How to block a number on your landline

Do you continue to receive unwanted calls on your landline, from the usual call center or from a well-known annoyance that you would rather never hear again? If that’s the case, you don’t have much of a choice. To solve the root problem, you need to block incoming calls from such nuisance numbers, either by making a request to your phone service provider or by employing a specific device for the purpose.

In this regard, I anticipate right away that almost all national operators allow you to block a number on your landline, if belonging to a call center or, in general, to a known spammer, simply by making a request to the customer service of your operator. telephone; the possibility of inhibiting phone calls from numbers closely linked to your person (e.g. numbers of relatives, acquaintances, former partners, employers, and so on), may not be provided by the service provider. In the latter case, it is sufficient to have a cordless telephone with blocking functions, or a call blocker, to remedy the problem.

In the course of this guide, I will explain, therefore, how to get in touch with the customer support of the various operators, how to set up blocking filters independently (where possible) and what are the necessary requirements to be able to use a “physical” device of block, in the absence of dedicated services: I assure you that everything is more difficult to say than to do! At this point, there is nothing left for me to do but wish you good reading and good luck.

Index

• How to block a number on your landline phone: TIM
• How to block a number on your landline: Vodafone
• How to block a number on your desk phone: WINDTRE
• How to block a number on your landline: Fastweb
• Other ways to block a number on your desk phone

How to block a number on your landline phone: TIM

The most immediate way to go in order to block a number on the TIM fixed telephone is to apply directly to the operator’s technical assistance. At the time of writing, in fact, TIM does not envisage any automatic system for managing blocked numbers, except for any security mechanisms included in cordless telephones or call blockers (which we will discuss later ); the block can usually be requested only for spam numbers but, in some cases and with valid justification, other numbers can also be extended.

To be able to report to TIM the need to block the reception of calls from certain numbers, you must get in touch with an insider, by telephone, chat or one of the other systems provided by TIM.

To contact TIM customer service by phone, call the number 187 from the landline on which you want to activate the block and wait for the automatic voice to answer: listen to the welcome message and, when necessary, press the button to receive technical assistance, which at time of writing is number 4.

Now, since you are calling from the line that needs assistance, stay on the line and, when prompted, press the 2 key to be able to speak to a technician.

Finally, wait for the response of an operator “in flesh and blood”, to whom you will have to expose the need to obtain the block on a certain number. The 187 services are available 24 hours a day, from Monday to Sunday, however, the operators respond only in the time slot that goes from 07:00 to 21:00. The call is free from all TIM networks, both fixed and cellular.

If you want to request assistance by calling from a different line, when you are asked if you are calling from the line that requires assistance, you can type your landline number followed by the hash key (#) and then press the 2 key to receive technical assistance from of an operator. Calls to 187 from lines not belonging to TIM are charged on the basis of the plan active on one’s SIM.

Keep in mind that the key combinations you need to press to get phone support vary frequently, so be sure to listen carefully to the guidance voice to avoid errors and repetitions. If you prefer, you can also talk to a TIM operator via chat, via WhatsApp or the MyTIM app, via Facebook or Twitter: I explained how to do it in the guide mentioned above.

How to block a number on your landline: Vodafone

Although the Vodafone Station has a feature dedicated to the selective blocking of telephone calls, it is designed exclusively to prevent telephone calls to some special premium numbers (e.g. 144, 166, 899, 0369 and so on), but not to block incoming calls.

Also in this case, unless you have a cordless phone with blacklist functions or a call blocker (which we will discuss later in this guide), the only way to go is to get in touch with an employee. work and to request blocking of incoming calls from a given number, presumably belonging to a call center or to a known spammer.

To speak to a Vodafone operator by telephone, dial 190 from the landline on which you intend to request the block: once the call has started, wait for the answer from TOBi, Vodafone’s digital assistant, who will ask you if you would like to receive support for the number you are calling from.

When this happens, answer “Yes” (or, if the call is made from another number, answer “No” and indicate the number of your landline phone ) and, when asked what you intend to do, say the command “I want to speak to an operator “. If necessary, repeat the same operation for subsequent requests as well, in such a way as to induce TOBi to contact Vodafone customer care, to whom you will have to expose your need.

Also in this case, I suggest you pay close attention to the TOBi instructions, as the operation of the voice assistant and, in general, of the Vodafone telephone assistance service, may be subject to variations.

Vodafone’s 190 service is available 24 hours a day, Monday to Sunday, however technical assistance from a human operator can only be requested from 08:00 to 22:00. The call is free from fixed and mobile Vodafone networks.

If you prefer, you can also ask Vodafone for direct assistance via the social network, website or MyVodafone app : for more information on this, I refer you to my guide on how to talk to a Vodafone operator.

How to block a number on your desk phone: WINDTRE

Not even WINDTRE makes available, at least not at the time of writing this guide, a service that allows you to block the reception, on the fixed line, of calls from a specific number (unless this possibility is provided for by the cordless phone in your possession. , or you don’t have a call blocker ).

In any case, you can try to ask for explanations on the thing (and possibly enable the block) by contacting a WINDTRE expert directly, preferably by voice call.

To do this, dial 159 from your landline, listen to the welcome message and press key 2 to receive assistance or information regarding the number you are calling from. After a few seconds, the voice guide should ask you to press key 1 to access the section on technical and administrative assistance.

Now, press key 1 to get in touch with WILL, the virtual assistant of WINDTRE and, when the latter asks you what you need, say the command “I want to talk to an operator” , to get in touch with an employee to work in flesh and blood.

