you dropped Premier?

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:58 am
by lmacmil
My Premier subscription was de-activated about a week after I called (I never did get the confirmation email I was told I'd receive) and I had turned off call-blocking about a week before that. I have not noticed any change in the number of robocalls I am receiving. Based on my wife's experience with her cellphone, the spammers are changing phone numbers so often, call blocking a number is not very effective. I wasn't taking advantage of most of the other Premier features so for me, dropping it was the right decision.