Inbound call categories

[rsawoseyin]

Inbound calls can be in any of the following categories:
a) No number (which means the caller's number does not show at all MagiCall sees these as "Anonymous")
b) Not in contacts (which means the number shows but not in Contacts. These are not "Anonymous")
c) In contacts (Number recognised as listed in Contacts)
For inbound calls that are not in my contacts, I want to automatically send an sms. But for "No number" (="Anonymous"), I cannot send an sms. I notice that MagiCall treats the Anonymous calls as being the same as "Not in contacts", and tries to send an sms. This is not correct.

[admin]

This is by design. Anonymous number cannot be assigned to any contact, so it should be treated as Not in Contacts.

You can move the rule for filtering anonymous number to a higher position than others in the list so that it will be performed first when an anonymous call is filtered.

[rsawoseyin]

Ok, your suggestion solves my problem.
Thanks.

[Melita#4]

I'm having problems setting the filtering I need, and hope you can suggest a solution.

I want to block anonymous txt messages (because it's spam), other than txt messages from my service provider. In other words, I don't want txt messages that have no number and only display a company name, EXCEPT if the displayed name is the service provider's.

The top filter I have set as:

Rule type: SMS
Filter type: Not in Contacts
SMS filter: <the service provider's name as it appears in the "from" line of the txt message>
Operation: Action1 - Normal, Action2 - Do nothing

The second filter - below the first one - is set as:
Rule type: Phone - inbound
Filter type: No number
Operation: Action1 - ignore, Action2 - Do nothing

I find that spam txt messages still get through, that is, txt messags that have a different company name than the service provider in the "from" line.

How can I make this work?

Thanks

Melita#4

[admin]

Hi Melita#4,

I think the second rule needs to be changed to:

Rule type: SMS
Filter type: Not in Contacts
Operation: Action1 - Delete, Action2 - Do nothing

As we know, SMS from your service provider will be processed normally because of the first rule, so we can filter all other SMS from unknown senders.
Hope my answer works for you. Thanks.

[Melita#4]

Thanks for your reply.

I guess I have the same question/problem as rsawoseyin.

I want to be able to ACCEPT txt messages from senders who are not in my contacts list. I want to BLOCK txt messages that are from anonymous senders. They are not the same thing.

Here's my reasoning: Let's take a wildly hypothetical situation - somone who knows me, and has my cell number, meets Ms. Perfect and describes me in such irresistable terms that Ms. Perfect asks for my phone number. Ms. Perfect sends me a txt message, proposing a life of uninterrupted bliss together with me. I will of course never get this txt message, because I am blocking spam from the folks who send out mass messages from anonymous numbers. Oh woe is me! My blissfull destiny is blocked!!

What I don't understand is this: if I select rule type "Phone - Inbound" then I can filter by EITHER by "not in contacts" OR by "No number", but if I select rule type SMS then the "No number" option is missing. Why does MagiCall not offer "No number" for SMS rules??

In your reply below you write: "Anonymous number cannot be assigned to any contact, so it should be treated as Not in Contacts." But - you DO allow allow these to be treated separately for incoming phone calls. And - these are two different types of incoming communication that a cell phone can receive.

I hope you can see my point and that you can change your filtering setup in your next release. Otherwise I will have to find other software, because your current design forces me to chose between either accepting spam, or blocking txt messages from identified numbers that are not (yet) in my contacts list.

Please?

Thanks.

Melita#4

[admin]

Hi Melita#4,

I understand your requirements.
You may try using "Delivery Report" to filter anonymous SMS senders. I will add some improvements for SMS filtering to the next release. Thanks.

[ericat]

I have been trying to filter all inbound calls that is not in my contact list.  However, everytime I set this up all call seem to come through or all calls go straight to voicemail.  How exactly do you set this up.

Filter Type: In contacts/not in contacts
Action1: Ignore/Hangup
Action 2: Do nothing

[admin]

Hi ericat,

Delete all existing rules. And then add this one:

Rule type: Phone-Inbound
Filter type: Not in Contacts
Phone #: <leave this field blank>
Action1: Pick up/Hang up

Thanks.