Verizon's definition of "Anonymous"

[Buzzy62]

I'm just curious what they think anonymous actually means.  When I look it up it says:

a·non·y·mous

[uh-non-uh-muhs]

adjective

1. without any name acknowledged, as that of author, contributor, or the like: an anonymous letter to the editor; an anonymous donation.

2. of unknown name; whose name is withheld: an anonymous author.

3. lacking individuality, unique character, or distinction: an endless row of drab, anonymous houses.

So, what *I* learned in school and what the internet describes "anonymous" as are the same.  Where does Verizon get THEIR definition?

Why am I so curious?  Well, according to the description of "Incoming Call Block", it states that "All anonymous calls are rejected."  So, that SHOULD mean that NO calls that don't identify the caller should come through.  If that's true, I should NOT be receiving calls from "Out of area", "Unknown", or any other number of "of unknown name; whose name is withheld: an anonymous author" as stated in the very definition OF anonymous.

Since they are ignoring any requests for change to a feature that is grossly limited, it's my guess that they are going to add a "pay for" service that you can add on.  They know this is a HUGE issue, they know that they can fix it, and their stance is apparently to ignore the desperate cries for help with the hopes of making millions for something (that is "offered" as free) that doesn't do what it's designed TO do in the first place.

It's sad that these multi-billion dollar corprations feel the need to just continue to abuse their customers until they are on the verge of leaving, rather than doing things that please their customers so that they will not have to keep going from company to company till they find something satisfactory.  PROactive isn't in their vocabulary anymore....it's all REactive.

[PJL]

What you're likely seeing is a caller (usually a telemarketer) spoofing caller ID by placing the word "Anonymous" in the caller ID information that they manually enter in the system (aka spoofing).  That's the caller ID information that gets displayed on your phone, etc.  What anonomous call blocking really does is block any caller that has no caller ID information that is usually displayed as "private" on caller ID.  When you turn on anonmous call block that's what you're doing -- is blocking the caller for which the caller ID information is blocked.  Callers that have their ID blocked will get a recorded message that the party they have called does not accept anonymous calls and to unblock their caller ID by pressing *82 before they call.

Verizon could indeed explain the feature better and use better terms.  But...

It's the caller ID spoofers who are breaking the law by inserting anonymous in their caller ID data.

You might look into nomorobo.com if you have FiOS Digital Voice.  Some have reported it works well in blocking these bogus "anonymous" calls.