The scourge of silent callers

Bobbie’s written an interesting post on technologyblog about “silent calls”, and how Ofcom plans to reduce the number made.

Turns out its telemarketers: they have machines that dial ahead of their call centre people, lining up calls so the drones don’t have their productivity damaged by having to wait for someone to pick up. Trouble is, if the machines get too far ahead of the humans, the person getting the call just hears silence because there’s nobody available to deliver the pisspoor sales pitch.

I’d not known this - I’d always assumed it was just a fault on my line. After all, calls to and from my home number sound like they’re being routed via the far side of the moon.

Not so, it seems. Now Ofcom plan some measures to cut down on these annoying alls, which is a Good Thing, even if now knowing they’re telemarketers will probably leave me more irritated by silent calls than during my previous period of ignorance…

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COMMENTS / 4 COMMENTS

You can always opt-out using the Telephone Preference Service - in the same way you can also opt-out of junk mail.

Andrew thought this on Nov 01 05 at 8:29 pm

We have one of these silent callers every day at teatime. And you can only opt out if you have the right kind of telephone. (reminds me of the wrong type of leaves on the railways ….) You need caller display.

Chris thought this on Nov 01 05 at 9:40 pm

I think you’ve probably got (or are about to have) better safeguards against these silent calls than we who live in NL are ever likely to get. Here those calls are a constant, severe and ever growing pain - and nobody in authority gives a stuff; official interest in the citizenry is here confined to a morbid fascination with how much money we can all be persuaded to part with by whatever means can be devised (and the more the better, of course - purely for the economy’s sake, you understand!). Ruses and marketing stratagems that were curtailed or banned years ago in Britain are still commonplace here, and regulation of any aspect of selling or marketing is a rarity. So count yourself lucky that the odd silent call is all you have to endure. It could be worse, believe me.

Nick thought this on Nov 03 05 at 2:21 pm

To drive phonemarketeers and their computers insane..simply..put your phone down on a table, without hanging up and forget it for an hour or two.

The calls you miss will be a small price to pay to know that you are tying up a computer and phone, losing money for them by the second.

And amazingly..I used to be as bothered by anyone by these buggers..but after doing this three or four times ALL cold calling stopped..even the recorded calls.

Co incidence?….maybe…

Suzi Pritchard thought this on Nov 04 05 at 5:08 pm

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