While we have been unable to reproduce this exact issue in our lab, we have released an update to Google Play today (version 3.1.7) that our test users (a big thank you to these folks for testing for us) have indicated has fixed the problem.  We encourage all Call Control users to update Call Control via Google Play.

To summarize, Call Control accesses your contacts in a read only fashion to provide the ability to automatically white list incoming calls from your contacts / address book.  Call Control does not write data to your contacts nor does it alter the data in any way.

We believe the issue surrounds the interval at which Call Control reads the contacts in order to synchronize Call Control with your contacts and a potential interference with other apps installed on devices that do the same thing (e.g. Facebook, messaging apps, etc.).  What we think is happening is that too many apps are attempting to synchronize contacts at the same time which is causing the native Android contacts app to fail and causing users contacts to disappear.  When the phone is rebooted the contacts then reappear, showing that they weren’t deleted but rather were just inaccessible.

We’ve decreased the interval that Call Control checks for updates to contacts which seems to have solved the problem.  We will continue to monitor this issue, please email our support team at support@everycall.us if you believe you are still experiencing this issue after updating to version 3.1.7.

We apologize to our users who have experienced any frustration relating to this issue and appreciate your help and patience while we investigated and worked on solving the problem.  We are committed to supporting Call Control and making it the best, most feature rich privacy and call blocking application available.

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We maintain extremely high ethical standards surrounding the permissions you grant to us and the private information Call Control has access to and are committed to using this information only to make Call Control function in the manner that you specifically determine.

Note: Since Android has no native “Call Blocking” mechanism within it’s API for developers to access directly, we have to use several work-arounds in order to make Call Control function, which then require additional permissions.  With each release of a new Android OS comes new restrictions placed on developers, further limiting our ability to handle call routing / blocking in a straightforward manner.

Call Control Permissions Explanation

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If you’re getting spammed by Rachel at “Card Services” or “Card Holder Services”, you’re not alone, recently the FTC made Rachel Enemy #1.  We have received over 500,000 call reports about Rachel and thousands of new reports each week.

Fortunately you can use Call Control to block calls from Card Services permanently and regain control of your phone.  There are several methods and settings within Call Control to block calls from Card Services, depending on how restrictive you want to make your privacy settings.

Call Control has a Community Blacklist, personal Blacklist, and a privacy mode combined with a whitelist that you can configure to virtually eliminate all of these calls.  The steps below range from the least restrictive to most restrictive / most likely to block all of the Card Services calls.

Step 1 - Download Call Control for your Android or Blackberry smartphone. It’s a free download and if you’re happy, consider supporting us with an upgrade to the PRO version.  It may be the best $7.99 you ever spend.

Step 2 - Enable the Community Blacklist. Card Services calls from thousands of different numbers using spoofing technology - our Community Blacklist tracks these calls and will block many of them automatically for you.  Navigate into the Settings screen within Call Control and make sure the Community Blacklist is enabled.

Step 3 - Report Calls and Add to your Blacklist. If calls from Card Services sneak through and aren’t blocked, be sure to REPORT them to the Community Blacklist by clicking the “Report” icon on the home screen of Call Control.  After you file a report, you’ll be prompted to add the caller to the blacklist, which will ensure calls from that number never bother you again.

Step 4 - Privacy Mode - Contacts / Whitelist Only. This feature is the most restrictive but will virtually guarantee all of the Card Services calls are blocked.  Navigate into either the Schedule or Settings screen and set “Privacy Mode” to “Allow Contacts and Whitelist Only”.  This will allow only callers who are in your address book or on your whitelist to ring through to your phone.

• We suggest that you configure the blocking mode to “Send Calls to Voicemail”, it’s unlikely that Card Services will leave a voicemail and this way important callers call leave a voicemail and you won’t miss their calls entirely.
• We suggest that you add your local area codes to your whitelist so local calls still ring through.  Generally card services calls from non-local area codes.

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If you’re wondering what Call Control PRO does that’s not included in the free version, here’s a quick overview.

