I am continuing my campaign to press Ofcom to use its powers to stop Silent Calls being made by those who fall within its jurisdiction - see previous postings.

There is clearly a market for selling by telephone and if this is going to happen, most of us would wish it to be carried out within a regulated environment. Part of that regulation is a prohibition of Silent Calls, which Ofcom must enforce. Other regulations are enforced by the Information Commissioner, including no cold calling to those registered with the TPS and no recorded marketing messages.

If BT succeeds in getting all of its customers registered with the TPS through the BT Privacy at Home service then the “tragedy” referred to by Russ may occur - all telemarketing will be carried by those who do not comply with regulations. This will include rogue traders, overseas operators and “reputable” organisations trying to sell supposedly related products and services to existing customers. Will that put an end to Silent Calls and other telephone nuisance?

Cynics suspect that the main reason for BT wishing to get its customers registered with the TPS is to cut off one marketing channel from the CPS providers. Ofcom also has a duty to ensure that a fair market exists in this area. Jeremy Clarkson does not refer to offers of cheaper phone calls as part of the “nuisance” that BT Privacy at Home aims to prevent.

Some who wish to have regulated telemarketing from the UK continue are seeking to continue using automated diallers but prevent the nuisance of Silent Calls. This is achieved by transmitting an Informative Message, which simply gives the name of the caller and the general reason for the call, without any marketing content, when no agent is available to complete an answered call. Many believe that this is no greater nuisance than any other intended sales call that results in no benefit for either party. The Office of the Information Commissioner has already confirmed that as this message would not have a “direct marketing purpose” it would not breach regulations, Ofcom could however deem this to be “persistent misuse”, just like the Silent Call.

Those who feel some sense of urgency as a result of the success of BT Privacy at Home, are pressing Ofcom to confirm that the Informative Message, if properly used, would not necessarily be classed as “misuse”. Ofcom has refused to give any such reassurance claiming that any public statement at this time could prejudice the on-going investigations. These investigations are concerning Silent Calls, not transmission of messages.

There is lots more information on the Silent Calls website.