This Consumer Alert is all about putting the control back in your hands. I’m referring to your cell phone and those annoying robocalls. Now there are free tools to help you separate the harmful from the helpful.

We’ve had various robo-blockers on the market for years. But what about the calls you don’t want to block, but you’d like to sort through them on your own time — like calls from charitable organizations or surveys? I sat down with AT&&T tech guru and area sales manager Jason Komenski, who shared a tech tool that gives you control without having to answer the phone.

“AT&T has this app; it’s called AT&T Active Armor,” said Komenski. “It’s a free app. You don’t have to pay anything for it. i wanted to show it to you right here.”

He pulled out his phone, pointing to the app’s features.

“Spam call routing,” he said pointing to the title. “You have general spam. You have telemarketers. You have account services. You have non-profits, surveys. You have political calls if you don’t want to deal with any of those. And then right next to them, you have the option to click on it. And it says do you want to allow it and flag it? Do you want to send it right to voicemail, or do you want to block it all together?”

That allows users the option of keeping messages from organizations you don’t want to block altogether.

“And again, you can do that with text messages, emails, phone calls,” Komenski added. “And a lot of times those are the main ways that people are getting your information and getting into your device.”

And not to worry. Verizon provides similar apps. You can download its free Call Filter app or the My Verizon app. For T-Mobile customers, you can use the T-Mobile Scam Shield app. All are free, and all will help you discern whether it’s worth your time to answer that call.