Telemarketer Battle - Looking For A Electronic Mod/Hack To Play Prerecorded .mp3 Through iPhone To Nix Telemarketers

[Toddson]

Since Apple isn't kind enough, wise enough, thrifty enough or smart enough to include a feature in iPhones that allow you to play a prerecorded message saved as an .mp3 file from your phone on a call from telemarketers I've been trying to think of a hack. Trust me, I'm already on the Do Not Call List since 2003 and have employed all the official measures to stop the calls and have tried various other methods including: hanging up, answering the call and giving them complete silence, not answering and adding the number to my block list (which currently sits at about 1,500 blocked numbers) etc, etc. I do not want to jailbreak the phone. I would rather come up with a simple hack.

I have a .mp3 file of the official "beep boop beep - We're sorry you have a reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service, if you feel you have reached this recording in error please check the number and try your call again". All that I want to do is to be able to play that digital recording through the phone to the caller.

I saw one idea on YouTube where someone bought a little digital recorder with an external speaker built in to it and would play the "this number has been disconnected" message to the caller from the loud speaker of his little pocket recorder/player device. But the caller would also pick up background sound with that method.

I have a bluetooth headset. When that connects to the iPhone I talk through the headset so obviously the iPhone allows external microphones for phone calls. The question is whether there is a way to directly connect a device to that mike line to play a digital message to the caller. Why Apple doesn't allow you to play a .mp3 file over a phone call is beyond me. How simple would that be? They could put the little handy button to play the file in the same live phone call menu that we have now.

I have seen external microphones for the iPhone besides just headsets like in the picture I attached. I was wondering, if you cut the wires from an external microphone and tie those wires to the wires of an aux cord and then connect the aux cord to a little .mp3 player, would that work? Or would an iPhone somehow detect that the microphone line has some type of different signal coming through other than the type of signal than it would be from a microphone and not let it pass through to the caller?

 

[Toddson]

Have you got a picture of the other side of the board?, there's perhaps a SM (or COB) chip on that side. The device pointed at by the arrow appears to be an opto-coupler, hence the heatshrink crimped round it.

No components at all on the back.

Here's a different view of the front:

I can't see any kind of chip. I can't figure out where the digital file is stored. They still sell these things on ebay and Amazon.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

The "chip" is under the black blob of epoxy.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

That's a COB module - Chip-On-Board - a low cost type for mass production.

There is a bare silicon IC die inside the black epoxy blob, wired to directly to the PCB instead of being mounted via a lead frame in a more recognisable separate package.

A lot of low cost stuff like electronic toys, calculators and multimeters use that style, as well as such as LCD modules etc.

Some also have the pad pattern for a conventional IC as an alternative:

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

No components at all on the back.

Oh yes there is, a huge great COB as expected

 

[Toddson]

That's a COB module - Chip-On-Board - a low cost type for mass production.

There is a bare silicon IC die inside the black epoxy blob, wired to directly to the PCB instead of being mounted via a lead frame in a more recognisable separate package.

A lot of low cost stuff like electronic toys, calculators and multimeters use that style, as well as such as LCD modules etc.

Some also have the pad pattern for a conventional IC as an alternative:

Yeah man. That's it I guess. Somehow I confused that with the outer case little black button that you push to power on the unit . Wait.. what??

 

[Toddson]

While I'm waiting on the adapter jacks to arrive in the mail, anyone want an official clean digital copy of the "This number has been disconnected" recording? I'm running Windows 10 and and used the free program Audacity to record the recording

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Old-bell-system-intercept-recording.ogg

File:Old-bell-system-intercept-recording.ogg - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And btw on a side note, using the white Apple lightning adapter to an unmodified 3.5 male jack to 3.5 male jack aux cord from the iPhone to the the microphone jack on the front of my PC, I am able to hear and record incoming live phone call audio. I know that's not what I was looking to do but I thought that was pretty cool. I can record phone conversations from my cell phone. I don't plan on doing that. But it's cool that I can! Apple doesn't like people doing things like that with their smart phone. I love figuring out how to do things on the un-jailbroken iPhone I bought and paid for that Apple doesn't want me to do. Haven't figured out yet how to record my end of what I'm saying in the conversation also, but give me time.

