SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — News 3 recently had a call from a viewer asking what could she do “to stop robo calls?” The answer, even from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), is no one exactly knows anymore.

The BBB advises just don’t answer your phone, even your cell, unless you recognize the caller, but now there’s a new “generation” of robo calls apparently circulating in some parts of the country known as ring-less voicemail.

Being on the “Do Not Call” list has helped many people in the past avoid a lot of sales and scam calls. However, in recent years, even being on the list is no assurance that you will not receive some robo calls.

In the case of the new ring-less voicemail, there are some calls that are absolutely legal. Political parties can make these calls for example. So can something like our pharmacist if you have provided your number to that business.

For other calls, however, the “Do Not Call” list may prevent them from reaching your phone. Now there’s a move from one company to petition the FCC to allow it to send a ring-less voicemail to your phone even if you are on the “Do Not Call” list.

Charles Williams of Savannah says he is sick of the calls.

“You never know who’s calling for one thing,” said Williams. “And I think they need to do more because for me the ‘Do Not Call’ list doesn’t seem to always work.”

Williams says the number of nuisance calls is getting so bad, he thinks the FCC should be considering making the rules harder for companies, not relaxing them as the petition seeks. “I think the government should step in and they should be able to control these

“I think the government should step in and they should be able to control these robo calls, they should put some type of fines or some type of restrictions on [these companies],” he said.

“I believe that if FCC [board members] started receiving these robo calls themselves or a lot of people starting calling and complaining to the FCC, I think at that time they would do something about it,” said Williams.

To read more about the petition and make a comment to the FCC, click here.