My personal ettiquite would want that people have the guts to say who they are, else why would they want to talk tome.

Oh, and if I'm calling a cell phone, I always ask if this is a good time to talk. Is that redundant, if they already know it is me based on the caller ID?

yes. I screen my calls.

I don't respond to voicemails on my cellphone. I'm clear with my friends and family on that account.

I don't have caller ID on my house phone any longer. I hated paying extra for it for the 5-10 phone calls I get a month, to which I ended up either letting the answering machine get it, or wait until they called my cellphone since they obviously really wanted to talk to me, and then, rule 1 may apply.

Just because I have technology for MY convienience doesn't mean that it's there for YOUR conveninece.

I have a pretty well-known policy that I don't listen to more than a 5 seconds of any voicemail, except for on rare occasions if the person is particularly entertaining, or if it's one of my friends with whom primary communication is voicemail.

I thought that was the whole idea behind caller ID.

Yes, I screen my calls. There are plenty of people that have my number(s) that I wish didn't anymore. Depending on the amount of alcohol I've consumed that day/night I may or may not answer to numbers I'm not familiar with. It seems I'm more likely to do so when I've had a few.

Best way to screen calls? Ignore them.

I never answer phone calls

I don't screen calls just because I feel no need for it. I have the ability to say "No" and use it if the call is a solicitation (rare occurence) or someone I prefer not to talk to. It has just never been a problem.

I always screen numbers, i won't answer you on my house phone 99% of the time, but on my mobile, why the hell not? If i don't like you, i'll bar you :)

You need a "Sometimes I screen my calls" option. Normally I love talking on the phone, even if it's a phone survey. I don't get telemarketer calls except I've gotten a few from Verison since we were with them a year ago. But their number always shows up as Verison on the ID. Lately I've screened called from my brother because he's been a jerk lately. Even if he wants you to do something for him he's still rude in the way he asks. He's been taught to behave better but he just tells people "It's how I am now, deal with it." Most of the time I am way to curious as to who an unknown number is that I will answer almost anything. Now that we paid off our debts we haven't any collections calls anymore so much less reason to screen. Calls from certain public service (like Social Services, Health Department, etc.) offices in our town always show up as blocked. As a day care provider I sometimes have to deal with them. Sometimes calls from the hospital show as blocked. I think it's for privacy of the patients they call. So blocked calls don't get screened aroun dhere.

Exactly what he said. All my honey and I have are our cell phones, so a lot of my calls get sent to voicemail. If I don't want to talk to you, I probably won't answer, if your number is blocked, I probably won't answer, and if I'm busy, I won't answer. Leave a voicemail, if I wanna talk to you I'll call back later, if you're busy, that's fine. We'll catch each other eventually.

I always screen my calls - get so many calls from telemarketers and the like.

Don't screen my calls. Don't see much of a point, but then again, I don't get too many solicitors or unwanted calls. Typically just work-related junk or friends.

At home I almost always answer. At work though, the receptionist lets me know who it is and the I choose if I want to take the call or have them leave a message.

That's the thing with solicitors. I didn't give them my number, yet they call trying to sell me a mortgage, siding, a mortgage, soliciting for the fireman's fund, a mortgage, toner, a mortgage rate reduction program, and so on. Why on earth these people tend to leave two minute long messages is beyond my ability to comprehend. Sometimes, when they call, I'll pick up and then hang up without talking to them to avoid the message.

Grace's friends tend not to understand how voicemail works. The outgoing menu starts, they skip the outgoing message, and nearly all tend to say something like, "Hello? Grace, Gilda? Are you there? Pick up if you're there. This is Kari. Are you there? Well, ok, call me back when you have the time." They'll talk for a minute, waiting for someone to pick up, instead of using that time to tell the machine whatever it is that they want Grace to know.

Then again, Grace and her friends belong to that bizarre subculture for whom talking on the phone is a form of recreation rather than a means of sharing information.

My friends know how to leave a message: "Hey Gilda, this is Brad. I'm going to be a little late for comics tonight, be there about 6:30."

You should definitely sign up for the do not call list. https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

If I don't recognize the number or just plain don't want to talk to you for any given reason, I won't. I seriously dislike talking on the phone. Especially cell phones.

caller id. if your number isn't one i know, chances are i won't answer. the voice mail's there for a reason, lol.

I don't screen them at all - if i'm available i'll answer it when it rings regardless of who it is. If i don't answer, it means im not answering any calls at all so i must be doing something important (not likely!)
When its someone trying to sell me shit i don't want, i just hang up - as El Pollo said, its better for them aswell.

I've never heard of this. I'm not sure if I want to use this. I'm not sure I want my information listed on a service available to every telemarkerter in the country. Sure, the reputable companies will use it the way it's supposed to be used, but no reputable company would be calling me without my having established a relationship with the ahead of time.

When I did used to answer my phone, I'd tell the callers I didn't want them calling, and it seemed to have no effect, so again, I'm leery about giving my info for free to every telemarketing firm in the country.

I always screen on my mobile, and if i don recognise the number they get diverted to voicemail.

Just recently I've been off wrk on sicklave due to stress/harassment, and I secreen calls because I can't face talking to work for any reason. If they leave me a message (not that they do) I'll write them a letter (not an email). Over here we have "1471" which I think is like "*69" in the US, it tells you the number that called you.

I use that a lot.

It is totally legitimate. Don't worry about it.

I have been on it since it's inception first on the state level and then on the federal level.

I even didn't register a new phone when we moved, and remembered to do so a few months later. Once registered the telemarketing calls diminished to ZERO.

Now once in a while I get gallup polls and local pollings calling. I do not know how they operate, but if I have time to answer their questions I will to help represent my opinion which should also be a percentage of people out there as well.

I don't screen my calls, I just don't answer the phone. I don't have a land line and I leave my cell phone off much of the time. I really don't like to make small talk on the phone so I let people leave messages and if the call has some importance I will return the call at my leisure. Mostly I find the phone an annoyance but it comes in handy in emergencies.

I screen calls all the time. If I don't want to talk to someone, or don't know who it is, I'll let it go to VM. That's why VM was invented after all... to take messages. *shrug*

Only if it is an inconvenient time for me, or if I want to get the conversation summarized in a nice message. About 25% of the time do I screen. Of that, maybe half are rejected.

I almost always screen my calls. Not many people have my number in the first place so if it is a phone number I don't recognize then I'm not answering - it's more than likely just a telemarketer. Bleh! More often than not people get my voice mail or answering machine because quite frankly - I hate to just chit chat on the phone.

I have a bad reputation amongst my friends because I never "pick up". *shrug* If it's important they know to leave a message and I'll get right back to them!