I had to go into the Windows Control Panel settings to get the audio from the iPhone to come through the PC:

Start/Control Panel/Sound/Recording/ (then right click once on the device to highlight the input device, ((which I had the iPhone set as "Mic", can also be set as "Line In")) then after highlighting the device go to Properties/Listen and then tick the box that says "Listen to this device". Done. iPhone live call audio output (..or any audio output from the iPhone..) to PC. Which then can be recorded by Audacity. Keep in mind also that the iPhone has to be plugged in to the PC mic jack and ready to go before those menu items will appear in Sound section menu of the control panel.

Disregard the grubby phone case

 

[ZipZapOuch]

Try just plugging your iPhone into your computer with a usb cable. Then look at the settings.

 

[Toddson]

Try just plugging your iPhone into your computer with a usb cable. Then look at the settings.

iPhone to USB to PC:

iPhone to lightning adapter to un-modded 3.5 aux cord to PC mic jack:

The Sound menu says Microphone "Not Plugged In" when connecting to the PC with a USB cable.

I also get this software pop from my Asus motherboard audio software when I plug in the iphone to the mic jack. The Asus software asks me what to classify the the connection as when I plug into the mic jack:

 

[Toddson]

So I got a bunch of adapters and connectors in and this is what I've come up with to record phone calls from the iPhone without a 3rd party app that is a direct inline connection to the recording device/PC. The lapel mic that I bought works going in to the iPhone on phone calls but I cannot get this particular mic to work with Audacity going into the front panel mic jack on the PC. Not even directly plugging the mic into the PC jack without any adapters. The windows settings are right and I tried a bunch of different settings within Audacity. Does anyone know of a mic that definitely works with Audacity?

Here's the apparatus:

iphone>lightning to 3.5mm adapter>headset buddy splitter for mic and headphone>dual TRRS 4 pole splitter from headset buddy to headset and to PC mic jack (listen and record>dual TRRS 4 pole splitter from mic going into iPhone and into PC mic jack (talk and record).

With the apparatus Audacity records the incoming audio crystal clear from the headphone side so that's positive that the mic being hooked into the rig does not interfere with the incoming signal for recording. I really need to find a mic that works as an input to Audacity to see if this rig works in totality.

Now to get back to my original issue which is trying to play a message as a direct inline input into the iPhone while on a live call in order to put off telemarketers and scammers; So I have a recorded message that I played from both my Sandisk mp3 player and directly from my PC, through the headset buddy 3.5 mic jack, when on a phone call and as of right now I'm not to sure it's working. I can hear the input through my headphones but I'm not sure the signal is getting through on the other end. I have only tested this on trying to record a new greeting for my voicemail which is done through a telephone call and I keep getting the message that it's nothing being recorded. Even though when I use the mic I bought hooked into the headset buddy I CAN record from that mic in the pic above to record a new greeting for the voicemail using the mic and me talking. I need to test it on an actual phone call to see is the iPhone accepts the input from the Sandisk mp3 player or my PC to see if the person on the other end can hear the message. Like maybe the signal from the Sandisk or PC is actually getting through but maybe my telephone carrier recognizes it as something other than an actual voice over line and won't allow it.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Normal PC audio sockets are either IN or OUT at any one time, and only work with three conductor plugs.
Nothing connects to the mic contact on the four pole plug.

You would need the inverse of the mobile phone headset adapter to convert a four pole phone headset with mic to two separate 3.5mm plugs, for it to work directly.

As far as the phone setup goes, if you can switch to the alternate source while recording voicemail and that takes it, it will work during any normal phone call.

I'd suggest trying it to another phone yourself while you adjust the levels, though.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

I'm not seeing this as less work than answering a robocall.

