Perhaps I'll start answering my phone with the phrase “Please identify yourself.”
Then if the calling party fails to comply with my request I will promptly hang up.
Sounds like a good idea to me. It's assertive, it remains courteous to legitimate callers, and it allows me to efficiently identify spammers without giving them any information.
Just in case you've not heard of him, there is a fellow here in the US who apparently makes something of a living by screwing with telemarketers (phone spammers?) and recording the conversations. He offers a few sample bits on his web site (http://www.tommabe.com/) and has a couple of albums available.
Pretty hilarious stuff.
Aside from that, I'm working on a project to intercept telemarketer calls so that they never even ring my phone using an SDK from a company in Canberra called NCH Swift Sound. I'm sick of ass bag telemarketers calling all day every day.
I recently turned down a contract for a pretty sweet (meaning good money) offer because when it came time to sign the NDA I was told it was for a telephone marketing system. Turns out someone else took the offer though and now the company offers a service that spoofs a local phone number in an attempt to overcome the caller id features of phones here. Bastards.
Hey Rick,
Thanks for telling me about Tom Mabe. Very funny. I haven't heard him before.
Well done for not taking the job, but man, I'm finding it hard to see anything in IT that isnt' either bullshit or unethical to some degree. Doesn't seem to matter what you do, you get forced to create systems for watching, controlling, manipulating or annoying people.
Oh well.
John.
Or, you could quote your phone number, like "Good day, this is 555-123 456 speaking". That way, you don't give them any information they don't already have, and it's a little less aggressive than "Please identify yourself".. Sorry, that sounds more like something my ATM would tell me :)
Yeah, I thought about quoting my phone number, and I agree that it is friendlier. The thing is, that I don't actually know my phone number..
Honestly. :P