Verizon's Call Intercept Allows Maryland Customers To Block Unwanted Calls

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Caller ID users now can block unwanted calls from telemarketers and other callers whose numbers

don't appear on Caller ID units.

Call Intercept, a new service from Verizon, will screen their incoming calls when callers fail to identify themselves and

allow users to decide if they want to receive calls from others who do announce themselves.

"This product has the power of a junkyard dog, guarding customers' privacy and helping control incoming calls,"

said Debra Swann, Verizon vice president of consumer product management. "People just sitting down to dinner won't

get those unidentified solicitation calls. Call Intercept will let you know whether a call is from a telemarketer or a

friend you've been waiting to hear from."

Call Intercept is now available to Verizon customers throughout Maryland. Verizon has introduced the service in the New

York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and northern New

Jersey. Additional markets will be added in coming months.

With Call Intercept, calls that appear as "anonymous," "private," "out of area" or

"unavailable" on Caller ID units will be intercepted before the phone rings. Callers hear a message informing

them that the subscriber does not accept unidentified calls and asking them to say who they are. Call Intercept then

rings the subscriber's phone, plays the message identifying the caller and provides several options for managing the

call. The subscriber may accept or decline the call or send the call to voice mail.

"Call Intercept is a great product for customers who receive a lot of 'anonymous' or 'out of area' calls or who gave

up on Caller ID because some incoming calls were unidentified," Swann said. "We expect Call Intercept will be

extremely popular because people are tired of phone calls interrupting their privacy and peace at home."

Verizon's Call Intercept also allows subscribers to give a four-digit PIN (personal identification number) to family and

friends to bypass the blocking feature when they're calling from a phone line that doesn't provide information to Caller

ID devices. Certain types of business lines, pay phones or lines with "per-line blocking" do not pass along

the phone number or name to Caller ID devices. Verizon is the first company to provide this bypass feature.

When Call Intercept rings to announce a caller, the subscriber hears a distinctive ring and "Call Intercept"

appears on the Caller ID display. When the subscriber answers, the service identifies itself and plays the recorded

name. The subscriber then has these options:

• To accept the call, the customer presses "1" and the call is connected.

• To decline the call, the customer presses "2" and the caller hears, "The person you are calling is not

  available. Thank you. Goodbye."

• To refuse a sales call, the subscriber presses "3" and the caller hears, "The person you are calling

  does not accept phone solicitations. Please add them to your do-not-call list. Thank you. Goodbye."

• Pressing "4" sends the call to Verizon's Home Voice Mail service and allows callers to leave a voice mail

  message for the person they are calling.

• Pressing "5" replays the caller's name.

Throughout the process, the caller remains on hold listening to music.

Callers who encounter Call Intercept hear: "The number you are calling has Call Intercept, a service that requires

callers whose telephone numbers do not appear on the Caller ID display to identify themselves before the call can

continue. To record your name, please press the pound key or simply stay on the line. At the tone, please say your name

or the company you represent. Then press the pound key." Callers who record their name, then hear, "Thank

you, please hold." The caller then hears hold music while the subscriber receives the call.

To activate the bypass feature, friends and family members simply enter the PIN at any time during the initial Call

Intercept greeting. The words "Priority Caller" will appear on the subscriber's Caller ID unit.

Call Intercept is $5 a month. Customers also must subscribe to Caller ID with name. Call Intercept is $4 monthly if

purchased with select Verizon packages.

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies

are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 112 million access line

equivalents and 27 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune

10 company with approximately 260,000 employees and more that $65 billion in annual revenues, Verizon's global presence

extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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