The calls were coming from a company called 2Touch , based in Sunderland. The company's website talks lavishly about how they respect privacy: "2Touch supports the protection of consumers' privacy rights as a fundamental element of our business." We've been receiving one or two calls each day from their call centre, always silent.
In March of this year, OFCOM announced a new set of rules about how call centres handle what the telecommunications industry terms "abandoned calls". The rules changes include a cap on how many "abandoned calls" a company is allowed to make, and the necessity to play a recorded message within two seconds of a call being answered:
- Abandoned call rates must be below three per cent of all calls made in any 24 hour period for each campaign. An Ofcom investigation into silent calls last year found that some call centres' abandoned call rates can be significantly higher than the five per cent maximum required by existing voluntary industry codes. Ofcom believes that setting an enforceable three per cent limit will significantly reduce the volume of abandoned calls, while allowing the legitimate and responsible use of automated calling systems;
- All abandoned calls must carry a short recorded information message identifying the source of the call;
- Calling line identification (CLI) must be included on all outbound calls generated by automated calling systems. CLI allows people to dial 1471 and access the telephone number of the person or organisation calling them.
At the same time, the government raised the maximum fine for companies failing to abide by these rules from £5,000 to £50,000 per breach. Although 2Touch are clearly breaching rule (2), fortunately they abide by rule (3) so we were able to track them down.
Today I telephoned 2Touch directly, and they promised to ensure that they wouldn't call us again. I also complained to OFCOM, as it is clear that 2Touch are failing to abide by the rules that have been in place for over 6 months. We'll let you know what happens.
Meanwhile, if you're also receiving similar problems, here's what to do...
- Make sure you're registered with the TPS. If you're a BT customer, subscribing to BT Privacy will do this for you. It's free of charge.
- Complain to OFCOM. There's a very easy form to fill in on their website. Even if you're not registered with the TPS, you shouldn't be receiving silent calls. OFCOM will only know the extent of the problem by the number of complaints they receive, so don't suffer in silence.
- Dial 1471 after each nuisance call to see if you can trace which number the call came from. You may want to try calling back to see if there's a recorded message telling you who they are - that's how we traced our calls to 2Touch.
- If you can track down the nuisance call company, see if they have a website with contact details. Get in touch and give them an earful.
