The most INCREDIBLE feature suggestion discussion

[MLXXXp]

Although I proposed the order of precedence as "PIN Privacy," "Whitelist," "Community Blacklist," then "Personal Blacklist," if they are not enabled, they won't take effect as the flow points out.

But I still would want "Whitelist" to come before "PIN Privacy" if both were enabled.

[lbmofo]

My proposed order of precedence of "PIN Privacy," "Whitelist," "Community Blacklist," "Personal Blacklist" is the way it is because it goes from most restrictive "PIN Privacy" to least restrictive "Blacklists." I had 3 groupings of "All or Nothing" in mind; 3 groupings: "PIN Privacy," "Whitelist," and "Blacklists." If you enable them all, the call flow would execute the most restrictive "All or Nothing" processing first.

To me, the meanings of these features:

PIN Privacy: you better have a PIN or you won't ring through.
Whitelist: you better be on my list or you won't ring through.
Blacklist: you can ring through if I didn't block you.

MLXXXp, what you are proposing is a hybrid whitelist: "you better be on my list or you won't ring through....however, I'll let you ring through if you have a PIN."

I suppose Ooma can be accommodating and put calls through whitelist processing first and then let it flow through to PIN check if caller not on whitelist. No big deal in processing or changing the call flow. In this case, a bit of an hairy situation with whitelist treatment specification though in that it may not get executed if PIN Privacy is enabled etc.

[lbmofo]

Modified call flow proposal for 2 groupings: "Whitelist & PIN Privacy hybrid" and "Blacklists."

Ooma Call Flow - Whitelist Hybrid PIN Privacy.jpg (55.56KiB)Viewed 11815 times

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Original call flow proposal for 3 groupings: "PIN Privacy," "Whitelist," and "Blacklists."

[lbmofo]

Added the above "Whitelist + PIN Privacy" to Collection of Blacklist Related Requests.

As for Blacklists, some folks may want to give their My Ooma Contacts exception, added that to the collection thread as well.

[lbmofo]

I think the option to give exceptions would be pretty important in the blacklisting feature. If one is to block all toll free numbers via wildcard blacklisting for example, there certainly would be a need to give exceptions to certain numbers via an exception list (readily available exception list would be My Ooma Contacts).

In summary, to me, the meanings of these privacy features:

• Whitelist: you better be on my contacts list or you won't ring through.
• PIN Privacy: you better have the correct PIN or you won't ring through.
• Blacklist: you better not be on my blacklist or you won't ring through.
• Blacklist Contacts Exception: you better not be on my blacklist or you won't ring through but I'll give you a pass if you are on my contacts list.

Proposed implementation:

Make it "Either-Or:" "Whitelist and/or PIN Privacy" OR "Blacklists with Contacts Exception Option"

With these enhancements, users would have complete control over when the phone rings or when it doesn't. This would make Ooma the most dominant leader in phone privacy; no one will be even close.

Here is the latest and greatest proposed call flow:

Ooma Call Flow - Whitelist-PIN Privacy Blacklists-Contacts Exception.jpg (56.25KiB)Viewed 11107 times

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Note on 11/4/13: Robocall blocking suggestion can be implemented with less restrictive PIN Privacy than what MapleOne suggested. In other words, within the PIN Privacy setting, give Ooma users option to have restrictive custom PIN(s) or less restrictive "just make sure caller is human."

Restrictive Option: as MapleOne suggested, have Ooma user define PIN(s) for caller to input.
Less Restrictive Option: as lewis.drake suggested "For example, the caller must enter a number stated by the Ooma computer, or enter the solution to a simple math problem (what is 2+3?) before the call will ring through"

[OneCustomerOfMany]

Good work on the diagram, but I think one important thing is missing. I touched on this in another post, but after trying for some time to get my blacklisting to work with the "almost whitelist" in my answering machine, I think this feature is important.

My issue is that whitelisting treats all non-contact calls the same - VM or goodbye. It would be more flexible if I could make that choice based on blacklisting. I have to allow voicemail for non-contact calls, since I will occasionally get important calls from unknown numbers. But I also get a lot of nuisance recorded messages and hang-up messages--I need to blacklist those. (By the way, an option to automatically throw away messages less than X seconds would be nice. I would probably make X=3. It would stop most of the hang-up messages.)

Let's make the whitelist and blacklist work together. This is a very simple change to the flow diagram for whitelist, on the left half of the diagram. Replace the oval box "VM or goodbye treatment" with the following branching decision:

Code: Select all

     Does number match enabled blacklist?
       Yes ---> Handle according to matching blacklist
       No ---> VM or goodbye treatment

So simple! No additional UI work is required, and no proposed functionality is lost.

[OneCustomerOfMany]

On a more personal note, I have been using OOMA blacklists in combination with my answering machine's (incomplete and flawed) whitelisting, and it amazes me how much this improves the quality of life. Telemarketing is truly one of the great evils of our time.

What also amazes me is how hard it is to find good whitelisting solutions in phone answering machines--sometimes they come close but are missing key features (like suppressing the ring until the number is checked). Has anyone found an answering machine that does whitelisting well?

I almost cancelled my ooma subscription this year ... but the thought of yummy whitelisting has kept me here for a bit longer.

[lbmofo]

Good work on the diagram, but I think one important thing is missing. I touched on this in another post, but after trying for some time to get my blacklisting to work with the "almost whitelist" in my answering machine, I think this feature is important.

My issue is that whitelisting treats all non-contact calls the same - VM or goodbye. It would be more flexible if I could make that choice based on blacklisting. I have to allow voicemail for non-contact calls, since I will occasionally get important calls from unknown numbers. But I also get a lot of nuisance recorded messages and hang-up messages--I need to blacklist those. (By the way, an option to automatically throw away messages less than X seconds would be nice. I would probably make X=3. It would stop most of the hang-up messages.)

Let's make the whitelist and blacklist work together. This is a very simple change to the flow diagram for whitelist, on the left half of the diagram. Replace the oval box "VM or goodbye treatment" with the following branching decision:

Code: Select all

     Does number match enabled blacklist?
       Yes ---> Handle according to matching blacklist
       No ---> VM or goodbye treatment

So simple! No additional UI work is required, and no proposed functionality is lost.

What you want is handled on the right side via the "Contacts Exception." You said so yourself here: /viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14441&p=109975#p109975
These may also cover your other wants: Collection of Blacklist Related Requests.

[lbmofo]

What also amazes me is how hard it is to find good whitelisting solutions in phone answering machines--sometimes they come close but are missing key features (like suppressing the ring until the number is checked). Has anyone found an answering machine that does whitelisting well?

Not sure how people implement this but the callerid is received after the 1st ring so if a device is suppressing ring until callerid is received, that would shorten your opportunity to answer calls (the caller would have heard at least a couple of answer tones before your phone even starts to ring).

[OneCustomerOfMany]

What you want is handled on the right side via the "Contacts Exception."

Not quite. That logic will always ring through if the number is not blacklisted. My suggestion allows me to make such calls go to voice mail--I don't want those numbers ringing, but I want them to go to voice mail so I can check later if they are important. My suggestion gives us better control.