[JSanders]

I received the following email from Antair Corp. about their latest product for BlackBerrys, a call screening application.

The owner said the coupon (last paragraph) for purchase is good for two weeks starting today.

I post this without any endorsement, I have not tried it yet, but I wanted to pass it along to others as I have read numerous requests for a call screening application on our forum here.

--JSanders

Following the recent release of the latest version of our popular BlackBerry Spam Filter product, we thought we would help you tackle yet another irritant which plagues your BlackBerry – unwanted phone calls.

Antair is proud to introduce the release of BlackBerry Call Screener 1.3

The last thing you need during an important meeting, or during your well-deserved day off, is the obnoxious ringing of your BlackBerry announcing an unwelcomed phone call.

At home, your answering machine can handle those annoying unwanted calls. At the office, you may have your secretary or personal assistant field those calls without bothering you. But what about your personal BlackBerry?

Antair BlackBerry Call Screener screens incoming phone calls where it counts -- directly on your BlackBerry device. With one click of the button, you can set your phone screening options, and all unwanted incoming phone calls will be automatically sent to your voicemail box without bothering you at inappropriate times.

To find out more about the features of Antair BlackBerry Call Screener, and to download your free trial, please visit Antair

And, to thank you for your interest in Antair’s products, we are providing you with a discount coupon code toward the purchase of Antair BlackBerry Call Screener. If you like the trial version, and would like to purchase Antair Call Screener for your BlackBerry within the next two weeks, you can use the discount coupon code ABCSINTRO for an additional 10% off.

- Kind Regards
- Antair
- Antair

[John Clark]

Doesn't the "do not disturb" feature in the profiles for phone do the same thing? Then just set exceptions?

[JSanders]

From what I read on the site, you can whitelist and blacklist certain callers directly to voicemail without ever ringing the phone. I just remember someone asking for that.

Other features from their site:
* Allow all calls (respecting blacklist entries)
* Block withheld numbers
* Allow calls from personal contacts only
* Block all calls (respecting whitelist entries)
* Unique number whitelist
* Unique number blacklist
* Full integration with the BlackBerry call log
* Full integration with the BlackBerry address book
* View full details of blocked calls with one click
* Add blocked number to the address book with one click
* Return phone call with one click
* Call voicemail with one click

[John Clark]

Thanks JS! I paypal'd you back your $1!

[John Clark]

Wow!! $35?????? I don't think so.

[visortgw]

Originally Posted by John Clark

Doesn't the "do not disturb" feature in the profiles for phone do the same thing? Then just set exceptions?

Yes, but the BlackBerry Profiles application does not allow one to explicitly block private or unknown numbers. Since I have not found a 3rd party app to date that works with the VZW 8703e (OS v4.1.0.377), using the Profiles manager is my only option. I actually use the Vibrate profile, and set my exceptions to a Do Not Disturb profile (best option that I can come up with to handle the majority of my calls) -- private and unknown numbers still ring through.

[visortgw]

Originally Posted by John Clark

Wow!! $35?????? I don't think so.

Exactly!

And it appears from initial testing, that this one, too, does not work with the 8703e. Just like Black and Whitelist, there is a muted beep, followed by a few second delay and normal ringing, for supposedly "blocked" calls (verification of blocking in application status).

[John Clark]

Didn't even try it when i saw it was $35.

[chillspace]

And Black & Whitelist does exactly the same thing for MUCH cheaper.

[BBFreak]

I use Grand Central to screen my calls. It works pretty good so far but doesn't help with people or companies that already have your personal #.

[musiclee@verizon.net]

will be interesting to compare this with the "new" Call Manager, if it ever comes out

if call manager is not released soon, i may have to buy this instead

[lefty]

I used to have this phone, I wish I could remember which model it was (I think it was a sprint phone), if a call was coming in, you could hit the side button, and it would act like it was sending the called to voicemail, but you were still on the line listening. You could hit another button to answer the call, or let them leave a message. It was truly the greatest feature I've ever seen on a phone.

Sorry for going slightly off topic.

[morrow95]

Originally Posted by lefty

I used to have this phone, I wish I could remember which model it was (I think it was a sprint phone), if a call was coming in, you could hit the side button, and it would act like it was sending the called to voicemail, but you were still on the line listening. You could hit another button to answer the call, or let them leave a message. It was truly the greatest feature I've ever seen on a phone.

Sorry for going slightly off topic.

Yes, I also remember this. I was on sprint as well with an old samsung of some sort. If you hit the side button you could listen in on the other side even before they started to leave a voicemail - it was amazing and I truly have missed it ever since. Youd be surprised the things which were said prior to the actual voicemail haha.

[MoniLuv]

Originally Posted by John Clark

Doesn't the "do not disturb" feature in the profiles for phone do the same thing? Then just set exceptions?

Yes it does, but with the 3rd party program, the caller hears ringing in their ear and it would seem their called was "ignored" rather than going to directly to voice mail. If an expecption is used, the caller still hears ringing. With the 3rd party apps, one, two maybe three or NO rings are heard by the caller.

[zGuy]

Originally Posted by chillspace

And Black & Whitelist does exactly the same thing for MUCH cheaper.

$9.35 is certainly better than $35