• Community Blacklist - You get unfettered access to the Community Blacklist - the most powerful spam fighting tool available on the market.  The Community Blacklist blocks thousands of spam calls and texts reported by the community without the lift of a finger.
• Unlimited Blacklist - The LITE version is limited to three blacklist entries, PRO users get unlimited entries in the blacklist and whitelist.
• Schedules - You can create custom schedules to allow calls when you want them, and block them when you don’t.
• Free Product Updates and Support - PRO customers receive priority customer support and free product updates.

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Here’s how you can help bring call blocking to iPhone:

Visit Apple’s iPhone feedback website and let them know that you’re an Apple customer who would like to use Call Control on your iPhone, we’ve crafted a sample to get you started below.

Sample Message:

I am an Apple customer who uses an iPhone and I am writing you to ask that you consider changing your policy to allow developers like the Kedlin Company, who have created Call Control for Android and Blackberry, to create call blocking applications for the iPhone.  I feel that call blocking applications like Call Control are a critical tool for protecting my privacy and would like to see this essential functionality extended to my iPhone.  Apple’s competitors all offer these kinds of applications and it would be great to see Apple catch up!

Apple reads customer feedback, so we’re hoping that they start to get the message from our users!

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Call Control strives to provide 100% compatibility, making sure that everyone who wants to prevent their privacy being compromised, can do so.  The latest OS from Blackberry is of course no exception.  Call Control is proud to announce complete support for Blackberry OS 7!  For all those upgrading to the Bold 9900 and 9930, you will be pleased to learn Call Control will be coming along with you.

More info on Blackberry OS7 here:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/02/rim-announces-blackberry-os-7/

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http://acellphonereviews.com/call-control-tips-how-to-block-calling-in-blackberry.html

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Practically Android has given us a remarkable and wonderful review! They rightly point out Call Control’s unique Community Blacklist feature, as well as reverse lookup and customizable privacy modes. A great endorsement!

Read more at Practically Android!!

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Thanks Android Activist!
http://androidactivist.org/new​s/call-control-giving-away-the​ir-pro-version-free-for-you-to​-review/

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Call Control now includes the following features:
- Send spam callers straight to voice mail on Android version 2.3 Gingerbread.
- Black and White List Backup/Restore service has been improved!
- CallControl service notification now shows your current privacy mode
- Users now have the option to hide call blocking notifications
- Several other small bugfixes and improvements have been added

If you like Call Control, why not give us a like?
http://facebook.com/everycall

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http://www.blackberrycool.com/2011/06/22/blackberry-success-story-call-control-app-reachers-1m-user-milestone/

So Thanks Kyle, it means a lot to us! Cheers!

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One thing he overlooks though is the Community Blacklist feature - the Community Blacklist is the reason Call Control can do what other call blockers can’t - our user base has grown past one million active users and this massive group generates call reports and blacklisted phone numbers EVERY DAY. From the minute you download Call Control, you are immediately protected from hundreds of thousands of callers, thanks to our one and only Community Blacklist - generated by customers just like you!

Download today!

Android Market
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.flexaspect.android.everycallcontrol

Blackberry App World
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3984?lang=en

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Call Control, available on both Android and Blackberry, stops unwanted calls and text messages. The only call blocker with a Community Blacklist, generated from over 1,000,000 users, Call Control tracks over 4 Million callers and blocks thousands of unwanted calls and texts before they even reach your device. Users enjoy a low-maintenance, “Always-On” app experience that receives constant feature updates and guarantees friendly, prompt customer service.

And – one million customers isn’t our only announcement. To better serve our customers, the latest version of Call Control introduces Carrier Billing. Through a partnership with Zong (http://zong.com), paying for Call Control Pro can now be done in two easy steps and billed via through a customer’s Wireless Carrier! We’ve made it incredibly convenient for our Call Control Lite customers to purchase Call Control Pro without taking out their credit cards. Call Control was created by Ben Sharpe, the founder of the self-funded venture Kedlin Company, and has grown through viral marketing and word of mouth.

