This article explains how to prevent and block phone numbers from calling or texting companies in your account.
Learn about the various ways CallRail prevents spam.
Getting started
You have two options when it comes to filtering unwanted or spam calls, and you can update your settings at any time:
Blocking prevents a caller (or type of caller) from calling or texting you. When they dial your tracking number, blocked callers will hear a message that calls from their number are not accepted.
Challenging a caller prompts them to press 1 before being connected to your tracking number. They won't be connected to your tracking number if they don’t make it past the prompt.
How to block a single caller
Navigating to the caller's timeline in your account allows you to block a number from calling tracking numbers within a specific company.
- Select Activity at the top of the page.
- Choose the company whose call log you’d like to view.
- Find the caller you’d like to block, and select to view their Timeline.
- Select the Block Number icon next to their telephone number at the top of the timeline.
How to block or challenge calls
You can block a single number and categories of callers from the Blocked numbers page in your account. When blocking callers, you can enter an area code (e.g. 404), and exchange (e.g. 404-555), or a full 10-digit phone number.
Categories of blocked or challenged callers are company-dependent within your account.
- Select the Settings icon on the left navigation bar.
- Choose the company where you’d like to block or challenge calls.
- Choose Blocked numbers from the Lead Management header on the left.
- Block a specific phone number at the top of the page by entering the number into the top field and selecting Block. You can also choose to block this caller from all companies in your account by selecting the checkbox. Use the drop-down menu for each number to challenge or reject calls from that caller.
- At the bottom of the page, you can also choose to filter callers by category. Select Challenge, Block, or Allow to apply your settings to any caller in one of these categories.
- Optional: If you're an account administrator, you can access the Rejected Calls report from the Blocked Callers page. With this report, you'll see the activity of your spam, challenged, and rejected calls for any or all companies in your account. For more information about accessing the Rejected Calls report, visit this help article.
Category Definitions
- Calls to Inactive Numbers: Calls to a visitor tracking number (i.e. a number from a website pool) that isn’t currently assigned to a website visitor. This usually happens after the creation of a website pool. In the Number Assignment Table of the website pool, these tracking numbers will often appear as “Not assigned.”
- Robocallers & Telemarketers: Calls from a phone number that is suspected to be spam.
- Non-Local Callers: Calls from a phone number that is outside the local calling area of the tracking number they dialed. For example, if either challenged or blocked, calls to a tracking number with a 404 area code (Atlanta) from a 212 area code (New York) will not be allowed.
- US Area Codes: Calls from a phone number with a US area code.
- Canadian Area Codes: Calls from a phone number with a Canadian area code.
- Toll-Free Callers: Calls from a toll-free phone number.
- Anonymous Callers: Calls that do not provide valid caller ID information, or report as "anonymous."
- Non-Standard Callers: Calls that don’t provide a standard 10-digit phone number, such as a Skype number or an international number outside of the areas we service.
- All Callers: It’s important to note that, once selected, this option overrides all other options available from the list of filters. Enabling the Challenge option will challenge any and all phone calls to all of your tracking numbers.
Unblocking callers
You can unblock a phone number at any time from your account's Blocked numbers page.
- Select the Settings icon on the left navigation bar.
- Choose the company where you’d like to unblock a caller.
- Choose Blocked numbers from the Lead Management header on the left.
- If the number is blocked for all companies in the account, select the Globe icon to the right of the number.
- Select the Gear icon to the right of the number, then select Unblock.
FAQs
What do callers hear if I've blocked their number from calling me?
If someone attempts to dial your tracking numbers once they've been blocked, they'll hear a message that says, "Calls from this number are not accepted. Goodbye." The call will disconnect, and it won't appear on your invoice or on your call log.
What do callers hear if I've challenged their number?
If someone dials a tracking number once they've been challenged, they'll hear a message that says, "Thank you for your call. Please press one to be connected to your party." Once they press one on their telephone keypad, they'll ring through your tracking number just like any other caller.