IT expert explains what’s behind a “robotic” phone call

For three straight days, dozens schools along Delmarva like Delmar Elementary and Millsboro Middle have been receiving bomb threats through something referred to as a “robotic” phone call.     

Todd Justice, the president of Atlantic Technology Services says, “Most likely it is a text to speech application that can be established really via the internet, via smart phone, or via a computer application.”

Justice says the application takes written text and turns it in to a robotic or computerized voice. That’s what folks have hearing over the phone.

He continues, “It is actually pretty simple. Just a basic smart phone and a little bit of knowledge and time, you can figure this out pretty easily.”  

We’re told there’s no way to block this type of call. The public switched telephone network operates so that anyone can call anybody. 

Justice goes on, “It’s really a two part problem.”

The first part is identifying where the call came from. The second part is how the person created the voice. Police say this is something they are investigating. Justice says a standard telephone line or any telephone system can trace a call back. However, it becomes much more difficult to find the source if a person is using something like a voiceover internet protocol provider.

Justice replies, “So basically what that is…is a way to take your voice phone call and run it over the internet.”

There are a number of providers online. Google Voice, Windstream, and Verizon are some of the big ones.

Justice says because there’s no way to prevent the calls it all lies in a quick reaction. Write down the date and time, and any caller I.D. associated with call, and report it to your telephone provider. Of course if there’s a threat, dial 911.