Do you screen your calls?
 

This came up in the cell phone etiquette thread. Many of us screen our calls for various reasons, regardless if we have a land line or a cell phone. I'd like to see just how many of us do screen our calls, what are our reasons for doing so (or not doing so), and what we consider polite/rude in screening our calls.

I sure as hell screen my calls. If I don't recognize your number on my cell phone, I'm not answering. You can leave a voicemail and I will check it and call you back. This is mostly because I am incredibly phone-shy. I'm not the kind of person who calls people to chit-chat. If I call someone it's to make plans or arrangements of some kind. So if I don't know you, I don't want to subject myself to the anxiety of talking to you. Sorry :)

I dont think its rude but i dont care enough screen - i just answere as soon as it rings...
on the other hand, if I get an IM from someone i dont want to talk to at the moment i'll ignore it - i'm often not around anyway so they'll just assume thats the case when i dont respond...

I have found that if I don't recognize the number, then it is either a telemarketer, in which case I don't want to waste my time, or someone asking for a favor, in which case, if it is important enough, they can leave a message and then I can judge whether or not I will be able to help.

Only time I don't screen is in case I know my wife forgot her cell phone that day, because I would never want to miss her call in case she was in trouble or something.

Ya I screen calls on my cell phone, If it doesn't say who it is..They get the voice mail. I get alot of calls from an unrestricted number..But they never leave message's. I figure it's some kind of soliciting company.

I screen my calls electronically. If you aren't on my short list of known numbers, the phone won't even ring, it goes directly to the answering machine. Even if I know the caller, I won't necessarily pick up. Hell, I don't always want to talk to my mother.

I purchased a telephone and telephone service for my own convenience,not so that the whole world could annoy me. Leave a message and maybe I'll call you back ... or don't bother calling, I'm fine either way.

I never just answer the phone unless I know for sure who is calling and want to talk to that person.

When at home, if I'm doing something I don't want interrupted, I just ignore the phone and check messages later. If I have the phone on, I screen, and seldom pick up. Most of the time it's a telemarketer. Heck, most of the time, the caller hangs up with no message left, saving us both some wasted time.

On my cell phone, people who I want to talk to have personalized ring tones, and if I get a generic tone and don't recognize the number, I don't answer. I also set it to "away" if I'm in class, at a public performance of some type, or driving, check messages later, and return calls at my convenience.

I don't mind a little bit of call screening. There are certain times that you want to not be bothered, such as dinner time, etc. There is no number attached to it, but I do think it's rude to screen most of your calls.

I don't count telemarketers or numbers you don't know as screening calls. I mean when you see that it is someone you know and chose to wait for them to leave a message.

i miss my old phone for this reason...the caller would hear 5 rings no matter if i hit ignore or not. my new one immediatly rolls them over to VM if i do that. i've taken to simply letting calls get missed instead.

no reason to snub them by letting them know that i'm not taking the call...but i do like to protect my time by hearing what some folks have to say before getting back to them. i think it's just a fact of life...

Screen sometimes. Hate collection agencies.

I've been screening lately because my work keeps trying to call me in. Seriously, if you haven't scheduled me, I'm not going in. Wish I had caller ID.

I always screen my calls. Not that I never answer my phone, but I always check. Occasionally I decide not to answer even if it's a close friend. I may even sort of want to talk to them. Just not at that particular moment. They are under no obligation to pick up when I call back. I also am not offended when they don't pick up, or even if they do accidentally pick up and then tell me they'd rather not talk right then. Eventually, we'll get each other on the phone. Really, it's so much more efficient than the old school technique of having someone else answer the phone and ask who's calling so you could thumbs up or down.

/Incidentally, I've been playing phone tag with a friend of mine for three months. She lives 5 minutes from my house.

I screen my calls only when i'm busy/in class/at work. In general, I pick up almost anything, worst case scenario is that it's some random telemarketer who get's the "sorry, but i'm not interested. This conversation is ending."

