How to send spam calls directly to voicemail with the Google Phone app

Image: Getty Images.justin sullivan

Google has just given us another good reason to use its application of phone: better protection against spam calls.

The company's phone application for Android has a new setting that can automatically detect spam calls and send them directly to voicemail so your phone never rings.

The application now has a filtering option. When this option is enabled, suspected spam calls are routed directly to your phone's voicemail. Your phone will not ring, and you will not receive a missed call notification.

If the caller leaves a voicemail message, you will not receive a notification either, although you have the option to see missed calls and voicemails that have been "filtered".

The Google phone app has embedded warnings about suspected spam calls for some time, but this change takes things to the next level because these calls can now be automatically disabled. To enable the setting, you must first make sure that Google's phone application is installed (it is standard on some phones, like the Pixel, but for some phones you have to download it separately and set it as the default application).

Then, simply go to Parameters -> Caller ID & Spam -> Filter Calls for Spoken Spam .

Of course, robocallers are becoming more sophisticated, so even Google may not be able to catch all the delinquents.

But the app also provides a way to report phone numbers that may have gone through its systems, so future calls may be easier to block.