The following is a way for ATT cellphone subscribers with LOCKED iPhones to block specific telephone numbers. This was a simple solution to my battle against a particular nasty Telemarketing / Travel Company called E Tour and Travel. You too may have a number you'd like to block; a disgruntled ex, a bailiff or debt collector, the Pope, your parole officer, or any other such "person non grata". -
The bad news is that there is currently no FREE way to block a particular phone number from calling your iPhone. AT&T appears to offer a paid service called "Smart Limits" that allows a user to block numbers but it's $5 per month / line and why should we have to pay for this! The method I'm going to describe here is called the silent ringtone trick and no, I did not come up with the idea even though 20k people per month hit this page! Dead simple idea really, grab a new ringtone call Silent Ringtone, you can grab it from this website, then assign it to the number you want blocked. The silent ringtone is actually a real 30 second ringtone that consists of 30 seconds of pure silence. Your phone will ring for all other calls, except the ones assigned to this ringtone! (See gotchas at the end of this article)
Here it is in three easy steps:
- First download file by right clicking (or command clicking apple users on this special secret SILENT Ringtone download link IMPORTANT --- <<< DO NOT SIMPLY CLICK ON THE LINK - YOU NEED TO DOWNLOAD IT TO YOUR COMPUTER and to do this YOU MUST EITHER RIGHT CLICK - Mac users do a CONTROL CLICK. Once downloaded you'll need to drag it into your iTunes ringtones folder and then sync it to your iPhone.
- Next add the number that you wish to block to your Address book, give it a nice name like "Telemarketer Scum", "Miffed Ex" or "Jonny Law". If you've got a lot of numbers to block create one universal blocked call contact called Blocked and you can then add other numbers to it in future by the "Add to existing Contact" feature.
- Finally assign this secret Silent Ringtone to the just added Telemarketer or Miffed Ex. Voila! you'll never be disturbed by them again.
This method is not really a true way to block calls at the telephone exchange / network level but really a workaround. You'll still see the callers number in the Phone > Recents > Missed list. If you phone is on vibrate, it will vibrate when the baddies call but not ring, this may be annoying.
They will still be able to leave you a message (most telemarketer won't) BUT the phone will never again ring when they try to call and harass you, out of sound out of sight perhaps??!
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MyLittlePortal.com is Richard's personal blog. Richard is a video producer and Drupal web developer who lives in Boulder, Colorado USA. 
July 28, 2010 - 9:44pm
Just a small correction. On a Mac right click is control-click, not command-click.
You can also set your mouse or trackpad to use right-click for the right side in System Preferences->Mouse or System Preferences->Trackpad.
August 4, 2010 - 12:33pm
Thanks, changes made.
July 27, 2010 - 9:34am
Once you get over the compulsion to answer anyone who wants to call you, there is an even better twist for the silent ringtone.
I have an extensive contacts lists that I keep current. I created a silent ringtone and set it as the DEFAULT ringtone on my iphone (ie if this was all I did, the iphone would NEVER ring regardless of who was calling).
I then set audible ringtones of my choice for all the contacts that I want to break into my world. Yes, from time to time, I initially forget to set an audible ringtone for a new contact, but that is easily fixed once I notice the missed/incoming/voicemail from the person. I also set my voicemail to the ATT default greeting which does nothing more than restating your phone # and offering the person the ability to leave a message. With visual voicemail, I can then screen which voicemails I want to listen to.
Amazing how quickly my nuisance calls dropped off. Telemarketers don't make money leaving messages and will drop your # once they realize they never get to talk to a real person.
July 11, 2010 - 4:19pm
Awesome....now for a good nights sleep! Many thankx.
July 1, 2010 - 9:19am
hi there, does this work on international numbers and text messaging.
help!!
June 23, 2010 - 5:42pm
Ever since I changed to AT&T for the iPhone I have been harassed by countless telemarketers. This is a perfect workaround for free as there are no blocked call features. Appreciate the file and sharing of this tip.
THANK YOU!!
June 9, 2010 - 7:34pm
Download was easy, and works like a CHARM! Thanks..
June 4, 2010 - 2:50am
Thank you so much for this silent ringtone trick to block calls on my iphone. This is an enormous help. I am really grateful. I can understand why ATT&T won't allow this. Can you imagine if we all just blocked our bill collectors? But for an ex- or other such personal problem, not being disturbed by certain calls is critical. Thank you for the silent ringtone info.
May 22, 2010 - 7:37pm
The only issue is if they dial *67 then the number(which blocks the callers number from showing) Smart Limit will not be able to block the call.....
May 22, 2010 - 2:34pm
Lovely - easy - safe --- perfect work-around
May 20, 2010 - 1:38am
I just made up a don't answer list and set the ring tone to crickets and when & if I here the crickets it go in one ear and out the other, it works for me....
