Blocking Calls With Verizon FiOS and wireless

verizon-fios-call-block

We haven’t had a true home phone since 2005, when we sold our last place in favor of a gypsy lifestyle. But, now that we’ve settled down once again, we’ve bundled voice services with our Verizon FiOS plan. I’d probably have settled for putting the first gen Ooma back into service or abstaining entirely. Especially as the wife subscribes to an unlimited AT&T wireless calling plan. Yet, the way Verizon constructs bundles, their triple play (voice, data, tv) is the best value – effectively giving us unlimited national calling and various phone features for about just $10/month. So, why not?

The original idea was the new home phone line would exist for our convenience (i.e. outgoing calls) and we’ve only given the number to relatives for emergency use. But I seem to have forgotten how insidious the telemarketers can be. Sadly, the worst offender has been the Indiana University (which is where I picked up my master’s degree). Due to where our phones are located and the times when they typically call (dinner), I’ve been unable to pick up in time and tell them to knock it off. I began contemplating dropping Verizon voice as it’s become a (minor) nuisance and we’ve made only a handful of outbound calls in the last couple months.

So yesterday I went online to see if Verizon offered some sort of Ooma-esque blacklist for FiOS Digital Voice. And, given the existence of this post and screenshot above, you already know that they do. Once the feature has been enabled, nuking specific incoming numbers is as easy as bringing up a context menu and clicking Call Block via the VZN web portal. Although, we’re limited to prohibiting only ten total numbers (along with all anonymous callers). I’m not exactly sure how future calls from these numbers are handled – are the perpetrators sent to voicemail, get a busy signal, or, better yet, receive some sort of message indicating that they’re unwelcome ’round these parts?

After hearing from Andrea Smith of ABC, I also wondered if Verizon Wireless provides a similar service.  They do. Although it’s further limited to a mere 5 numbers and blocks expire after 90 days.

14 thoughts on “Blocking Calls With Verizon FiOS and wireless”

  1. “So yesterday I went online to see if Verizon offered some sort of Ooma-esque blacklist for FiOS Digital Voice. And, given the existence of this post and screenshot above, you already know that they do.”

    Care to share a hint on how to get to that screenshot? I could actually use this.

    Do I need to be paying for anything beyond “Verizon Freedom Essentials” on my wireline phone package?

  2. To get to that page, I log into the Verizon site and click My Verizon Services > Home Phone > Calls. Here’s a pic.

    My plan seems to be called FiOS Digital Voice Unlimited, but I didn’t specifically request it – I just ordered the triple play and that’s what showed up.

  3. “My plan seems to be called FiOS Digital Voice Unlimited, but I didn’t specifically request it – I just ordered the triple play and that’s what showed up.”

    Yup. I get a different list in the “Home Phone” submenu.

    I’ve got a lesser phone plan with different features – essentially no frills except for Call Waiting and Caller ID.

    The beauty of living in a highly competitive market for wireline providers is that Verizon let me negotiate a very customized triple-play bundle to send costs far under the rack rate, and since I don’t use the landline for much, I was willing to save monthly money by trimming features there.

  4. AnotherDave, We’ve given out the number to family members for emergency and would like to keep the ringers on. We’re also hopeful of getting Melissa off unlimited AT&T minutes at some point if her work situation changes – if/when that occurs, we might really start using it.

    Maybe I’ll do what Chucky did and negotiate a cheaper plan. Hm, but then I’d lose call blocking. AND the last time I called Verizon, I tried to cancel the Showtime movie plan ($15.99) but ended up talked into an expanded channel lineup (that includes Showtime) and 10Mbps more on Internet ($15). They’re sneaky and I wasn’t prepared. Although I guess I’m saving $1 a month and getting more in the process. Not that I feel the difference between 25/25 and 35/35. I don’t download too many ISOs.

  5. “Maybe I’ll do what Chucky did and negotiate a cheaper plan. Hm, but then I’d lose call blocking. AND the last time I called Verizon, I tried to cancel the Showtime movie plan ($15.99) but ended up talked into an expanded channel lineup (that includes Showtime) and 10Mbps more on Internet ($15). They’re sneaky and I wasn’t prepared.”

    You’ve got to genuinely do your homework if you want to seriously negotiate with Verizon.

    Know the detailed rack rates and promotions that competing wireline providers offer in your area. Know the detailed rack rates that Verizon FIOS offer in your area, and know any promotions Verizon is selectively offering in your area. Know exactly what you need and what you don’t need in terms of the services they offer.

    Once you’ve done that and have it in front of you, (it’s a couple of hours of light websurfing), spend half and hour getting transferred around to someone empowered to verbally negotiate a final price with you and then send you an email confirming the details. They’ll haggle with you on any detail you want.

    And the beauty is that you get to lock in a rate for 2 years, so you only have to do the homework and phone work once every 2 years. And for a couple hours of light work, you can save enough under the rack rates to buy a nice Mac laptop and iPad for starters…

  6. We had to replace our cordless phone recently. The new Panasonic one we got has call block built into the phone as well as an answering machine with visual voicemail-like interface. We’ve really grown to love the call blocking feature!

  7. “To get to that page, I log into the Verizon site and click My Verizon Services > Home Phone > Calls.”

    Thanks for the tip Dave. I have always wanted to be able to do this. The only problem that I am running into is that when I select “Calls” it takes me to my email. I have the same plan as you. Wonder if I don’t have that feature……….

  8. Could be their website, which often appears to be messed up in various ways. For example, when I try to get details on my television plan it always takes me to my wireless/cell overview.

  9. Found the problem…

    You first have to activate Verizon Call Assistant in order to see a log of your calls. You do this by clicking on the “Home Phone” which is the red box highlighted in your screenshot. Then click on the Activate Now button and accept the TOS

  10. “Could be their website, which often appears to be messed up in various ways.”

    Verizon FIOS is one sweet wire. But their customer service is seriously screwed up in endless ways compared to the coax providers I’ve dealt with.

    Their website is screwier. Their phone support is screwier. And their billing department is much screwier.

    There is a downside to all the sweet wire goodness.

  11. I found a product which handles call blocking the way I want it done. It’s not cheap, and it’s really a UK product but they do have a model that works in the US — and works well. It costs $190 US, but for me it was well worth it. Check https://www.truecall.co.uk/home.aspx for info (you can’t order from the site for the US, you’ll have to do it via email). It is very flexible, and I don’t use all of the possibilities, but what I do have is a white list (up to 1000 numbers for white list and black list combined). Callers on the white list get through immediately with no indication anything is different. Callers with no caller-id or on the black list are blocked immediately. I have it configured so that all other callers first have to press a number (to help with robo-calls) and then identify themselves before my phone will even ring. If they do identify themselves then my phone will ring and I can listen to the ident and then press “1” to simply accept the call, “*” to accept the call and add the caller to the white list, “#” to refuse the call and add the caller to the black list, or do nothing and let it go to the machine.

    You can check activity through their web site, and I average two or three calls every day that I don’t have to hear ring my phone. That is exactly what I was looking for, and now I have it.

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