RoBlock

Managing long black/white/grey lists of numbers for individuals or the masses just isn't feasible. Numbers change and what one person considers a robocall of spam (credit card rates lowered, anyone?) others may want to hear (non-profit fundraisers).

The fact is, the only way you can address the issue is by forcing robocallers to have manpower behind the calls. A phone bank calling and playing a digital message to people can be stopped by RoBlock, but one that dials and waits for a person to answer before connecting the call to an operator can still get through. And the manned robocalls are the legal ones more often than not as they staff phone agents, have to maintain legit caller ID information, and don’t spoof return numbers.

So we need to ask what the goal is. If the goal is to stop "Rachel from Card Services" but still allow "manned calls" through, then yes, RoBlock is the answer.

Installed as a device pre-phone in the wall or as a software interface on mobile devices or VOIP phones, users will record their own voice asking a challenge question of their choosing… “1 multiplied by 9 is?” and then program their answer by pressing the key(s) required to pass their test: “9”. RoBlock could come pre-programmed with a bank of questions to choose from or could allow users to program their own. Pressing # could repeat the question for the caller so a legit (manned) robocaller connected after the challenge question was read, could re-hear it as needed to answer and prove they are human. A personalized white-list could be added for requested recording robocalls (local city calling lists for example).

The device/software will intercept the call before ringing the phones and will either drop the call or pass the call on to the phones to ring if the caller fails/passes the test.

See the submitted file for specifics regarding the judging criteria.