802-264-3593

It is the vermont department of health behavioral risk factor surveilance system.  I've gotten 3 of these in the past 2 days.  No messages left.  also correspond with a creepy dude in a silver honda parked in my driveway yesterday, then driving backwards down my road today...  When he was parked in my driveway, i noticed (when I went to ask him to move) that he had a notebook and papers in his car that said something about 'Health' on them.

Everyone should email the Program Coordinator and let her know just how irritating it is to receive anonymous, unwanted phone calls.  maybe they will get the message to stop this irritating practice.

For information about the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, please contact:
Jessie Brosseau, M.P.H.
Program Coordinator
Telephone: 802-863-7663
E-mail: jessie.brosseau@ahs.state.vt.us

here is the response when I emailed Jessie:

I apologize for any inconvenience the calls have caused you.  The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a random digit dialed survey that is conducted among a representative sample of 7,000 Vermont adults each year.  The BRFSS is completed by all US states and several territories.  The protocol for calling is established by the Centers for Disease Control.  As part of these protocols, several attempts are made to contact the number selected.    

In 2011, our sample includes 600 cell phone surveys.  Due to the increasing proportion of adults who have only a cell phone this type of telephone was added beginning in 2009 to help ensure the representativeness of the sample.  

The name ‘Vermont Department of Health’ does not appear on caller ID because we use a sub-contractor to complete the BRFSS calls.  While the contractor makes the calls on our behalf, we do not want it to appear that it was the health department calling, when in fact it is not.  In addition, with calls made to cell phones, caller ID often does not transfer the caller’s name if they are not in the phone’s contact list.  This is a limitation of the technology that will hopefully be addressed at some point in the future.  Calls made to land line telephones as part of this survey show the sub-contractor’s name, usually as ‘ICF Macro’ or “Macro International’.    

As the survey is random, I do not have your cell phone number.  If you would like me to remove the number from calling please send it to me.  

Feel free to contact me with any additional questions you may have, either at this email address or at 802-863-7663.

Thank you,

Jessie Brosseau, MPH
BRFSS Coordinator
Division of Health Surveillance
Vermont Department of Health

remove my number for your survey

in case you missed it the person said to contact her > Jessie Brosseau, MPH
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Coordinator
Division of Health Surveillance
Vermont Department of Health
Phone: 802-863-7663

I'm sick of this number calling my phone. It uses up my minutes when I do my messages!

calling my cell phone and not leaving a message

What a waste of tax dollars.  Even after you ask them to stop calling, the calls continue.  My wife told them on the first call that she would not answer their questions and they continue to call.  I have now blocked the number on our cell phones so that we don't waste our minutes on this nonsense.

I am getting sick of this phone number eating up my minutes on my cell phone.

Please STOP calling!  I answer the phone and there is never anyone at the other end.  They call everyday and it is annoying.  

Remember how, even though it failed every time, the coyote would try the same silly thing again in hopes to catch the roadrunner? The coyote would do the SAME silly thing over again. Are you following me here?

They called me last night at 830 those jerks. Let me have their home number to call them!

vermont dept of health.  call this number and press 4 to be removed

This has got to be the most irritating phone survey ever. They call at all hours of the day on my cell phone. Ive asked to be removed from the list at least a dozen times and still the calls continue. Really bad Vt. Dept. of Health!

Hi...we're from the gubmint...we're here to help........{click}

For starters - this # is suspect - anyone can record a bogus voice mail for the call back. Have we not been told NOT to respond to the invasive questions being asked over the phone? A well organized group can skip trace your # and attach it to this "anonymous" survey! A survey that asks how many kids and what race they are? REALLY! Among other intrusive questions. When and where did the ST of VT announce that they were soliciting a survey of any kind? I would like to see that publication...Who is this person above really?

Cease with these unwanted. invasive phone calls.  We do not answer unknown numbers and especially participate in surveys.  Our life is our business not any one else's.

Received a call from this # this am.  Left a message to call 877-364-0915 for a survey from Dept of Health.  I will not answer call nor call this #.  If they want answers for a survey sent me questionnaire.

Pretty much "same as above". Besides being extremely annoying, these calls are a waste of time and money for the people of the State of Vermont. What is even more frightening is what the results of this survey may be being used for. The results of any survey conducted in this manner are useless at best and dangerous if relied upon for any decision-making whatsoever. The day where people willingly and truthfully answer invasive telephone surveys ended long ago.

Endless phone calls and messages. After I found this site and found out what the story was, I picked up, and when the lady making the phone call answered, she asked me if she had called a particular number. When I said no, this was not that number, she "thanked me for my time," and was ready to hang up. I spoke with her briefly, and yes, apparently, they had DIALED A WRONG NUMBER a dozen+times. MINE. I am incensed by this.