Users of Call Control find that they can’t live without it:
Awesome! Don’t waste your time with any other app. This one gets the job done!
by Rob– June 4, 2011
An absolutely brilliant application. Does just what it says and in turn, allows me peace of mind.
by Christopher– June 8, 2011

Download Call Control today, or Go Pro to receive the full benefit of Call Control’s features:
• Full Access to the Community Blacklist – Block thousands of unwanted callers automatically without lifting a finger and join the community.
• Automatic Daily Community Blacklist Updates – Keep your phone protected from unwanted callers with daily Community Blacklist updates.
• Unlimited Personal Blacklist Numbers – Lite/Trial users can only add 3 numbers to preview the service.
• Premium Customer Service and Unlimited Email Support.
• Lifetime access to updates and new features.
• 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. We’re like Costco, if you’re not happy, we’ll refund your purchase.

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Android users, please visit Android Marketplace and search for Call Control. Your update will begin automatically. New features in Android:

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Wish us luck as we prepare our submission and try to win it big with AT&T!

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As we continue to fix bugs, we want to thank you for letting us know how we can make the Call Control experience better for you. We are planning to update the app very soon with a round of bug fixes and some new features as well! Stay tuned for details…

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1. Open the V CAST Apps application, look for the V CAST Apps icon.
2. Accept the Terms and Conditions and continue to the V CAST Apps menu.
3. Open the “Apps Contest” category and download Call Control Free Trial.
4. After the download, go back into VCast Apps and rate Call Control 5 Stars from the My Apps folder.
5. Once your rating is submitted, your vote has been recorded.  Thank you!

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Now it’s your turn to get involved: If you help make Call Control a winner in Verizon’s Power You App Contest, we’ll host a party at a local pub with free drinks for all who voted!

Cast your vote here: http://www.poweryourappcontest.com/ by clicking the SIGN IN TO VOTE button, creating an account, and then finding CALL CONTROL FREE TRIAL under the BUSINESS category!

Help Call Control reach #1

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Crackberry.com

BlackberryCool.com

Follow us on Twitter

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The US House of Representatives passed a bill today, dubbed the Truth in Caller ID Act, that bans the practice of Caller-ID Spoofing, something that we’ve long advocated for as the root of many problems being reported by EveryCall.us users.

Once signed into law by President Obama, the FCC will have six months to implement the new regulation.

We applaud the efforts of US House Members and Senators and encourage you to send your thanks!  We believe this will significantly reduce the problem telemarketing practices, identity theft and other forms of fraud which stem from false caller-id information.

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What is the Difference between “My Black List” and “My White List”?

For starters, Call Control is much different than traditional call blocking applications because of the Community Blacklist feature.  The Community Blacklist is a collection of spam callers reported by other users, both from Call Control and EveryCall.us.

Call Control Pro comes preloaded with the Community Blacklist, meaning that thousands of spam callers are blocked automatically from calling your phone.

The “My Black List” feature is separate, private list of callers that will also be blocked from calling your mobile phone.  Unlike the Community Blacklist, these numbers are not shared with other users and do not get reported to EveryCall.us.

For example, if you would like to temporarily block calls from a specific number you can add to “My Black List” and calls from that number will be blocked while the number remains on the Black List.  Should you want to start receiving calls from that number again, you can delete the entry from “My Black List” and that number will again be allowed to call you.

The “My White List” feature is a “safe” list of telephone numbers that are always allowed to call your phone and will not be blocked by either the Community Blacklist or “My Black List”.  Your Blackberry contacts are always whitelisted, meaning that calls from your contacts are never blocked.

Why would I ever need the White List feature?
The best way to explain this is through an example.  Blockbuster routinely calls their customers from the telephone number 000-000-0000 to remind them that a video rental is overdue.  However, 000-000-0000 has been identified as a spam number and is included in the Community Blacklist, meaning Call Control will block calls from 000-000-0000 (see a Community Blacklist demo video here).

But let’s say you like the reminders and don’t want to end up owning the video rental, so you decide you want to receive calls from 000-000-0000.  The way to do this is to add 000-000-0000 to “My White List” so that future calls will not be blocked.  You can do this by selecting “My White List” from the main menu, then clicking the menu button and select “Add Entry”.  Alternatively, from your call log you can select the number you want to add to the white list, click the menu button, and select “Add to White List”.

Bottom Line
Our goal was to give you complete control over who is able to call your cell phone, and “My Black List” and “My White List” let you manually add numbers to either block or safely allow depending on the circumstance.

