Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on phone carriers to make robocall blocking technology available to landline and cellphone customers.
Schumer says blocking technology can send an automated telemarketing call to a spam box, much like email spam-blockers do.
He says the technology is needed because despite federal "Do Not Call" rules, hundreds of thousands of people continue to receive unwanted telemarketing calls.
The Consumers Union says there were 305,000 complaints about Do Not Call violations in September 2014.
In addition to annoying calls from mortgage companies and credit card firms, robocalls can subject phone customers to scams. Schumer noted the recent robocall tax scam that told victims they owed money to the IRS.
Time Warner Cable has announced it will provide its phone customers with access to Nomorobo, a robocall-blocking service.
