Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Avoiding and/or blocking telemarketing phone calls

The who: Anyone with a cell phone

The what: They are receiving unwanted phone calls from telemarketers

The why: Telemarketers are trying to sell their product

Testing the who: Anyone with a phone might have this need. Everyone, rather it’s a house phone or cell phone, has at one time received at least one unwanted call from a telemarketer.

Testing the what: These calls are for the most part unwanted because who is really going to take someone up on a “free” trip to the Bahamas.

Testing the why: Telemarketers are trying to make a living by selling their product, but there has to be a better way of getting their product or even service out there then by just making random calls.

Interview #1
In this interview the person I spoke with receives at least one phone call a day from a telemarketer. She said that sometimes she would receive more. She tried to stop the calls by adding her number to the Do Not Call list, but that only seemed to stop the calls for a little while. She doesn’t remember what if anything happen to cause the calls to start. She would like there to be a better option in stopping the calls. She also only has a cell phone, no home phone.

Interview #2
This interview I spoke with another female who was a little older than the first. She receives calls at least once a day. Her calls come mainly to her home phone though. She has both a home and cell phone, but she only uses her cell phone when she travels. She was able to add her number to the Do Not Call list and she started calling to report them individually. She didn’t notice a drop in the number of calls that she receives though. During this interview, the interviewee pointed out that she gets calls from local numbers that turn out to be telemarketers.

Interview #3
In this interview the male interviewee only has a cell phone. He always remembers getting them, but never added his number to a registry to try to stop the calls. He will block each number that calls to try to stop the unwanted calls. He noticed this did stop calls for a short period, but he thinks the telemarketers switch their numbers because he will eventually start getting them again.

Interview #4
In this interview I spoke with a teenager. She has no need for anything a telemarketer might be calling to sell. For this interview, we spoke only about her cell phone because she’s not sure about the number of telemarketing calls her family might get to their home phone. She doesn’t receive very many calls. She said that she many actually only get one a week. The unwanted calls are very small compared to my first 3 interviews. She didn’t know of any registry that she could add her phone number to stop the calls.

Interview #5
For this interview I spoke to a self-employed man. He uses his cell phone for mainly business purposes, but also has a home phone. He does receive telemarketing phone calls on mainly his cell phone. Sometimes a telemarketer will call his home, but if he’s not home to answer they usually won’t leave a message. He said that he has heard of the Do Not Call list, but never took the time to add his numbers to them. Since his cell phone is for his business he answers all calls and will just hang up once he hears it’s a telemarketer.

After these 5 interviews, I see that no matter the age there is a need for stopping and/or reducing unwanted calls. Each person has his or her own way of dealing with this problem. They would be open to using something that they only had to enter once to stop the calls. The teenager and businessman seemed to be the least worried about the calls. The teenager because she rarely receives them and the businessman because he answers all his calls in case one if from a customer.