Contact list

[specialsauce]

Thanks for the compliment "sfisher". Others can find my solution by searching for 'Importing a CSV file'.

I will say this, ever since I imported my contacts and switched my Ooma 'Call Blocking' settings to only accept calls from my Contact List, my phone experience at home has completely changed. When the phone rings, it is ALWAYS someone I know, and never someone I don't. Thanks Ooma for transforming my home phone from a nuisance back to what it was originally intended to be. Now, if only I could do something like that for my cell phone.

[Bobs41185]

SpecialSauce, I had not thought about it very much until today when the Hospital where my wife is scheduled for surgery on Thursday tried to call and was blocked by the Ooma app. The Hospital phone number was not in my Personal Blocked Phone Number list so it must have been Blocked by the Ooma Block List or NoMoRobo. So, I totally agree that by far the best solution is to only allow Callers who are in the Contact List so you know who will be allowed to Call. Callers not in my Contact List are routed to Voice Mail - Now if we could only have an Auto Voice Mail Delete on Voice Mails less than some User Selected Length of Time.

[Bobs41185]

In the following Post by "specialsauce"

#139223 by specialsauce

I was made aware yesterday of a fantastic newly added - no pain - way to use Ooma to Block Robo Calls and it is *great*. Ooma now allows the "Call Blocking Preferences" to "Block all numbers not in my contacts and" either "Send to Voicemail" or "Play Call Blocked Message" or "Play Number Disconnected Message" or "Ring Continuously".

I have unchecked all check boxes in the "Call Blocking Preferences" except the "Block all numbers not in my contacts and" I have chosen "Send to Voicemail" as my preference. I have my "Voicemail Preferences" setup to "Enable voicemail monitoring" and I have the Voices Mails forwarded to both my Cell Phone and My E-Mail. Ooma formats the Subject of these Forwarded Voice Mails as shown in voice Mails I have received since yesterday (Phone Numbers Changed) as shown below:

New VM from Unavailable [1991234567] (4 sec)
New VM from Long Beach CA [1992345678] (3 sec)
New VM from Cell Phone KS [1993456789] (4 sec)
New VM from Cell Phone CA [1994567890] (34 sec)
New VM from Long Beach CA [1995678901] (4 sec)
New VM from Long Beach CA [1996789012] (3 sec)

Ooma has niceley formatted the "Subject" Line showing the Voice Mail Length (Sec) at the end so it is very easy to see which Voice Mails to listen to, in this case the 34 second Voice Mail was made by a friend of mine telling me she had a new Phone Number and the other 5 were people that were either to lazy to leave a Voice Mail or Robo Calls.

Oh so nice!!!! Thank You Ooma!!! - no Phone Numbers to add to the Call Block List - answer the phone when it rings because it is someone in your Contact List.. As "specialsauce" put it "Thanks Ooma for transforming my home phone from a nuisance back to what it was originally intended to be." I love it!!!

[Tom]

Now if we could only have an Auto Voice Mail Delete on Voice Mails less than some User Selected Length of Time.

You can specify 'Minimum duration' in https://my.ooma.com/preferences/voicemail. Any voicemail message below that duration is not saved.

[Tom]

I have unchecked all check boxes in the "Call Blocking Preferences" except the "Block all numbers not in my contacts and" I have chosen "Send to Voicemail" as my preference.

Consider leaving the block list options checked. That way you can have one call treatment for known/suspected spammers and another one (voicemail in your case) for the remainder.

[Bobs41185]

Tom, Thank you for the heads up on the minimum Voice Mail length. I was so excited to see the Contact list filter that I missed the Minimum Duration filter.

The reason that I have unchecked all other filters is that I received a "False Positive" Block on an important call from our Hospital. The False Positive had to be either from the OOMA filter or the NoMoRobo filter but this was important enough for me to want to steer clear of anything but the "Contact" filter.

In any event, I'm a SUPER HAPPY camper because the "Contact" filter makes a real nice phone system as long as you have a good Contact base. If I had my "druthers" I would like to see a "White List" added which you could add numbers that you would not call but which would be OK to call you. However, even if a White list is never added I am very grateful that I don't have to keep adding phone numbers to the "Caller Block" list.

[Tom]

Your contact list is the white list. Whether you call them or not doesn't matter.

I've removed the hospital number from the expanded block list.

[Bobs41185]

Tom, Yes, the Contact list "Works" as a "White" list but if I had my "Druthers" .... I think I will setup Dummy Contacts Named of the format "zWhite List xxx" which I believe you can add to 10 Phone Numbers each.

Also, I was using the "Minimum Voice Mail" setup but I had it set to 3 Seconds and it is now set to the Maximum of 5 Seconds which is better but again if I had my "Druthers" I would prefer to set it a little longer. The 5 Second setting seems to work for most Cold Calls and the "Sales Pitch" types might be picked up by the Expanded Blacklist but based upon my "False Positive" experience I choose not to use that feature anymore.

[Bobs41185]

Tom,

Based on a few Voice Mails I have received between 05/08 and 05/15 it seems like it would be better if the Minimum Voice Mail Time could be set to 15 seconds or possibly more. The Current Maximum setting is 5 seconds and still some Robo Calls get through. Also, it would appear that 5 second Voice Mails would not be Bypassed using the "5 Second Minimum Duration" (Maximum Setting). The current 5 Second Minimum Duration Setting is still a great improvement but it would be nice to be able to set a longer Minimum Duration Time.

<=========== Minimum Message Time Set at 3 Seconds ===========>
New VM from Robo Caller [1111110508] (4 sec) <====== Robo Call
New VM from Valid New Caller [1111110508] (34 sec) <====== Valid Voice Mail
New VM from Robo Caller [1111110509] (4 sec) <====== Robo Call
New VM from Robo Caller B CA [1111110509] (4 sec) <====== Robo Call
New VM from Robo Caller [1111110510] (10 sec) <====== Robo Call (Recorded Message)
New VM from Robo Caller [1111110510] (5 sec) <====== Robo Call

<=========== Minimum Message Time Changed to 5 Seconds ===========>
New VM from Valid New Caller [1111110514] (20 sec) <====== Valid Voice Mail
New VM from Valid New Caller [1111110515] (28 sec) <====== Valid Voice Mail