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706 points ortusdux | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.443s | source
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watusername ◴[] No.42138985[source]
If you use a VoIP service like Twilio and voip.ms, you can set up a very simple IVR menu that just asks unknown callers to press 1 to be connected to you. No AI involved.

For me, this has been surprisingly effective against robocalls. Obviously this isn’t going to work against scammers who call directly, but most of the spam calls I receive start with some pre-recorded message which isn’t going to pass the menu.

Edit: s/auto/pre

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Ronnie76er ◴[] No.42139399[source]
My Pixel 8 (not sure what other Android phones do this) can screen calls using their AI assistant. It asks what the call is about. If they answer, it displays the text to you as it rings through.

It sounds surprisingly human-like, even saying "Hello?" in a slightly annoyed tone when the other person doesn't respond in time.

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1. koyote ◴[] No.42142004[source]
Those Pixel features are underrated.

Another good one is for the phone to stay on hold for you. That one has been extremely valuable to me as Qantas would regularly keep me on hold for over 5 hours when I tried to get my money back for a cancelled flight. The operator would sometimes be a bit confused when I pick up, but it usually worked well and certainly beats listening to hold music for hours.

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2. FredPret ◴[] No.42142437[source]
… until Qantas deploys AI bots that can keep your AI going indefinitely!