I took a random call without an ID and all I heard over the phone was some abstract sounds that sounded like a children’s playroom, I just asked “what the hell” once it quieted down and then it crescendoed into frenzied laughter(?) before hanging up?????

(pic relevant enough for inclusion, fuck it)

  • PKMKII [none/use name]
    ·
    7 days ago

    Yes but not quite. That silence is a by-product of these robo-dialing systems that scammers and scummier telemarketers use that are constantly auto-dialing people. They’re dialing people even when there currently aren’t any reps available. So what’s going on is, the system has connected you to the switchboard but is waiting for a rep to get off a call and then patch them to you on the switchboard. Until that happens, it gives you silence.

    • blipblip [none/use name, they/them]
      ·
      7 days ago

      In the podcast I was talking about this person would pick up the phone and then it wouldn't be silence, just weird audio, sometimes a crowd of people, sometimes just machinery noises, just weird shit.

      • PKMKII [none/use name]
        ·
        7 days ago

        The weird noises could be coming from those scammers if there’s some sort of bleed or glitch. I always assumed that if there’s distant crowd noise it means it connected while the rep had their headset down.