Unless of course it's someone I clearly don't want to talk to

I screen my calls. I'm just not the chit-chatty type on the phone. If it's my husband, sister, or dad, I'll pick up. If it's someone else, it'll depend on my mood. If it's an unknown number, I rarely pick up; I'll just check my messages later. If it's important, they'll have left one.

None what so ever.

I am either answering all incomming calls, or not answering any at all.

I don't screen calls, but I will ignore the phone completely if I'm in the middle of something. In that case I'm not screening, I'm just not answering.

No caller ID on the landline and 98% of the calls to it are either telemarketers or not for me, so as a rule I never pick it up unless I'm expecting a call. Even then I'll usually wait for them to start leaving a message. (And it seems the people calling for me always leave a message while nobody else does.) Hell, I should probably just turn off the ringer.

On the other hand, I always answer my cell phone unless the caller ID was blocked because I want most of the calls to that.

Yes and no. Screening as in looking at the number, if I recognize it, I'll answer, otherwise, v-mail you go. Same for my home phone.

We screen our calls using the caller id. I don't answer calls that do not show a number and lately we are avoiding an old friend of my husband's who is trying to get us to join some pyramid scam thing. On occasion, I don't answer if my parents call. They do not always call at a good time.

As far as my cell, I pick up every time. It's almost always someone I want to hear from. As far as the home phone though, if the number is an 800 number, then I pick up and laugh maniacally then hang up. I tried pranking them before (storyline and everything), but I start cracking up almost every time.

I screen mine. Mostly because I am so tired of the telemarketer's. They don't take no for a answer. Since I've gotten tired of it, it's been f*** off and leave me alone already.

Most of the time though, I don't hear the phone ring when I'm in another room. So, it's like a convience for those times. :)

Plus, having caller id, let's me know who it's for and who's called while I've been out. I've got alot of friends and family that will not for the life of them talk to a machine. :hmm:

I always screen my calls at home, just to make sure the person calling is someone I want to talk to. A lot of telemarketers call my house, for some reason. I'm not worried about them talking me into buying something I don't want. I'm just too polite to hang up on people and I don't feel like wasting my time saying, "Sorry. I'm not interested." for 10 minutes until the person on the other end finally gives up.

I don't screen calls on my cell phone, since there are only a handful of people who know my number.

I screen.

I only have a handful of people call me anyway due to my years and years of bad phone etiquette. Finally my CONSTANT VIGILANCE has paid off. ;)

I once had a telemarketer call me 8 times in one night. On the last one of the night, I finally pick up the phone with "You're quite the persistent little monkey aren't you?" followed by a Spongebob Squarepants/Jihad yell. (I don't know if that's the proper description, but the Spongebob fans know what I'm talking about, right?)

He hasn't called back yet....

Um, why don't you all just sign up for the "Do Not Call List"? It works great!

I only have a land line. That's it. Only calls I ever get are from mom, brother and a few friends. Plus, if you don't want to be bothered, don't give out your number.

I rarely have people call me -- one of the joys of being a lousy conversationalist... The calls I do get are generally work related, and while I have caller ID I generally have to take the call... Personal calls, depending on my mood, who it is, and the hour is whether I pick up the phone or not..

i always pick up the landline without even thinking...

it's got a screen that displays the number, i just don't look at it...

but my mobile is a different matter,

i look at the number, and if i feel like talking to that person i will answer...

if it comes up as a "private number" it depends on if i feel like talking to a random person...

basically i comes down to my mood.

That's easy... yes.

