Call screening and how to get around it

Call screening is also known as call blocking and different companies may have different names for it. Essentially this is a system offered by many telecoms companies which means that if the call is from an unrecognised number the caller will be asked to identify themselves in a short message. The callee’s phone then rings, they hear the message and can choose whether to take the call. Our automated emergency call system cannot cope with this but there is way around it.

Essentially it is a two-step process, assuming you have added a responder but are having an issue getting connected.

1. Call your phone supplier and ask them to put our number – 0161 850 4480 – on an approved list, sometimes known as a ‘white list’ or even VIP list. Help for the major UK suppliers is below.

2. Once our number is approved you to confirm that you are happy to be a responder by either:

   1. Call 0161 850 4480, listen to the message and respond by pressing one on your keypad.

   2. From the screen where you were added as a responder click on ‘Call for confirmation now’ then answer your phone and press 1 on the keypad.

Sky Talk Shield: This is likely to block our automated emergency call service as a robot; you can manage this from either within your account or by dialling 1780 and then 4. You should then be able to scroll through the numbers until you find 0161 850 4480, select it and choose the option to move it to your ‘Star List’

TalkTalk CallSafe: Once you have added the phone number into my.acticheck.com you should call 0161 850 4480 from that number and follow any instructions that are read out to you over the phone TWICE.

TalkTalk CallSafe will whitelist (allow incoming calls) from any phone number you call twice in a period of 35 days and by following any spoken instructions on the call you will verify the number on our (Acticheck's) system.

Talk Talk's full instructions are available here.

BT Call Protect with BT Answer 1571: this allows calls through from numbers that have not been withheld unless you tell them that you don’t want to get any more calls from that number. However, it might be possible that we get sent to a junk calls folder and you don’t get the call. If this is the case you should add 0161 850 4480 to your ‘VIP list’ either by logging on at www.bt.com/mybt or phoning 1572 (which is free).

BT Call Guardian: Whereas BT Call Protect operates in the exchange BT Call Guardian operates on your phone. To whitelist the number for Acticheck you should find the menu function on your handset and then navigate to Call Control where you can add the telephone number 0161 850 4480.