Private numbers

What is private-number roulette?

Not all private number callers are out to get you, I have a number of elderly relatives and friends who just don't realise they have the hide my number setting on their mobile phones turned on. Also most don't realise if you put 142 in front of the number your calling from an unlisted landline your number does not appear as a private number to who you are calling.

I just want to go back to the days when the phone out in the hall was the only way to contact me......ring ring....hello?....life was simpler then.

notsoyoungwan wrote: »

I’ve no idea why it does.

It’s a filtering strategy, so that the direct number doesn’t come up otherwise people could call the person they want directly instead of having to go via the secretary or the switchboard.

There’s no way anyone’s going to “fix” it unless the system allows you to call from one number while showing another on the screen.

I’m highly amused at people complaining about private numbers.
I’m old enough to have lived at a time when mobile phones weren’t even thought of, never mind invented, and back then , when the phone rang , you just answered it, obviously as someone was calling you.
Why it’s deemed necessary to know who’s calling in advance before you answer these days is beyond me. I get that it’s a neat feature to see who’s calling, but private number coming up would never stop me answering the phone.

Accidentally wrote: »

To be honest, you should get this fixed.

I’m not going on a one-woman crusade to get the hospital phone infrastructure changed.

steinbock123 wrote: »

I’m highly amused at people complaining about private numbers.
I’m old enough to have lived at a time when mobile phones weren’t even thought of, never mind invented, and back then , when the phone rang , you just answered it, obviously as someone was calling you.
Why it’s deemed necessary to know who’s calling in advance before you answer these days is beyond me. I get that it’s a neat feature to see who’s calling, but private number coming up would never stop me answering the phone.

Same here.
Like the hospital example above, this also happens with some other large organisations.
I am more inclined to answer private numbers as I don’t want to be wondering who called.

Just hang up otherwise

notsoyoungwan wrote: »

I work in a hospital and the switchboard comes up as a private number. So if I’m ever ringing a patient or their family, it’s a private number call. It never ceases to amaze me how many people will ring my secretary looking to talk to me and then not answer their phone when it rings- bearing in mind they’re expecting a call. It got to a stage where it was a considerable waste of my time, so now I have a policy of leaving a message if they don’t answer the first (if they have voicemail enabled) saying who I am, that I’m returning their call and that I’ll try again, giving an approximate timeframe. If they don’t answer the second call, that’s it, I’m not trying again. I’ll also document the date and time I phoned.
The same people will often turn up to their next appointment and make an issue of it, saying “I was trying to contact you” or similar, often with a reproachful tone or air of disappointment so it’s very handy being able to say “yes, I rang you back twice, at 2.30 and at 4pm on the 15th” - cue a backtrack “oh I mustn’t have heard it” or such.

Or.....why not have your secretary warn them the number will be from a private number.....

steinbock123 wrote: »

I’m highly amused at people complaining about private numbers.
I’m old enough to have lived at a time when mobile phones weren’t even thought of, never mind invented, and back then , when the phone rang , you just answered it, obviously as someone was calling you.
Why it’s deemed necessary to know who’s calling in advance before you answer these days is beyond me. I get that it’s a neat feature to see who’s calling, but private number coming up would never stop me answering the phone.

I also don't remember my house phone receiving nearly as many unwanted calls from telemarketers, scammers and other annoying parties though. It's not really comparable.

Saying that, I do find now that most private numbers are legit these days with covid as they're people using their personal mobiles for work calls.

Mullinabreena wrote: »

I get lots of work related calls on my own phone on my days off. So yeah it's definitely handy to know who's calling. I normally don't answer work calls when I'm not at work.

You need to go Android if not already. Dual sim phone and get a new personal number using a cheapie service like 48. Then turn off work sim when not in work. Even consider ditching voicemail altogether if your work will allow it. Never will you be annoyed again nor have to worry about say your kids or family inadvertently answering a work call for you on a day off.

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

I read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald which said some people now think its rude to bother them by phoning instead of WhatsApp messaging.

I can see their point. I hate receiving calls from people I'm not at ease talking to.

I hate Private Numbers even more.

Would you ever F OFF with your private number.

What are you hiding....??

It's OK for you to know my no but not OK for me to know yours??

Pretty sad state of affairs when people consider a phone call to be rude. If anything the art of conversation is dying through the superfluous use of text messaging, email and WhatsApp.

I see it with the younger generation who have joined the office in the past few years. On occasion when they have a query, I suggest they call so and so who will know the answer, which will also help with their networking, they look at me with confusion and bewilderment. They end up sending an email, which results in a lengthy email thread when a quick phone call would suffice.

Likewise, I've no issue with private numbers, people like to guard their privacy, particularly given the increased use of personal data in our daily lives and lack of transparency around the use.

CPTM wrote: »

This is why people roll their eyes at the health system these days. Everything is a crusade. And of course it is when the default idea is that something else, over there, owned by someone else, has to change.

Just get a mobile phone and set up call forwarding to your secretary's number.

Why though? Because some people don't want to answer a number they don't know? Shouldn't people working in the health service be saving their energy for important stuff?

The only sensible idea I've seen on here about how to "fix" this is to have the secretary warn people that the call will be from a private number, and if she's queried about it, she can explain that this is to prevent hospital staff from having to waste time dealing with nuisance phone calls - exactly the same reason they don't want to answer unidentified calls in the first place.

A better solution IMO (but a bit off topic as it can't be done by any individual) would be to stop all the selling on of phone lists and so on. One thing that was great during the first lockdown was there were no phone calls of people trying to sell home insulation or roof repairs or tell you you needed to contact an insurance company. Such a load of scammers - and they all had to stay home during the first lockdown, it was wonderful. Though IME they're rarely from private numbers anyway.

Sharpyshoot wrote: »

The 1970’s called there and asked will you put a tape into the vcr to record Fair City.

Fair City actually started in the late 1980s.

The number appearing on digital displays only became a widespread feature in the early 2000s when mobile phone use increased significantly.