New blocking mode request for area codes

[crutschow]

I've used an Ooma phone for a couple years now and I'm mostly happy with the service.
But I'm getting several spoofed junk calls a day from various out-of-state area codes.
I'm playing a game of "whack-a-mole" and blocking each of those codes as I get them, but the end won't likely come until I have blocked every out-of-state area code I don't use.

I suggest that a good option to add would be to accept only desired area codes but block all the rest.
At present you can allow only numbers in your contact list to go through but that's too limiting.
Adding the option to also allow only desired area codes would eliminate most of the junk calls I'm getting and still allow me to receive local calls that are not in my contact list.

I would think this would be a relatively easy thing to add in the phones firmware, and significantly improve Ooma's call blocking capability (which is one of the reasons I originally went with Ooma).

Carl Rutschow.

[Robek]

Creating a separate category for blocking rules that match complementary patterns (everything but the pattern) may seem simple enough, but if Ooma has to combine blocking rules in order to process them efficiently, then it may also have to first convert them into an equivalent set of non-complementary rules. The logic for optimally converting such rules can get complicated, especially if there is more than one rule.

For example, if a user wants to create two separate rules to accept two different area codes, then what exactly does "block all the rest" mean? How would the first rule know not to block calls from the second area code, or vice versa? Introducing dependencies between different rules can get messy, so unless there is a high demand for this feature, Ooma probably won't prioritize it.

In the meantime, users don't have to wait for that; they are free to figure out their own equivalent set of blocking rules. Playing "whack-a-mole" is one way to do it, but there are far more efficient strategies. For example, another way to blacklist all numbers outside of the 555 area code is to block numbers that start with:

• one digit: 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 (but not 5)
• two digits: 50 51 52 53 54 56 57 58 59 (but not 55)
• three digits: 550 551 552 553 554 556 557 558 559 (but not 555)
• international?: +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9

This example requires at least 25 block-by-number entries to blacklist up to 800 area codes. Follow a similar strategy to blacklist prefixes within an area code, or to blacklist numbers outside of multiple area codes and prefixes, etc.