Generation of phone number lists and call filtering

1. A method implemented on a computer system, the method comprising:

executing, by computer processor hardware, instructions stored in a hardware storage resource coupled to the computer processor hardware to perform operations of:

receiving call information indicating attributes of phone calls made from a given phone number to multiple phone numbers in a phone network;

analyzing the call information to detect an occurrence of unwanted call activity originating from the given phone number;

based on a frequency and a duration of calls from the given phone number to the multiple phone numbers, marking the given phone number as making unwanted phone calls in the phone network, the frequency being expressed relative to a threshold number of times a predetermined sequence of buttons are pressed on target phone devices of multiple phone users to which given telemarketing calls are made from the given phone number;

receiving call handling instructions associated with a respective phone user among the multiple phone users in the phone network, the call handling instructions indicating how to handle a subsequently received incoming phone call from the given phone number marked as making the unwanted phone calls;

receiving an incoming phone call directed to a respective phone number assigned to a respective target phone device operated by the respective phone user; and

in response to identifying that the incoming phone call originates from the given phone number, handling the incoming phone call in accordance with the call handling instructions, the handling of the incoming phone call including terminating the incoming phone call in accordance with the call handling instructions, thereby preventing the respective phone user from being audibly notified of the incoming phone call.

2. The method as in claim 1 wherein the executing of the instructions stored in the hardware storage resource includes executing the instructions to perform a further operation of:

implementing a call filter service of preventing incoming phone call alerts that originate from the given phone number from being conveyed to respective ones of the multiple phone users in the phone network that subscribe to the call filter service.

3. The method as in claim 1 wherein the executing of the instructions stored in the hardware storage resource includes executing the instructions to perform a further operation of:

implementing a call handling service of providing a notification along with an incoming phone call alert that originates from the given phone number, the notification conveyed along with the incoming phone call alert to the respective phone number to indicate that the incoming phone call alert is likely from a telemarketer.

4. The method as in claim 1 , wherein marking the given phone number includes:

classifying the given phone number as being used for unwanted call activity in the phone network in response to detecting that the frequency is above the threshold number.

5. The method as in claim 4 , wherein the frequency measures an amount of phone calls per unit of time from the given phone number to respective ones of the multiple phone users in the phone network.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein the executing of the instructions stored in the hardware storage resource includes executing the instructions to perform a further operation of:

forwarding a call alert associated with a second incoming phone call to the respective target phone device to audibly notify the respective phone user of the respective target phone device of the second incoming phone call, the respective target phone device playing back a notification to indicate that the second incoming phone call is from a party that makes unwanted phone calls in the phone network.

7. The method as in claim 1 , wherein marking the given phone number as making unwanted phone calls further comprises:

initiating a call to the given phone number to verify that the given phone number is used for telemarketing activity; and

adding the given phone number to a call filter list responsive to detecting that the given phone number is used for telemarketing activity.

8. The method as in claim 1 wherein the executing of the instructions stored in the hardware storage resource includes executing the instructions to perform further operations of:

reserving a corporate sponsored set of phone numbers to monitor occurrence of telemarketer activity in the phone network;

publicly distributing the corporate sponsored set of phone numbers through information distribution channels to at least one telemarketer;

monitoring calls to the corporate sponsored set of phone numbers; and

in response to detecting calls to the corporate sponsored set of phone numbers from the given phone number, including the given phone number in a call filter list.

9. The method as in claim 1 wherein the executing of the instructions stored in the hardware storage resource includes executing the instructions to perform a further operation of:

receiving the call information from call monitoring hardware disposed in the phone network, the call monitoring hardware logging the attributes including the duration and a time when calls are made from the given phone number.

10. A method implemented on a computer system, the method comprising:

executing, by computer processor hardware, instructions stored in a hardware storage resource coupled to the computer processor hardware to perform operations of:

receiving call information including feedback from a plurality of phone users in a phone network, the feedback specifying a respective phone number from which undesirable calls are received by the plurality of phone users;

producing a persistence metric for the respective phone number based on a degree to which the respective phone number is used to contact the plurality of phone users in the phone network, the persistence metric representing a frequency and a duration of phone calls from the respective phone number to the plurality of phone users in the phone network, the frequency being expressed relative to a threshold number of times a predetermined sequence of buttons are pressed on target phone devices of the respective phone users to which given telemarketing calls are made from the respective phone number;

marking the respective phone number as being used for unwanted call activity in the phone network based on a magnitude of the persistence metric;

receiving call handling instructions associated with a respective phone user among the plurality of phone users in the phone network, the call handling instructions indicating how to handle a subsequently received incoming phone call from the respective phone number marked as being used for unwanted call activity;

receiving an incoming phone call directed to a respective target phone device operated by the respective phone user; and

in response to identifying that the incoming phone call originates from the respective phone number, handling the incoming phone call in accordance with the call handling instructions, the handling of the incoming call including terminating the incoming call in accordance with the call handling instructions, thereby preventing the respective phone user from being audibly notified of the incoming call.

11. The method as in claim 10 , wherein marking the respective phone number further comprises:

marking the respective phone number as being used for unwanted call activity in response to detecting that the magnitude of the persistence metric for the respective phone number is above the threshold number.

12. The method as in claim 10 wherein the executing of the instructions stored in the hardware storage resource includes executing the instructions to perform a further operation of:

receiving at least some of the feedback as input from a subscriber to a web page, the input specifying that the respective phone number is used by a corresponding telemarketer to contact the subscriber.

13. The method as in claim 10 wherein the executing of the instructions stored in the hardware storage resource includes executing the instructions to perform a further operation of:

communicating with an application on the respective target phone device in the phone network to receive the feedback, the application on the respective target phone device logging a previously received incoming call to the respective target phone device and indicating that the respective phone user of the respective target phone device marked the previously received incoming call as being received from a telemarketer.

14. A computer system comprising:

computer processor hardware; and

a hardware storage resource coupled to the computer processor hardware, the hardware storage resource storing instructions that, when executed by the computer processor hardware, cause the computer processor hardware to perform operations of:

receiving call information indicating attributes of phone calls made from a given phone number to multiple phone numbers in a phone network;

analyzing the call information to detect an occurrence of unwanted call activity originating from the given phone number;

based on a frequency and a duration of calls from the given phone number to the multiple phone numbers, marking the given phone number as making unwanted phone calls in the phone network, the frequency being expressed relative to a threshold number of times a predetermined sequence of buttons are pressed on target phone devices of multiple phone users to which given telemarketing calls are made from the given phone number;

receiving call handling instructions associated with a respective phone user among the multiple phone users in the phone network, the call handling instructions indicating how to handle a subsequently received incoming phone call from the given phone number marked as making the unwanted phone calls;

receiving an incoming phone call directed to a respective phone number assigned to a respective target phone device operated by the respective phone user; and

in response to identifying that the incoming phone call originates from the given phone number, handling the incoming phone call in accordance with the call handling instructions, the handling of the incoming phone call including terminating the incoming phone call in accordance with the call handling instructions, thereby preventing the respective phone user from being audibly notified of the incoming phone call.

15. The computer system as in claim 14 , wherein the computer processor hardware further supports operations of:

implementing a call filter service of preventing incoming phone call alerts that originate from the given phone number from being conveyed to respective ones of the multiple phone users in the phone network that subscribe to the call filter service.