Unwanted Calls

Unwanted calls can come from a variety of sources. While WebFones provides tools to block specific callers, some situations—such as incorrect advertising or misdirected calls—require different approaches. This guide is designed to help you identify the source of unwanted calls and understand what you can do to minimize or stop them.

The most important first step is to ask each caller:

• Who they were trying to reach
• What number they dialed
• Where they found that number

This information will help you quickly determine the origin of the calls and the right solution.

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Unsolicited Offers and Robocallers

Many unwanted calls come from telemarketers or automated systems. These are typically the easiest to manage.

How to Reduce These Calls

• Use the Block Caller feature in your call notifications.
• Manually add the number to your Block List under the Lists section.
• Add a menu step requiring a button press before connecting to a live person. Most robocallers cannot respond to menus, so this effectively eliminates them.

Important Considerations

Some robocallers:

• Change their caller ID frequently
• Use spoofed or stolen numbers

Because of this, blocking individual numbers may not always be effective. Adding a simple phone menu (even with just one option like “press 1 to continue”) often stops these calls entirely.

Toll-Free Number Abuse

Robocallers sometimes target toll-free numbers after hours, staying on the line and causing blank voicemail messages—costing you money.

Solution:
Require callers to respond to a menu before going to voicemail.
See: Limit 800 Spammers

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Erroneous Advertising

If callers frequently ask for services you don’t offer, the cause may be a mistaken advertisement.

What to Ask the Caller

• “What number did you dial?”
• “Where did you see this number listed?”

Often, a business has published the wrong number in an ad, causing their customers to reach you. The only fix is to contact the advertiser and get the listing corrected.

If the ad is only appearing in one region, consider blocking calls from that area code temporarily.

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Google Ads (Google Adwords)

If you use Google Adwords, be aware that:

• Google often displays tracking numbers instead of your actual number.
• If your targeting criteria is too broad, you may receive calls from people who were not intended to see your ads.

If callers say they dialed a number you don’t recognize, and you are running Google ads, contact Google Ads support to refine your targeting or disable the incorrect number.

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Erroneous Call Forwards

If callers ask for a completely different business, someone may have accidentally forwarded their calls to your number—often due to a mistyped forwarding code.

What You Can Do

Try to contact the company:

• Using their website
• Via email
• Using a secondary phone number

Let them know that their callers are being routed incorrectly.

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