Are you dialling legally?
Scroll down for the link to the Voluntary code of practice
The news that several more companies are being investigated by OFCOM must make a few people a little nervous. The industry once felt that dialling within the DMA guidelines kept them safe, and now we wait to find out if this is really the case.
That aside, it's become obvious from watching events in the US, and from observing popular reaction in the UK, that the outbound dialling industry has rather limited potential should the growth of TPS continue along the current trend.
Given the number of jobs in this industry, this is a deeply concerning thought.
This growth is mostly due to the use of automated dialling equipment and the silent calls that this equipment generates. Whilst the negative press due to silent calls has resulted in increased TPS registrations, it should be noted that these registrations prohibit any marketing calls to these numbers, regardless of dialling methods.
The DMA code has been in place for a while and aims to prevent a large number of silent calls from being made. It's obvious that either the code does not go far enough to protect consumers or there are a great deal of outbound operations that are not DMA members (and therefore not abiding by the code). Which of these is true will continue to be a point of strong argument, but irrelevant.
If as an industry we wish to continue telemarketing now is the time for us up our game. We must stop making silent calls, but we need to do this in a way that still allows us the productivity gains from automated diallers. Without the latter, we will not be able to compete with offshore operations.
The Voluntary Code
DB has put together a Voluntary Code of Conduct which aims to do just this. Currently in it's first draft it requires acceptance and adoption to prove effective. Even then, it will be a while before silent calls become enough of an exception that OFCOM can pursue any organisation which is making them.
The main point about this code is that it's not just for marketing organisations, and it's not just for predictive diallers. It's for any call centre that makes an outbound call.
Initially, we're just asking you to review this code get in touch with comments or support via the contact page. If, however, you'd like to adopt the code in your call centre please let us know as we can provide you with further information to make implementation easier.
