PreFone Filter

1-800-NO-2-JUNK

dbuchan@i2k.com

PreFone Filter

STOP telemarketers
STOP fundraisers
STOP hang-up calls
STOP wrong numbers
  BEFORE your phone rings

PreFone Filter is a simple, solid-state, computer-based device that attaches to your phone line and eliminates unwanted calls before your phone rings.

Picture of PreFone Filter
  • Installs in seconds
  • Small size: 6" x 4" x 1.5"
  • Works with both touch-tone and rotary dial phones
  • Accepts calls from both touch-tone and rotary dial phones
  • Compatible with all answering machines
  • Rock-solid 1 year warranty
  • Shipping since 1992
  • Made in the U.S.A.

How it works

Messages

Ring patterns

PreFone uses distinctive ring patterns to tell you whether the caller pressed 4, 5, or 6.

Models

PreFone Filter Deluxe

PreFone Filter Standard

PreFone Filter JunkBuster


Here are some ways to make PreFone work for you

Basic

You have reached (123) 555-1234.
Press 5 to speak to a person.
If you do not have a touch tone phone, please stay on the line.
This simple message will screen out wrong numbers, as well as the most telemarketers.

Junk buster

Sales and fundraising calls are not wanted here.
Telemarketers and fundraisers hang up now.
Others please press 5.
This gives you grounds for taking legal action against any telemarketer who persists in calling you.

Directing calls

You have reached (123) 555-1234.
To speak to Mr. Smith, press 4.
To speak to Mrs. Smith, press 5.
To speak to Tommy, press 6.
Distinctive ring patterns let each person know when a call is for them.

Telling friends from strangers

You have reached (123) 555-1234.
Please press 5 to continue.
Tell your friends and family to press 4 instead. When the phone rings, you'll know if it's a friend or a stranger.

Screening out strangers

You have reached (123) 555-1234.
Please press 1 to continue.
PreFone will not ring your phone if the caller presses 1. Tell your friends and family to press 5 instead. You'll never get a call from a stranger.

Screening out everyone

<silence>
For the paranoid.

Why PreFone is a better way to deal with telemarketers

There are lots of ways to deal with telemarketers. THE ANTI-TELEMARKETERS SOURCE has some great ideas. Go ahead—take a look. Then come back here. We'll wait...

Pretty funny, no? But when you think about it, all those ideas basically boil down to three approaches:

Hang up
Say "I'm not interested" and hang up. This gets you off the phone fast.
Waste their time
Let them go through their spiel, and then tell them you're not interested. If they're going to waste your time, you might as well waste some of theirs. If you use your imagination, this can even be amusing.
Sue them
Telemarketers have to follow rules: keeping don't call lists, disclosing certain information, etc. If they don't follow the rules, you can sue them. Some people make money doing this.
But there's a fundamental problem with all these approaches: as soon as a telemarketer makes your phone ring, you've lost.

As soon as a telemarketer makes your phone ring

With PreFone, your phone doesn't ring.

With PreFone, you win.


Why you keep getting hang-up calls

Telemarketers spend all day making phone calls. Sometimes they work from lists of phone numbers. Sometimes they just dial numbers at random. Either way, it takes time: Telemarketers don't make money while they're dialing the phone. They only make money while they are talking to customers. To keep their operators talking instead of dialing, many telemarketers use computers to do the dialing: Only after the computer hears the word "Hello" does it connect an operator to the line.

In order for this to work, the computer has to dial numbers constantly. If the computer waits until an operator is free before it starts dialing, then the operator has to wait for the computer to find a customer. The computer is doing the work that the operator used to do, but it isn't saving the operator any time. It isn't helping the operator make more money.

To avoid this, the computer dials numbers constantly. When someone answers "Hello", the computer checks to see if there is an available operator. If there is, it connects the operator to the customer. If all the operators are busy, it just hangs up on the customer, and keeps on dialing.

In short, telemarketers use computers so that they can waste your time instead of their time.

Get PreFone. Let your machine hang up on their machine.


Steven W. McDougall / resume / swmcd@theworld.com / 1998 February 2