NOTE: This page repeats some of what's on zapper.html. Skip to more if you came from there.

The only one commonly available had been the Nortel Meridian M-9516 12 Box Caller ID Phone (sometimes labeled Sprint). Now Radio Shack has their own version, both with the speakerphone, and in an answering machine-only version.

This page addresses the Nortel M-9516 and M-9516CW, and the Radioshack mailboxing speakerphone.

Nortel M-9516

The M-9516 12 Box Caller ID Phone is able to sort calls by caller ID classification. The Nortel device has 12 mailboxes, so particular groups of callers can get their own boxes, and presumably the owner can selectively review messages from the different mailboxes when calling remotely. The significant aspect of this is that "unavailable" calls get dumped into their own mailbox. "Unavailable" are usually T-1 lines, and most telemarketers come in that way. The different mailboxes can have different messages.

With a caller ID mailboxing answering machine you can use a normal (or adnormal) outgoing message for most calls. Then you can use a message intended to hang the answering machine detection for just the "Out of Area." calls. (Remember "unavailable" may be legitimate business calls too.)

"Punch through" capability

This is actually three features:

1. TAD intercepts live ring.
2. TAD provides its own ring signal in response to predetermined events.
3. TAD allows user response, such as tone codes or voice recognition. If the TAD is caller ID equipped, it responds according to the caller ID.

If a caller knows a code, the caller can press the code for the live phone to ring or have the message placed in a mailbox reserved for personal calls. As a practical matter, the code can be provided on the outgoing message because telemarketers usually don't hear the "hello".

Nortel M-9516CW

The newer Nortel Meridian M-9516CW 9 Box Caller ID Phone has caller ID on call waiting capabilities. If you may get call waiting in the future, get this one.

Radio Shack mailboxing TAD phone and mailboxing TAD

The one sold by Radio Shack is:

Brand: RadioShack
Catalog #: 43-3816
cost $60.00

I'm pretty sure the RS phones are not the same as the Nortel units, but RS's text form product manuals still identify "Nortel 9516". (Apparently at one time they sold 9516's. The Radio Shack units don't take daughter units and are not multiline phones.

RS also has the same thing as an answering machine without the speakerphone, for about $10 less. I think the speakerphone is worth it because you may wish to use the speakerphone with the caller ID and mailboxing functions.

Nortel M-9516 docs

These are at the Radio Shack website!

the Radio Shack product manuals

text for Nortel M-9516 from Radio Shack

text for Nortel M-9516CW from Radio Shack

zapper.html - the main webpage on the subject

The following links may be inactive:

Wally's World

description of NORTEL Meridian M-9516 12 Box Caller ID Phone from Wally's World

Disadvantages

1. The original M-9516 may be out of production (but is still available, mostly rebuilt units)
2. Cost of the M-9516 (originally $250; now available for about $60 USD rebuilt). RS models are now $60.
3. Cost of caller ID service. Typical charges are $90.00/year.
4. Voice memory (greetings and incoming messages combined) limited to 30 minutes, (or approximately 25 minutes if 5 minutes of greetings are recorded).
5. Assignment of mailbox for "unavailable" calls may interfere with overseas calls, depending on how they display on caller ID.
6. May interfere with prisoner collect calls (most of US), depending on how they display on caller ID.

Advantages

1. This is a business quality phone with nice features. Up to three Nortel phones in the series can be used in a home-office.
2. Time limit for outgoing messages is 2 minutes.
3. Mailboxes can be assigned an automatic "breakthrough" feature which allows the phone to signal you for preferred callers.

The Radio Shack version is a speakerphone with 10 "VIP" mailboxes. This is a Caller ID mailboxing speakerphone. The following may be differences between the RS unit and at least the Nortel 9516:

The cheap plastic case

It must be a Radio Shack trademark. "Okay, we'll take an initial order of 200,000 units, but only if you use this special cheap plastic."

The RS unit doesn't allow selectively making individual mailboxes "announce-only

This shouldn't be a problem, since the digital operation allows easy deletion of junk messages, and the "unavailable" mailbox is a dead giveaway anyway.

The RS unit is limited to 30 seconds per outgoing announcement.