Stay Tuned for Part 2!

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The Washington Post today put together a cheat sheet when receiving calls from telemarketers representing charitable organizations.  We full encourage charitable giving throughout the year, but as the Post points out it makes a lot of sense to fully qualify the charity prior to sending them money.

“Are you a third-party company raising funds on behalf of the charity?” You need to ask this question because for-profit fundraisers — companies that primarily are used in charitable telemarketing campaigns — can keep 25 cents to 95 cents of every dollar they collect, according to Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities’ fundraising efficiency. Most efficient charities spend less than 25 percent on fundraising and administrative fees.

Read the full story here.

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http://consumerist.com/2009/12/sample-phone-scripts-used-by-sleazy-subrime-lenders-in-2005.html

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“if you find yourself hounded by regular calls from organizations that don’t leave voice-mails or won’t take no for an answer, Call Control for the Blackberry may be the app for you.”

“Call Control is from the folks behind EveryCall.us, a crowd-sourced Web database of telemarketer numbers and other annoying organizations that call behind hidden lines, don’t leave voice messages to tell you who they are, or cold call you to solicit your business. If you discover a new telemarketing number, you can add it to the community database at EveryCall.us, and Call Control will automatically check against it the next time you get a call. The developers of the app have made it very easy to report a bad number through the app on your Blackberry.”

You can read the whole review here.

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–

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov 10, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Verizon said today that Abyss, developed by Mobigloo, is the Grand Prize-winning application in its inaugural Apply Your Ideas mobile applications contest.

Abyss is a new action-puzzle game relying on an original concept. Exclusively designed for the BlackBerry(R) Storm(TM) smartphone, Abyss uses the touch screen and accelerometer to provide fun and innovative game play. The goal of the game is to rearrange colored pieces by sliding them so that the pearls do not fall in the Abyss of the ocean.

North Carolina-based Mobigloo, which develops games and lifestyle applications for mobile devices, will receive $50,000; 200 percent of the application’s revenue for a year (to a maximum of actual revenue plus $100,000); plus other prizes for the winning application. The Grand Prize winner was chosen from the five category winners by an elite panel of expert judges based on originality and innovation; quality of product; visual and user experience; product or service appeal; technical execution and value proposition.

“We’re delighted to be recognized by Verizon,” said Sylvain Dufour, chief executive officer of Mobigloo. “With Verizon’s support of BlackBerry(R) devices and the upcoming launch of the V CAST Apps store, so many doors are open to developers to create innovative applications. We hope our new game, Abyss, will entertain many users.”

VDC Members Chose Category and People’s Choice Winners

Developers were encouraged to submit apps for the contest in five different categories - Connect, Entertain, Guide, Save Time, and Enhance Living - which highlighted a wide range of activities, information, entertainment and other cool things developers can bring to mobile phones. A full set of criteria and contest rules can be found at: www.applyyourideas.com/official_rules.aspx.

Members of the Verizon Developer Community (VDC) chose the winning applications in each of the five contest categories based upon innovation, quality and consumer appeal. Category winners, who will each receive $10,000, were:

ENTERTAIN

    --  Abyss - See the description of the Grand-Prize winner above.

CONNECT

    --  Vaayoo SocialBoxA(C) - Vaayoo SocialBox combines social networking, media
        (pictures, video and voice), sync, multimedia messaging and private
        communities in an easy-to-use mobile application.  Vaayoo, based in
        Silicon Valley, was founded by a team of professionals with wide telecom
        experience, with a goal of innovating and simplifying mobile technology
        for everyday use.

“We are honored to win in a very competitive ‘Connect’ category and are thankful to the community of users and developers that have validated our work. Thanks to Verizon for giving us this opportunity and a platform for innovating for consumers. Our team worked very hard to develop innovative features delivering a great mobile user experience,” said Ranjit R. Sawant, founder and chief executive officer of Vaayoo.

