When telephones were first invented, many Victorians were against the idea of having them in their homes. Not because they were luddites, but because they considered it a really odd idea to allow some stranger to (effectively) 'appear' in the middle of your house and demand a conversation! I have much sympathy with their view.<br><br>Personally, I let voicemail swallow any call that caller id doesn't recognise. I don't get disturbed, and if it really is important, they'll leave a message.<br><br>However, this didn't help last time I was in the USA (I live in Britain). I diverted my home phone to my cellular, so important calls could get to me. I went to New York, and the flaming telemarketers decided that then would be a *really* good time to start calling. Because of the time difference, I was getting calls at really odd times. And worst of all, I was paying an additional international call charge for the privilege of forwarding their voice across the atlantic! "Excuse me, I'm in New York, this call is being forwarded, and I'm paying for an international phone call." "Oh, it'll only take a couple of minutes to ask you some questions!"<br><br>grrrr