I wanted to include this post for a couple of reasons, one the basic service to uncover blocked calls might be helpful, especially in the case of 
emergencies with TrapCall. and the second to think about privacy issues with healthcare. The basic “Fly Trap” service is free which just exposes the phone number, once an individual is set up with an account online and is free.
There are additional services that one can pay and subscribe to. There are also some interesting features available such as transcribing phone calls, but there are some legal advisories included and you might want to check those out before proceeding. Voicemails can be transcribed and sent to you in an email, and that portion I see perhaps some possible potential for perhaps a busy physician, etc. Many hospitals though already include a service as such within their own networks though, and those are protected and private.
It can also provide the name and billing address of those calling, and again here we are looking at potential privacy issues again, as something like this could be either good or bad, depending on who is using the service and their purpose. I am not promoting nor using the services.
There is really one real way to now block your number and that is to use a service called “SpoofCard”. This service is not free and to be completely private if someone were using TrapCall, you would need to pay and enroll in SpoofCard to have total privacy in not listing a real name and number on your phone calls. Folks trying to secure information for fraud could be among the users of service of such. Privacy with cell phones now has a dollar attached.
The purpose of this post is not to promote either product, but more or less to bring about an awareness to all who read here about the fact that products like this exist. With all the concerns and privacy issues in healthcare, this is something to be aware of, and true privacy may at some day come at a price.
Wired website also has a pretty good write up and there are many comments on their site relative to privacy, etc. and I would suggest a visit to their site to read up on some of the pros and cons.
Everything being said, now does anyone question why I believe we need the “SMART” people in key positions today with some hands on experience. There can be some real potential sticky issues here and there’s no mention of anything even close to HIPAA here, and I feel this is another area open for investigation and pondering as related to healthcare and such services can either have a positive or negative effect with privacy issues. This is an open ball game for anyone who wants to enroll, so keep that in the back of your head if you are in healthcare as you should be aware that services such as this one do exist. BD
From the TrapCall website:
Step 1
After you register, you’ll simply key in a few numbers into your phone. So, if you’ve got fingers, you’re good to go (For those of you without fingers, simply ask a buddy to help out!). No software or downloads are needed.
Step 2
When you receive a blocked or restricted call, reject it. You don’t want to answer an unknown number anyway right? In a matter of seconds, the blocked call is sent to our servers, where it is instantly unmasked and sent back to your phone! All the while the caller hears a normal ring tone, oblivious to the fact that you know exactly who they are.
Step 3
Actually that’s all there is. You either take the call, or you don’t. In any case, you’ll know exactly who’s calling
With the $25-a-month Bear Trap upgrade, you can also automatically record your incoming calls, and get text messages with the billing name and street address of some of your callers, which TelTech says is derived from commercial databases.
TrapCall - Unmask Blocked Calls
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