One stalker in a lifetime is plenty, but more than five is an embarrassment of riches. :rolleyes:

No, I don't screen my calls. I see no reason to. I like my friends and family and don't need to avoid them. And when a call comes from an unrecognized number I always make sure to answer. What if it's a friend stuck on the side of the road calling from a payphone and he needs help? I've been on the other end of that situation before and my call was ignored because it came from a payphone. It sucks. And if it's a telemarketer, you just hang up. No need to listen to them. No need to make excuses. Just hang up. It's not rude. I spent one day as a telemarketer and the best calls were the ones that hung up on me immediately without making me give my stupid little monologue. The worst ones were the ones who listened to me all the way through just to say "not interested" and then hung up. Besides, I'd rather spend 5 seconds on the phone than have the phone ring in my ear and then listen to my voice on the answering machine.

I don't use the phone much, but I remember having my roommates answer my phone because of a certain person who would not stop calling...

At my dad's house, when I stay there, we have one of those answering machines you can listen to while someone leaves it, so if someone important is leaving a message we can just pick up the phoe in the middle of it and talk to them. :lol: I think there's some people my dad doesn't want to talk to either....

Nup, I'm a attention seeker, I need all the calls I can get. Plus it's for my freelance webdesign... Not many calls on that though.

Absolutely.

I only turn on my cell when I want to talk to someone, so almost no one has that number.

Landline, I use caller ID. Don't pick up if the number is "unknown." That's a dead giveaway to a telemarketer.

I used to use "privacy manager," which didn't even let a call through if the number was blocked. The caller got a message that said, "The person you have called does not accept anonymous calls." But that cost $3 a month.

Now, on the extremely rare occasion that a telemarketer gets through, when they ask to speak to [my name], I just say "hold on for a minute," and leave the phone off the hook until they give up.

For the reason listed by the former telemarketer above.

I've heard it also works if you start breathing heavily and ask the telemarketer (in a husky voice), "So.... what are you wearing?"

You have to rely purely on your sexiness to get through life, eh? ;) Don't know, you seem like a good conversationalist to me.

jorgelito: First off, not all of us are American. Second, the DNCL does not save you from everything. As a Canadian ex-market researcher (the poor cousins of telemarketers), I made thousands of calls into the United States. Your silly lists don't apply to us! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!

*doh!* :eek:

*slaps forehead*

Damn you! *shaking fist* Stay away from my phone! :mad:

Luckily for you, I got out of that business a few months ago. :thumbsup:

Sounds like someone's staying busy. ;)

I screen my calls generally. Sometimes I just don't want to talk to people. I'm a bit shy and get anxious so if I'm not in the mood then I don't take it. What I hate is people calling me back later and then letting me know they had called earlier and "why didn't you pick up?" when I don't want to have to lie but also don't want to be blunt and have to say, "you see, I don't always feel like answering the phone just because it's ringing!". My mom does that, no screening, no matter what she's doing (having a meal, chatting to me, whatever). I hate it.

I usually screen my calls, and always do on my cell. I'm tired of wasting my minutes telling someone they have the wrong number. Only a select handful of people call me on my cell, but I get more than my fair share of wrong numbers.

I only have a cell phone and the only people who have the number are family, close friends, and my daughters daycare. I may check to see who is calling before I answer the phone, but I rarely screen calls. If I don't want to talk on the phone, I turn my phone off. I've have been known to turn my phone off for 2 or 3 days at a time.

My cell phone is even more restricted; wife, nanny, and work, and my workplace would never call me outside of work hours. And my wife knows I hate talking on the phone. Therefore, if my cell rings, it gets answered because it is important.

At home, the Do Not Call list takes care of telemarketers. Also, we don't answer the phone while eating dinner, but I don't consider that "screening".

I almost always answer the phone. Occasionally if I don't want to talk to someone I will not answer a specific call (especially if on the phone with another person) but usually "hello" or "hey whats up" is what you'll hear when you call.

I rarely answer the phone anymore... most times it is telemarketers trying to sell me something.

If it is important, the person will leave a message and I can call them back.

Additionally, I really hate it when the phone rings while I am eating dinner, watching a movie or TV show...

Just because you are calling doesn't mean I have to answer.

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!