It would be nice to have a 2 minute outgoing message on the "unavailable" mailbox.

The RS unit has a headset jack, which is a nice touch.

The RS unit handles Caller ID on call waiting.

This is a feature of the Nortel 9516CW but not the original 9516. Not of much use unless you use call waiting.

The RS unit links the Caller ID record with the messages

If you review the missed calls, you hear the message. This is nice functionality, although the Nortel unit may do the same.

The caller ID message is left in memory for display like any caller ID box. The user scrolls back to a particular number and assigns that number a "VIP box".

In the case of telescum calls, the "number" will show up as the "unavailable" message because they generally use T-1 lines. So you scroll to an "unavailable" message and assign that to one of the "VIP boxes". The message for that box can be something like:

<SIT tones> You are calling through a T-1 or trunk line. If you are a telemarketer, please place me ON your 'do not call' list and hang up. If you're a real person, please leave a message and I shall get back to you.

Unfortunately, part of the new telemarketing rule requires that telescum transmit caller ID information. This was intended to help, but I liked the idea that telescum were identified by "unavailable" better. (Still, it's convenient to have a number attached to their call when filing a complaint. The best ones are those who "forget" to include a toll-free number, which is a second violation.)

Note that T-1 calls can be just about anyone calling from a place with about 12 or more outgoing lines, as well as calls originating from such things as calling card switches. Collect calls from many US prisons often don't include the caller ID data, and blocking equipment may cause problems with receiving those calls.

Current telemarketing use of caller ID is to provide a telephone number and no name. This shows up as "Unavailable" but with the phone number.

Blocked calls are occasionally used (illegally) by telescum, but usually originate from friends. Blocked calls are different from "unavailable" calls. Since most people will oblige a request to unblock calls to friends, the machine can be used for gently urging your friends to unblock their calls to you:

Your call has been intercepted as a blocked call. We accept blocked calls, but request that you first identify yourself. Alternatively, dial "1182" when dialing.

A third category of no-ID calls are "no data" calls. These are calls in which insufficient data is included to report anything on caller ID. There are at least two categories of this:

1. Partially completed connection. Just as cellphones sometimes have breaks in their uplinks, landline connections sometimes come in poorly.
2. Hang up calls. The phone rings but the calling party has already hung up. These are the result in equipment delay in recognizing the lost connection. This is a variation on partial completion, since any call should include sufficient data.

After using one VIP box for "unavailable", you have 8 more boxes which can be used for particular friends, or perhaps for accepting (or rejecting) "blocked" calls. Have fun!

Programming the 9516 or Radioshack Mailboxing Phone

This is discussed above, but it consists of:

1. Programming the main/default message
2. Programming a message for blocked calls (if different from default)
3. Programming a message for calls from "unavailable" numbers
4. Programming a message for assigning to suspected telescum (if different from message for "unavailable" calls).
5. When a call of any of these categories shows up on caller ID, assign it to the desired mailbox. Typically this function is accessed by scrolling the caller ID buffer.

About "Unavailable" Numbers

"Unavailable" numbers generally come from three sources:

Calls outside the regional (e.g., North American) PSTN. Typically these are overseas calls

Calls from T-1 lines not set up for Caller ID, and from small telephone providers without CID equipment.

Calls from non-compliant sources, such as some calling card carriers

There is yet another category

Calls with CID but no name.

CID calls with no name appear as "Unavailable" but include a phone number. These are increasingly being used by telescum (2006) as an alternative to properly identifying the telescum operation or the client business. Fortunately, the CID number is generally the same for all calls from that particular telescum house. Semi-identified calls from other sources use a generic name, such as "Wireless Caller" or "Enrico's Calling Card". So most (if not all) calls with the combination of a CID number but no name are from telescum.

What This Means - If you are aware of this, you can treat the number-only Caller ID as a telescum number, and forward it to that mailbox.

Courtesy of Stan Protigal

site first posted November 3, 1996; this page 15-May-2003.
rev. October 8, 2007. This page copyright 2003, Stan Protigal
This website can be found by searching for "The Telemarketing Scum Page" on a search engine.

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