How to stop Telemarketers – National Do Not Call Registry

The old adage, time is money is more relavant than ever in todays fast paced society. Every second counts and having to deal with unwanted phone calls is a pet peeve of mine. Enter The National Do Not Call Registry, a government database managed by the FTC that tells telemarketers not to call your number. After you register they have 31 days to stop calling you. After that you can report the offending number to the FTC using the same website. Here is the official description:

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

I’ve been lucky over the years and not had a huge problem with telemarketers calling my cellphone but as of late I seem to get a few a month. I’ve since registered my number and I’m eager to see if it actually works. Of course this is the same government who were watching diligently over our offshore oil rigs in the Gulf so we’ll see what happens. You too can register your number here. Let me know if you spam calls decrease. You can see all the caveats here – eg calls from political parties and phone survey are not covered but give it a try.