 

[Toddson]

I'm not seeing this as less work than answering a robocall.

It's about NOT getting robocalls anymore. That's the goal. Or at the minimum reducing the number of them coming in to my phone. Having said that, I WILL still be answering the calls, they will just be getting a message that hopefully makes them immediately toss my phone number in the waste basket. It's a proactive approach to the annoyance.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

It's about NOT getting robocalls anymore. That's the goal. Or at the minimum reducing the number of them coming in to my phone. Having said that, I WILL still be answering the calls, they will just be getting a message that hopefully makes them immediately toss my phone number in the waste basket. It's a proactive approach to the annoyance.

I think you are over estimating the robot's disappointment (or the robot's strive for efficiency) if they call an answering machine.

 

[Toddson]

Normal PC audio sockets are either IN or OUT at any one time, and only work with three conductor plugs.
Nothing connects to the mic contact on the four pole plug.

You would need the inverse of the mobile phone headset adapter to convert a four pole phone headset with mic to two separate 3.5mm plugs, for it to work directly.

Would you be so kind as to point one of those out to me? Because at the risk of sounding like a complete dunce I was under the impression that the mic output jack needed 4 pole jacks all around on the connection. Male and female. But not so with PC audio jacks you're saying.

Update: Problem solved. I didn't realize it but the lapel mic that I bought came with a 4 pole to 3 pole adapter. I tried it and the mic works great with audacity now. Thanks for helping me figure that out!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016C4ZG74?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I think you are over estimating the robot's disappointment (or the robot's strive for efficiency) if they call an answering machine.

I completely agree, I don't see as this will have any effect on the number of calls you get - but if it keeps him happy, it's up to him.

 

[Toddson]

I think you are over estimating the robot's disappointment (or the robot's strive for efficiency) if they call an answering machine.

Not trying to disappoint it. Trying to trick it.

Robo machine gets robo tones indicating disconnected number, robo machine takes that number off the list according to the robo machines instruction. Why would the programmers of the robo machine instruct the thing to keep calling a number that's been identified as non-working? There's no fruit there to be gotten.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Would you be so kind as to point one of those out to me? Because at the risk of sounding like a complete dunce I was under the impression that the mic output jack needed 4 pole jacks all around on the connection. Male and female. But not so with PC audio jacks you're saying.

All traditional PC audio sockets take standard three pole "stereo" plugs, with each socket being IN or OUT at any one time.
(I did mention this, back in post #5).

Most tablets & some of the newer laptops use a single four pole connection, like phones.

Example four pole to PC adapter:

3.5mm 1 Female to 2 Male Y Splitter Cable F L/R Audio Microphone MIC PC Headset | eBay

[{PRODUCT_LISTING_TITLE}].

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Toddson]

All traditional PC audio sockets take standard three pole "stereo" plugs, with each socket being IN or OUT at any one time.
(I did mention this, back in post #5).

Most tablets & some of the newer laptops use a single four pole connection, like phones.

I totally get it now. It was sounding more complicated than it really is. The 4 pole jack is a compact solution for the sake of condensement.

 

[Toddson]

This did not work for recording live phone calls. I tried alternate connections in line with the same apparatus. Didn't work:

I found this on YouTube for recording live phone call from cell to PC. I can see that this is going to work. The cell phone is connected to the back of the PC via the TRRS splitter going to the line in and line out ports on the back of the PC. You then just connect your headspones+mic/headset to the front panel jacks on the front of the PC. Then all you need to do is check a couple software settings. This is totally going to work.

All that is needed for this setup is the TRRS splitter from the cell then two TRS male to male 3.5mm cords. $15 bucks at the most.

 

[Beau Schwabe]

I just answer the phone in a radio DJ voice and tell them that they are on the air. It helps that I roomed with a DJ for about 5 years.

"Thank you for calling KQWN anything goes Friday, your on the air" - they usually have know idea what to say