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If I could find an old princess phone (just pick up and hang up) and get a cell phone line (eliminates most telemarketers) hooked up to it somehow, then I could call and check on her every day. She can't manage much more than picking it up to answer. Can't dial a number. I want to stay in touch, and I live far away. She is living in her home with caregivers (single grandsons).

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You could find a simple phone online and then order a new landline number for her. It would take time for telemarketers to find the new number. Better yet, get an unlisted number. It will cost more but be worth it. Then only you or whomever you give the number to can call.
Take care,
Carol
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P.S. -
It doesn't matter what phone you have, as for robo calls, the telemarketers are pegging ALL phones, they robo calls just go digit by digit hitting ALL phones.
And, we know that the DNC (Do Not Call) list does NOT work.
This is why I say, we need legislators to really fix the problem, once & for all.

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Phones with large numbers are for blind, not deaf.
And, many OTC phones have adjusted volume -- albeit anemic negligible audio difference.
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I can see how telemarketer calls would hinder phone wellfare checks for caregiving. I myself don't get "a lot", but - heck - one a day is too much! So, I have resorted to Caller ID (external stand-alones) on my phones, and I simply do NOT answer unless & until I know it's a viable friend/relative/business! I can see where that would be a problem/issue for "confused" seniors. I have researched phones... for ears/hearing issues, I've gotten phones from CTAP (free to Calif. residents), however, they're just adaptational OTC phones. I've found NO phones that suit my issues at this point! Battery & uncorded phones are the PITS for my ears/hearing - and it does not matter if it's MY phone or the calling person's phone... the quality of the calling person's phone makes a huge difference in my hearing/audio, too.

But, back to telemarketers calls -- IMHO, I think the only viable answer is We the People MUST take action that our elected reps legislators MUST do something serious & drastic to STOP this prolific invasion of our home phones. It's having a profound effect on friendships, families, etc., all who simply live by their Caller ID's... and even get discriminatory about which friends/family legitimate people they opt to answer for. A civil society doesn't need that!
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I have Mom's answering machine turned up so she can her message being left.. She's been told by me to ONLY pick it up if she hears and knows the person calling.. Anyone who actually knows my Mom knows to say "Hi Mom it's me are you there"? Then she picks up!! It gets recorded on machine until she picks up..
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You might try one of Tracfone's big button phones. We got one for my Mom when my Dad with LBD began fixating on the telephone. We ported their number to the Tracfone and cancelled the landline. They're pretty easy to use and are made for seniors. If your Mom can push the 'send' and 'end' buttons it would work great for her. It also has speaker-phone and voice mail, which might come in handy. You just pay as you go every 90 days or so. My husband and I liked it so much that we got one for ourselves (Tracfone is our first and only 'cellphone'). We've NEVER gotten a telemarketing call on it and we've had it almost a year now.
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You can get a phone with large numbers for the hearing impaired so you can turn the volumn up, get her number unlisted and put her on the DO NOT CALL list, which you can go on line and do. It will take about 3 months to have her placed on the list. Only give out her number to the people you would want to call her. I believe cell phones would be hard for her to push the button to answer and you run a risk of her loosing it and if she is in facility of CNAs and the staff using it. And they will. I am lucky the facility my mother is at has a resident line takes the phone to her when we call.
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If I had the choice I would get a Wal-Mart Straight Talk phone. The initial cost is about $100 (it went down black Friday) and the monthly fee is $25. And no telemarketers. Give the number to no one. I have one and it works fine.
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Have you tried the majicjack as it works through the computer and you wouldn't have any long distance charges. I don't think that the Tele-markets can get through this line. Look into it as it can't hurt. Good Luck
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I placed my dad on the Do Not Call List but it was not effective. I was told that the DNC list only blocks certain kinds of calls and while I don't remember which kind of calls it does block I remember thinking at the time what a useless service it was as my dad still received calls from people who worked outside of the DNC list.
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My Mom has MagicJack, is on the DoNotCall list and still gets telemarketers. As someone said, robodialers will find them. And, since they don't always go off published lists of numbers, can even get through on unlisted numbers.

However, getting an unlisted number and getting on the DoNotCall list (and don't forget that needs to be periodically renewed) is a start.

Here's what I'm wondering and I'm just asking if anyone knows how to do this but:
In e-mail, we can whitelist people where we can insist that we only allow e-mail from certain people. On phones, we normally do the opposite where we block those numbers we don't want. I have to wonder if there's a way to use one of the VOIP services like e-mail, where you tell just which numbers you will allow? I'm not saying there is, just putting that out to think about.

With that said, I wonder if there's a way to do that with something like Skype? And, then, can you somehow how that up through a line to a princess phone?

I have seen those princess phone handsets to attach to cell phones, for those people who can't speak/hear on a cellphone, but I don't know that that's going to work -- am just mentioning it in case it could somehow work into this strategy.
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