May 12, 2010 - 8:06am
After syncing I was looking for some sign it was there, ie an app, it does not show up anywhere, you go to the contact and click on ringtone and it is under CUSTOM and click on it to put that contact in silent ringtone. Can't wait for the jerk to call now! HA! For those who said it didn't work I'm wondering if they did the same thing I did!!
May 4, 2010 - 2:26pm
Just tried it and it works great. THe unwanted person calling is now completly silent. I just dragged the file to my itunes and then updated it to my phone like it said. Thanks!!!
April 29, 2010 - 4:22pm
I've tried everything without success. Trying to download it on an iMac. No luck.
Any suggestions highly appreciated!
May 6, 2010 - 1:24pm
You have to right click on above link (need drop down to appear) --- then save as --- and it downloads the .mr4 file. Import this file to your itunes. then, click on ringtone tab for your phone - tick the new slient --- then sync your phone --- under ringtones it will be under custom on phone.
May 4, 2010 - 11:56am
If won't download or wont' work when you've got it downloaded? You have to do a "save file as" ie RIGHT click or else you'll just see a lot of gobbildy goog in your browser window.
March 22, 2010 - 10:00am
Dude, you are awesome. This works great and saves the $5 rip-off. Now, got a way to tether my iPhone? <grin>
March 13, 2010 - 7:47am
I don't understand why this is so hard to do. My son's new Samsung Impression has this feature right out of the box!
March 9, 2010 - 12:00pm
Thanks for providing this "work around" . A simple but very effective solution.
March 3, 2010 - 8:53am
you are my new favourite person.
January 22, 2010 - 5:44am
Thank you so much for sharing the ringtone, was able to add it into my ringtones folder with no problems. One thing I noticed is that the ringtone sync must be checked to sync in order for it to work, for whatever that's worth. Thanks again, great share.
February 28, 2010 - 3:00pm
Thanks! Lol I pay my bills on time but find this very useful to keep an ex from harrassing me. Thanks again!
January 18, 2010 - 1:15pm
This works quite well: thanks!
January 18, 2010 - 1:14pm
This works quite well: thanks!
January 15, 2010 - 12:12pm
Works perfectly!!! Genius!
January 12, 2010 - 11:13am
Thank you for walking this new user through how to "block" the most annoying telemarketers in the world. This good karma will come back to you!
December 28, 2009 - 2:29pm
I think your solution is great if not a stopgap until AT&T and others provide better solutions to this junk. However, my problem does not allow me to use your method.
I'm getting random but numerous BLOCKED calls in which the number is not displayed, and according to AT&T, attainable either through them or software. The iPhone, in addition, does not allow you to store a BLOCKED call in contacts since it has no phone number. So I can't assign the silent ringtone to any calls from BLOCKED.
At the end of all of this is a ridiculous policy by AT&T (or perhaps all phone companies) that allows someone or anyone to call YOU and not have to provide their phone number. From spammers to ex-lovers to perverts, this protects the wrong party in a phone call...and cost you money as well!
One can only hope that either an app or public ridicule will eventually get rid of this idiotic "feature"!!
December 23, 2009 - 1:42am
It works, simply but brilliant idea. Thanks.
December 1, 2009 - 8:41pm
This is a great way to deal with annoying calls without having to break my phone. You should create an app for this and put it in the app store. I would have paid for this. Bless you and may great karma come your way for putting this out!
December 1, 2009 - 8:58pm
Thanks, this is an old trick, not my idea but a little app would be nice. What would be better is for AT&T to let us block numbers on their side not on the phone - they do I think but we have to pay extra!!! It's not just AT&T, Tmobile also does not allow numbers to be blocked on all phones.
It's really a phone carrier problem I think, the cell phone system, GSM, was not designed to do this.
Another option would be to sign up for a google voice number and then do all the blocking on the google voice side.
February 25, 2010 - 12:32am
The problem with this is that the person you are trying to block will have your actual phone number, not your Google Voice number where you can block them. You can fix this by creating an empty ringtone and setting this as your default ringtone. Use Audacity to create a blank mp3 file, follow instructions at http://www.rickysays.com/create-ringtones-for-free-using-itunes. In Google Voice > Settings > Phones > Calls > set "Caller ID (in)" to "Display my Google Voice Number" (and "Caller ID (out)" the same, for consistency). This will let you add Google Voice as a contact, and give it a ringtone with sound. This is what I did.
Before changing your ringtone settings, however, please Google Voice > Phones > Activate Voicemail on this Phone. Does this force all phone calls to be filtered by Google? I would be interested in knowing.
