Problems and Solutions for the Block List
Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 10:31 am
Presently there are three major issues with the Block List:
- Names in the Call Log do not replace spaces with the non-breaking space HTML entity ( ), resulting in truncated names which don't match the actual value.
- Blocked Names can not contain symbols such as Commas, Ampersands, Hyphens, Plus Signs, and Parentheses, though they often show up in Caller ID names.
- Adding a name to the Block List trims that name, making it impossible to create rules such as "ends in ' CA'" to block "CITY CA" but allow "AMERICA".
- Allow Regular Expressions (PCRE would probably be a good standard to stick to) to the Blocked Names feature for advanced users.
- Add variables for checking names against their own numbers. For example, "%A" for Area, "%P" for Prefix, and "%S" for suffix would allow users to create rules such as "+%A-%P%S" that would block Caller ID names such as "+123-4567890" and "(%A) %P-%S" to block "(123) 456-7890" if the number 1234567890 calls, while for 9998887777, the names "+999-8887777" and "(999) 888-7777" respectively would be blocked instead.
- Add a sixth type of call blocking that prompts non-contact callers with a Captcha of sorts - Ask them to enter a series of digits on their phone to continue, and add any successes to a Captcha Whitelist, while sending failures to the voicemail or whatever the user chooses to do.
- Let users press a key (or series of keys) on their home phone to block an incoming call without having to use the website.