On December 20, 2016, following a year of consultation, Ofcom (UK communications regulator) updated the rulebook regarding the Persistent Misuse of Electronic Communications Networks, detailing when Ofcom will use its powers to stop any persistent misuse and impose penalties of up to £2 million.
Whilst the changes to the rules can be deemed subtle, effective March 1, 2017, Ofcom’s priority is to tackle silent calls and abandoned (or dropped) calls. They also highlight misuse associated with dishonest gains (scams), CLI (Caller Line Identity), breaches of PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations), abuse of technology, manipulation of allocated telephone numbers, number scanning and fax scanning. You can find full details here on Ofcom’s website.
So, if you’re running an outbound call centre or blended call centre, it’s critical to check that your operations are within the new rules for silent and abandoned calls.
The good news is that the new rules favour the responsible providers of outbound diallers. For instance, Mitel OEM Partner Noetica developed SmartAMD™ technology in anticipation of the expected Ofcom tightening of the regulatory regime, delivering a unique technology for 'safe' Answer Machine Detection eradicating silent 'false positive' calls.
Similarly, with abandoned calls now always being considered misuse, the only currently viable solution to guarantee protection from Ofcom is Noetica’s “SnoDrop” technology, which borrows concepts from the inbound world to deliver predictive dialling with virtually zero abandoned calls.
In summary, invest some time reviewing both the new Ofcom regulations and the joint announcement with the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office), then make contact with Mitel to discuss how we can help you.