As already mentioned previously, the sequence of keys and commands to be used to speak by telephone with a WINDTRE operator is subject to frequent variations; in order to avoid making mistakes and wasting precious time, therefore, be sure to carefully follow the instructions of the guide voice.

If you prefer, you can also contact WINDTRE via app, website or social network: you will find everything explained in my specific guide dedicated to the topic.

How to block a number on your landline: Fastweb

Unlike what we saw previously, there is a way – albeit quite “hidden” – to block a number on the Fastweb landline phone in complete autonomy: the Do not disturb service, accessible from the main email address associated with your landline telephone contract, it allows you to configure and apply up to 20 inbound call blocking rules, relating to a single number or to an entire number block (eg all numbers starting with 01234).

The Do not disturb service is subordinate to the Fastweb answering machine service (active by default on relatively recent fixed-line telephony contracts), it is free and each rule can be activated or deactivated at will.

To access it, if you have not already done so, configure access to your main mailbox, making the first password change: to do so, connected to the MyFastweb website via any computer browser, click on the Login button located at the top and log in to your personal area, entering the username and password you received when activating the service in the appropriate fields and clicking on the Login button.

If you no longer remember them, click on the I don’t remember my credentials item, click on the MyFastweb, FastwebUPP, App and WOW Space Password button and follow the instructions suggested on the screen, to proceed with the recovery of the access data.

Once the login is complete, click first on the Fastweb Services item (above) and then on the Other services option, located in the menu that appears, then press the Login button below the Manage e-mail address box and wait for the management page to load. e-mail addresses.

Once this is done, write down the main email address (you will need it soon), click on the Change password button and type an access key to protect the mailbox, to be used for future access, inside the two boxes displayed.

The password must be a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 30 characters and must contain at least one uppercase, one lowercase, one number and one special character. After creating a secure password that complies with the above requirements, click on the Change password button, in order to enable access to the mailbox.

Once this step is completed, connected to the FASTMail website, enter your main e-mail address and the relative password in the appropriate fields and press the Login button, to enter the services associated with your mailbox.

Now, if you are using the old Web interface, click on the Settings item and then on the Do not disturb option, visible on the next page; if, on the other hand, you have activated the new FASTMail view, click on the Resident Voice option in the left sidebar and then on the word Do not disturb, which appears immediately below.

If everything went well, you should immediately see the form for creating a new rule: then type the number to be blocked in the appropriate field, assign a name to the rule, and, if you prefer, set some notes to accompany the block ( e.g. why you are creating the rule).

When you are done, put the checkmark next to the Active rule item and press the Add button, located at the bottom of the box, to confirm the creation of the rule; to activate the rule and, at the same time, the Do Not Disturb service, click on the Save changes button, located at the bottom.

As I mentioned at the beginning, you can deactivate the rules at any time, delete the existing ones and create new ones (up to a maximum of 20 at the same time); to disable a filter and allow calls from a given number again, locate the rule from the box below the item Configured rules, click on the small arrow next to the item Enable (located next to the blocked phone number), press the Disable option and then on the OK button.

If you have problems or difficulties in completing this procedure, or you prefer to request the blocking of the number directly from a Fastweb operator, you can contact the customer support team by phone, WhatsApp, app or MyFastweb website, following the instructions I have provided. in this guide.

Other ways to block a number on your desk phone

If your landline operator does not have the on-demand number blocking service, or only blocks calls from call centers, you can purchase a cordless phone with a blacklist function. Many cordless phones with screens and settings menus, even relatively inexpensive ones, provide this possibility.

For everything to work successfully, it is also essential that, on the line for which to set the restrictions, the caller number display service is active, which can be provided by default by the operator, or activated on request. Below I show you the operating modes provided by the most well-known fixed telephony operators.

• TIM– the caller viewing service is called Who is it and currently costs € 3 / month. More info here.
• Vodafone– the display of the calling telephone number is active for all Vodafone landlines and involves additional costs. More info here.
• WINDTRE– WINDTRE ‘s caller display function is called In Vista and, depending on the tariff plan, costs between € 2 / month and € 2.20 / month. More info here .
• Fastweb– the caller number display function is called Who Call and is active free of charge for recent tariff plans. On some old offers, currently no longer subscribable, it costs 1 € / month. More info here.

If you have a cordless phone compatible with blacklist functions and a tariff plan that provides for the display of the calling number, you can activate the selective blocking of numbers by entering the phone settings or in the menu relating to call management, select the option dedicated to the blacklist and add the phone number to block.

In particular, if you have a Gigaset cordless phone, you must press the Do not disturb button (the one in the shape of a hand ) located at the top of the numeric keypad, select, in sequence, the items Black List> Edit> Blocked numbers> New and type the number of phone to be blocked. Finally, confirm your wish to proceed by pressing the key corresponding to the Save function.

Furthermore, on some devices of this type, it is also possible to specify the Protection mode to be applied to the blocked number: complete blocking of the phone call, to ensure that the caller receives the busy signal, or silent, to receive the call anyway without make the phone ring.

Another device that could be useful to you, especially if your cordless phone does not have blocking functions and/or you use a more “classic” telephone, is the call blocker: such devices must be connected directly to the telephone socket and are able to easily block one or more telephone numbers.

Also in this case, the correct functioning of the call blocker is subject to the option of displaying the caller of your line; in addition, many call blockers have pre-set filters containing some spam contacts, which are blocked by default. These numbers, however, almost always belong to “harassing” American spammers.

Once you have obtained the most suitable device for your case, simply connect it to the telephone socket and follow the instructions provided in the accompanying manual (which change from device to device) to block the numbers according to the various methods provided: by typing them manually, in progress call or from the list of received calls.