November 17, 2009 - 5:44pm
I got this new number and looks like the previous owner never paid any bills on time and now i'm getting harrased by these debt collectors. I'm in process of trying this...so what would happen if the computer leaves a message (voice mail) it'll still make that new voicemail sound...or can that be avoided too...
thanks
AG
December 1, 2009 - 9:05pm
I don't think you can get around the caller leaving you a message. Sometimes you can actually try speaking to them and telling then that you're not the person whom they are looking for and to please take your number out of their system. I think in the US they have to do this by law. Give it a try, I recently had a case of a company calling my girlfriend's cell phone every day at 8am, this had been going on for months she said. I decided to have a little chat with them and polity told then to stop calling the number as I was not the person who they were looking for. It worked and no more calls!! Of course some sleaze bags will continue calling so you may have to go the silent ringtone route. If you've got a ton of debt callers then you may want to change you outgoing message to say you are not so and so and please take the number off their list ie put it on their do not call list.
August 20, 2010 - 7:36pm
There's a list you can get on at www.donotcall.gov and you can sign up land lines and cell phones for it. If telemarketers call you after you've signed up, they get fined. However, this only applies to solicitors, not to bill collectors.
In the United States, if you tell a bill collector to stop contacting you by phone, by law they MUST stop. But they can still send you notices in the mail.
November 8, 2009 - 5:02pm
Wow huge thanks for the great tips. Those marketer are just drinking my blood lately.. 10 times a day I am getting those dumb advertisings full of various dumb links and other dumb stuff. I am a calm person, but I am really mad about it. Sometimes they are even calling.. It is the last degree of rudeness to my mind. I even thought to change my iPhone to the old nokia, because there is the function of blocking unwanted numbers. But thanks to your article, I won't have to do that. Thanks one more time and I will be looking forward to other great ones from you.
Sincerely,
Jeff Turnton from iphone development
October 3, 2009 - 10:33am
The link to the silent rington didn't work - just brought up a page of gobbldygook.
October 3, 2009 - 10:37am
Download by right clicking (or command clicking apple users) on this link and then do a save file as
September 1, 2009 - 6:44am
Thank you!!! I had a telemarketing computer (I assume) calling me for 6 months now, three times every night at 3:00 AM! It was driving me crazy. When I answered (or called back) I got no response...I managed to get AT&T to give me 'Smart Limits' for free for a few months, and it was such a relief, but as soon as it was cancelled I started receiving the calls again...
Tried filing a complaint with the Do Not Call List...tried everything...so THANK YOU!!!!!!
August 28, 2009 - 9:09am
I do not not what a command click is. Searching the internet to find out what it is has proved unhelpful. How can I download this to my iPhone? I have tried dragging the strange coded page that comes up to my Ringtones and nothing happens... Can someone assist me with this so that I can start ignoring the sexually harassing calls from Pakistan I've been getting?! Thanks.
September 12, 2009 - 2:37pm
If you have a PC or Mac with a two button mouse this is just a simple right click. Command click is for Mac users with old one button mouses!
August 22, 2009 - 10:58am
Thank you so much! I've been harrassed constantly by two different online pharmacies. I actually got AT&T to give me the "Smart Limits" free for one month and ahhhh, bliss. The day my freebie ran out, I started getting the calls, 3 or 4 times a day again. So thank you, this is awesome, great to have without needing to "break" my iPhone.
August 14, 2009 - 2:15pm
Thanks Richard, Brilliant!
August 10, 2009 - 7:14pm
This is awesome. I have had a caller that comes up as "Unknown". I don't have any idea who it is. I am hoping that this will keep the call from coming through(sort of), even though I don't have an actual phone number to go by.
August 10, 2009 - 7:43pm
My experience is that "unknown" calls are from VOIP sites like Skype. The phone has not received the caller ID for some reason such as the caller on the other end temporarily removing their caller ID by dialing a number on their handset or a call made with a calling card.
Gotta be careful with this one as if you have folks who regularly call you on Skype their calls will be lost forever. A workaround is to get them to sign up of a Skypeout number. The phone number their Skype account will be assigned will show up on your phone when they call.
August 6, 2009 - 7:38am
Here's an even better idea: If you don't want collection agencies calling you, PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME!
December 9, 2009 - 8:21pm
So somehow you thought your response was helpful - "may the bird of paradise...." oh never mind - it would be a waste of everybody's time. If you don't have something nice to say or helpful - please refrain from telling us your IQ - best of days to the rest of you, ciao!
December 1, 2009 - 2:54pm
Paying your bills is the smart way to go, but I have had a debt collector calling me looking for a former friend of mine that used me as a reference. So for what ever reason, you can use this. Assign your mom the silent ring tone for all we care. This could also work for those mistresses that call you while you are with your wife and 10 kids.
August 6, 2009 - 7:53am
The purpose of this article has nothing to do with blocking collection agencies. I wrote it to stop telemarketers mate. In todays economic climate it's not hard for folks to get behind in their bills and end up on a collection agencies hit list. Sure, if you are have the money and don't pay your bills then you will pay the consequences, I'm all for that.
July 20, 2009 - 11:28am
thank you :)
July 13, 2009 - 6:51am
The ringtone really works! Thank you so much for posting this. I hated the idea of paying ATT an extra $5 a month just to do what most other services allow for free.
You're the best.