Debbie Doyle sent me this link from VoIP Tech Chat:

The Annoyatron

It's a clever use of VoIP and a PBX server to route telemarketers to a programmed recording that annoys them back.

I've used many devices to annoy telemarketers before the Do Not Call Registry was devised. My favorite was to ask them, with a sincerity that matched theirs, to please hold. I'd put the phone down for several minutes. Then I'd pick it up and ask them if they were still there. If they were, I'd thank them for holding and hang up. Unfortunately, I pulled that on my auto loan company once, thinking it was just another telemarketer. It was a courtesy call to inform me that they hadn't received my payment. Boy, were they mad.

Be sure to listen to this guy's two actual recordings. They're terrific.

photo courtesy of The Glamorous Life Association, which offers other suggestions for dealing with unwanted calls from telemarketers.

- Rick