GUIDE

    --  Berryminder - Berryminder is also the winner of the People's Choice
        Award, having garnered the highest total of votes during the contest.
        The developer of the People's Choice winner will receive $25,000 among
        other prizes.  Berryminder is an application that allows users to set
        alerts based on their GPS-determined locations.   Users can set a
        detailed alert and attach a location to it so that whenever he or she
        enters the specified region, the alert appears.  Berryminder also
        contains standard alarm features and date-based alerts that aren't
        location-dependent.  It was created by Berrymad, a small but innovative
        company founded in 2009 by two recent grads from the University of
        California at San Diego.

“We saw this contest as a great opportunity to showcase what Berrymad has to offer. All of the positive feedback and public interest has inspired Berrymad to start developing more great apps for the upcoming V CAST Apps store. It is a great honor to have been chosen for the People’s Choice Award and we look forward to working more with Verizon in the near future,” said Tom Maneri, president of Berrymad.

SAVE TIME

    --  Call Control Lite - Call Control, created by the Kedlin Company of
        Seattle, Wash., blocks telemarketers that appear on a user-generated
        Community Blacklist at EveryCall.us, effectively reducing or eliminating
        unwanted spam telephone calls to your BlackBerry.  It works better than
        traditional call-blocking applications because Call Control has
        identified more than 2.5 million spam callers and is continuously
        updated based on user and Government Do-Not-Call complaints.

“Verizon’s contest had a ton of great apps submitted, and we’re thrilled that Call Control was voted the winner in the ‘Save Time’ category. We’ve spent months in development of Call Control, and it’s a lot of fun to launch our product in conjunction with a win in Verizon’s prestigious contest,” said Ben Sharpe, chief executive officer of Kedlin Company.

ENHANCE LIVING

    --  craigslist mobile by Movela - craigslist mobile is a full-featured
        client application for BlackBerry devices that allows users to browse
        and search craigslist postings, bookmark and reply to posts, save
        searches and more.  The application supports all categories and all
www.craigslist.org        by Movela and uses technology from Pyxis Mobile, whose solutions are
        used by mobile professionals to extend critical business data from
        internal systems to the mobile space.

“We are excited that craigslist mobile has been given recognition as a leading life enhancement application,” said Jeff Yeakley, manager at Pyxis Mobile and Movela’s lead designer. “We believe that we, along with our friends at craigslist.org, have created a differentiated application that is rich with features. Our thanks to Verizon and its team of judges.”

Verizon’s Apply Your Ideas contest - designed to spur development of the freshest and most appealing applications for smartphone customers - was announced at the first-ever VDC Conference last July, where the company introduced its developer portal (http://developer.verizon.com). Verizon created the community to help developers bring mobile applications to market and address developer demands for speed and transparency.

For more information about the VDC, visit http://developer.verizon.com.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving 89 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 85,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications /quotes/comstock/13*!vz/quotes/nls/vz (VZ 30.35, +0.18, +0.60%) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

SOURCE Verizon Wireless

http://www.verizonwireless.com

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We’re excited to announce the release of Call Control, the ultimate blacklist app for Blackberry!  Call Control is a revolutionary new application that automatically blocks telemarketing and spam callers from calling you!  With Call Control, your phone won’t ring when a call flagged as a telemarketer comes through.

Call Control is available in two flavors, Lite and Pro, the Pro version is $7.99 and supports automatic updates and the full Community Blacklist while the Lite version features a one time update which will block 100 spammers.

Call Control is available for download directly from EveryCall.us or from the Blackberry App World.  Download it today and try it free!

Stop Telemarketers from Calling You!
Block telemarketing and other spam telephone calls before they ring with Call Control, the first application for BlackBerry® that knows who the telemarketers are and stops them from calling your phone.

Crowd Sourcing, meet Blackberry.
How does it work? Call Control features the largest Community Blacklist of spam callers, containing over 2.5 million entries and growing which is auto-updated to your BlackBerry. The Community Blacklist is generated from user reports and Government Do Not Call complaints, keeping your BlackBerry constantly protected against new Telemarketers.

Stay ahead of Telemarketers with Automatic Updates.
Call Control delivers this call blocking super power to your BlackBerry and is automatically updated with active spam callers, keeping them from calling your BlackBerry saving you time, money and the frustration of pesky telemarketers.

Call Control is intuitive and easy to use. Simply download and run Call Control to stop spam calls.

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