Block That Robocall

The FTC recently announced that two people – Serdar Danis and Aaron Foss – will split the $50,000 prize offered by the FTC for the best overall solution for blocking illegal robocalls. Here is a list of the submissions. Danis proposed a system that “would analyze and block robocalls using software that could be implemented as a mobile app, an electronic device in a user’s home, or a feature of a provider’s telephone service.” Foss’s proposal involved “a cloud-based solution that would use ‘simultaneous ringing,’ which allows incoming calls to be routed to a second telephone line.” The “second line would identify and hang up on illegal robocalls before they could ring through to the user.” And until those solutions are publicly available, there is always the more low tech approach.