Call filtering and spam: the Rabbinical Committee, personal blocks and spam filtering

What the service does

The service follows the calls on the lines you added while they are in progress — it scans the live calls on the PBX every second and a half — and checks each call in three ways:

• The Rabbinical Committee list — the committee keeps a list of numbers, and the service checks every call against it: an incoming call by the caller's number, and an outgoing call by the number dialed. The list is shared by everyone who joined, and the decision on what is in it belongs to the committee. Want to know if a specific number is blocked by the committee? See step 6.
• Your personal block list — numbers you block only for your account, in addition to the committee's list. It also applies to both incoming and outgoing calls (step 5).
• Spam filtering — an outside caller who dials many numbers in a short time is blocked automatically. Spam filtering applies to incoming calls only (step 8).

What happens to a blocked call

The call doesn't go on to its usual destination: the service sends it to a block destination set in advance, such as a recorded message. The same goes for an outgoing call — someone who dials a blocked number reaches the block destination, not the number they dialed. Every blocked call appears on the screen, with the reason (step 10).

Where the screen is and what you see on it

In the control panel, in the side menu, under Call Management — Call filtering. The screen is open to all users on the account; what each one can change depends on their role and permissions (step 12).

At the top of the screen there is a short row of figures:

Below the row are the screen's cards:

• Call filtering — only on an account that isn't in the service yet: a short explanation, and links to this guide and to the article in the Knowledge Center.
• Accept the terms of service — only when the account is already in the service and the wording of the terms has been updated (step 3).
• The whole PBX — joining with the entire account, the price, and the size of the account (step 3).
• Individual lines — all the extensions, numbers and codes, and which of them are filtered (step 4).
• Blocking numbers — the personal block list, checking a number with the Rabbinical Committee, and reporting a number (steps 5, 6 and 7).
• Blocked calls — the calls blocked in the last 7 days (step 10).

In the lists on the screen — the lines, the numbers you blocked and the blocked calls — you can search, sort and filter by column, and choose a table view or a card view.

Also in each line's editor

In the editor of every extension, number and code there is a section called Call filtering service, with the "Call filtering on this line" switch (On / Off). This way you can add a line to the service, or remove it, from the editor too. When the whole PBX is in the service, it says there that calls on this line are checked too, and there is no switch.

Joining: the whole PBX or individual lines

There are two ways to join:

Adding the whole PBX

1. On the card The whole PBX you see the monthly price, and below it the size of the account: how many extensions and numbers it has, and whether it counts as a small customer or a large customer.
2. Click Add the Whole PBX.
3. A confirmation question with the price appears inside the card. The cursor is on Cancel, so that a paid service isn't added by mistake. To join, click the add button, which shows the price.

Individual lines you already added are included in the whole-PBX price.

Accept the terms of service

The first time you join, the confirmation question includes the explanation "Before you join — what the service does with the calls": the system follows the calls on the lines in the service and checks them; Kesher may record calls from time to time, to test the filtering and the spam detection — the recordings are checked by computer only, and no person listens to a customer's recordings; identifying details and sensitive information are deleted, and the information is not sold or given to others; and you can always remove the account from the service and ask for the data to be deleted. Check "I have read this and I agree, as set out in the terms of use and the privacy policy", and only then does the add button become available.

When the wording of the terms is updated, an account that is already in the service sees the Accept the terms of service card at the top of the screen, and accepts again. The terms are accepted by whoever can add lines to the service.

How much it costs

• Individual lines — a monthly price per line. Every extension, number or code you add counts as a line.
• The whole PBX — a fixed monthly price based on the size of the account: small customer or large customer. The limits between small and large are written on the card. The size is measured every month by what is actually on the account, and a customer who grows pays as a large customer from the following month.
• Cap — for individual lines you never pay more than the whole-PBX price. When the price of the lines reaches it, or nearly does, the card suggests switching to the whole PBX: for the same price, all calls are filtered, and new lines are included automatically.
• The first month — the charge is prorated by days, from the day the line was added.
• Prices are before VAT, and the exact price is shown on the screen before every confirmation.
• For a large customer a special price can be set: a discounted price, or a fixed amount for the whole account. For details, contact us.

Leaving the service

When the whole PBX is in the service, the card shows the Remove the PBX from Filtering button (only for the system owner, a reseller or a manager). Individual lines that were added before that stay filtered on their own. You remove a single line with the "Remove from Filtering" button in its row (step 4).

Individual lines: extension, number or code

You don't have to filter everything. The Individual lines card lists all the extensions, numbers and codes on the account, and for each one:

Above the table there is a Search lines field (by name or number, even without dashes), a status line such as "2 of 15 lines filtered", and the price per line.

Adding a line

1. Find the line and click Add in its row.
2. A confirmation question appears in the row with the amount added to the monthly charge, and if there are already lines in the service, the total as well. If you have already reached the whole-PBX price, adding the line costs nothing extra.
3. Click the add button in the confirmation. Here too, the cursor is on "Cancel".

You can do the same from the line's editor: in the Call filtering service section, click the "Call filtering on this line" switch, and confirm.

The service identifies the line you added and checks only the calls that pass through it. A call that doesn't pass through any line you added goes on as usual.

Personal block list

On the Blocking numbers card, under Personal block list, you block numbers only for your account — on all the lines in the service, for incoming calls and for outgoing calls too. The block doesn't affect other customers. It works after you join the service, with the whole PBX or with at least one line.

