Ofcom’s policy on silent and abandoned calls
In October 2010 industry regulators Ofcom released a statement containing details of silent and abandoned call regulation to come into effect February 2011.
Now in effect, these guidelines are in place to eliminate persistent silent and abandoned calls made by all businesses, with particular focus on those using predictive dialler software. Companies must adhere to these rules or risk a fine of up to £2 million.
Key points of the Ofcom statement
- Abandoned call rates (including answered calls being mistaken for an answerphone service and abandoned) must not exceed 3 per cent of live calls per campaign
- Individuals who have received an abandoned call must not be contacted again within 72 hours without the guaranteed presence of a live operator
- In the event of an abandoned call, an automated message informing the recipient of the caller’s identity and providing a number to dial to end future marketing calls must be played
- Businesses must display a ‘valid and accurate calling-line identification’ (a caller ID number), not a withheld number, so that missed calls can be traced through dialling 1471
For further information, a copy of the Ofcom statement and an open letter to businesses from the industry regulator are available for download:
For any more information on the regulation of telecoms activities, please visit www.ofcom.org.uk.
How Nomis Connections can help you comply with Ofcom’s guidelines
Businesses in the UK that use predictive dialler software cannot present withheld numbers – Nomis Connections provides a service that, once placed on a line, presents a single outbound number for all phones on this line.
The predictive dialler software used in our solutions does not use voice recognition software to distinguish between answered calls and voicemail systems (known as answer machine detection, AMD, software), reducing the likeliness of abandoned and silent calls occurring.
The predictive dialler software used in our solutions offers a ‘call dump’ feature that can direct calls to an announcement service in the event of predictions being incorrect and no agent being available – once again reducing the likelihood of abandoned and silent calls being made.
Our dedicated support staff will provide training and can advise you on dialler settings that will best achieve your aims.