1. Type the number in the Block a number for your account field.
2. Click Block (or press Enter).
3. The number is added to the Numbers you blocked list, with the date. To cancel the block, click Remove in its row.

Is the number spam? Before blocking, check the box "This is spam — also send it for the service manager to check" (step 9).

Personal block, report, or mark as spam?

• Personal block — a number you don't want to get calls from, even if it isn't spam. For example, a nuisance caller.
• Report a number — a problematic content line, or a number not suitable for the Haredi public. The service manager checks and decides (step 7).
• Mark as spam — advertising, a survey, a recorded message or a sales call. The number is blocked for you right away, and the service manager decides whether to block it for everyone who joined (step 9).

Check a number with the Rabbinical Committee

Want to know if a specific number is blocked by the Rabbinical Committee? The Blocking numbers card has the section Check a number with the Rabbinical Committee. The check is available to anyone who can see the screen, even before joining the service.

1. Type the number and click Check (or press Enter).
2. The answer appears below the field, in one of two states:

• Blocked by the Rabbinical Committee — calls from this number are blocked for subscribers to the service.
• Open at the Rabbinical Committee — the committee hasn't blocked the number. If it isn't suitable, you can report it.

An open number that isn't suitable — report it straight from the check

When the number is open, on an account that is already in the service, the Report This Number button appears below the answer. Clicking it opens the report form with the number already filled in, and the cursor in the "What kind of number is it" field: write the reason for the report there, and send it (step 7).

Report a number

A problematic content line, or a number not suitable for the Haredi public? On an account in the service, you report it from the Blocking numbers card, and the service manager decides what to do.

1. Click Report a Number — or Report This Number after checking with the committee (step 6).
2. Fill in the form (details in the table below).
3. Click Send Report. The message "The report was sent to the service manager" appears. If there is already a report on the number awaiting a decision, the screen says so, and no additional report is opened.

What happens after the report

The service manager checks every report and decides: pass it on to the Rabbinical Committee, block it for all subscribers to the service, or reject it. In the This account's reports list, which all users on the account can see, each report appears with its status:

Next to each report you also see the time, who reported it, and "Blocked for your account" if you chose to block the number right away.

Spam filtering: how a number gets blocked automatically

Spam filtering works for everyone who joined the service, with no setup needed, and it checks incoming calls only. Here's how it works:

1. Counting. An outside caller who calls 10 different numbers of Kesher customers within 10 minutes is blocked right away, for an hour, for everyone who joined.
2. What isn't counted. Numbers of Kesher customers, and numbers the service manager has set as protected, are not considered suspicious.
3. Permanent block. A permanent block for everyone who joined happens only by a decision of the service manager, or when an automatic (AI) check of a call identifies spam with 90% certainty or more. Otherwise, the temporary block ends after an hour, and the number waits for the service manager's decision.

Marking a number as spam

Got a spam call? You can mark the number yourself, in two ways:

• From the call history — in the row of an incoming call, next to the caller's number, there is a Mark as spam link. Click it and answer "Yes" to the question "Block it for you and send it for the service manager to check?". In place of the link, "Blocked for you, and sent for checking." appears.
• From the personal block list — type the number, check "This is spam — also send it for the service manager to check", and click "Block" (step 5).

What happens after marking:

1. Right away, for you: the number is blocked for you, and appears in the "Numbers you blocked" list.
2. Checked by the service manager: the number goes to the service manager, who decides whether it's spam.
3. For everyone who joined — only by the manager's decision: if the service manager decides on a permanent block, the number is blocked for everyone who joined the service.

Marking works after you join the service. A read-only user doesn't see the link.

Blocked calls

The Blocked calls card shows every call blocked on the account in the last 7 days. The row of figures at the top of the screen shows how many calls were blocked today, and how many since the start of the month.

You can search, sort and filter by direction or by reason. If no call was blocked in the last week, it says "No calls were blocked in the last 7 days".

Releasing a number blocked by mistake

What to do depends on the reason shown in "Blocked calls":

Think a number that matters to you was blocked? Write to us through the Contact Us page or through Report a Problem, with the number and the time someone tried to call.

Who is allowed to do what

FAQ

• How fast is a call blocked? The service scans the live calls on the PBX every second and a half, and a call with a blocked number is sent to the block destination the moment it is identified.
• The committee blocked a number. When does it apply for me? The service keeps the committee's answer for each number for up to 30 minutes. So a change in the committee's list can take up to half an hour to apply to a number that was checked recently.
• Does the personal block list also apply to outgoing calls? Yes. Like the committee's list, it is checked on an incoming call by the caller's number, and on an outgoing call by the number dialed.
• Does spam filtering also apply to outgoing calls? No. Spam filtering checks incoming calls only.
• Is a call from a private mobile phone filtered? Only if it goes through the PBX, on a line you added. A call the mobile dials directly through the cellular carrier doesn't go through the service.
• Can I filter just one extension? Yes. Add only that one (step 4).
• There's no "Add" button next to a line. You probably don't have permission to edit this type of line, or your user is read-only — it says so in the row. If it says "The price did not load", try again in a moment.
• I want to block a number that isn't spam. Add it to the personal block list (step 5).
• An important number was blocked. Check the reason in "Blocked calls" (step 11).
• I marked a number as spam by mistake. Until the service manager decides, the number is blocked only for you. To open it for your account, remove it from the "Numbers you blocked" list. If it has already been blocked for everyone, contact us.
• What's the difference from "Screening before connecting"? "Screening before connecting" only tells whoever answers who is calling. The filtering service checks the number against lists (step 1).