New guide for telecoms companies published

Communicating with customers who are disabled - a guide for telecoms companies was published by Oftel on 10 September.

DIEL (the Advisory Committee on Telecommunications for Disabled and Elderly Users) played an important role in producing the guide, while Ricability drafted and verified content. Ricability researches and publishes information on proucts and services for people who are elderly or disabled.

The guide will be useful at all levels of the telecoms industry. On a practical level it will offer fixed line operators guidance on meeting the conditions of their licence relating to disability, and will help all service providers meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA).

The guide encourages good practice when serving customers who are disabled and is useful to all those in the telecoms industry and beyond who provide information to consumers.

You can find the guide on Oftel's website at www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/consumer/gpm0901.htm. For a paper copy please contact the ACT secretariat on : 020 7634 5301 or by e-mail at actsec@acts.org.uk

Northern Ireland

Success! After recent efforts to educate Northern Ireland consumers about the high cost of using a mobile phone while abroad, the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (NIACT) has seen a reduction in the number of these complaints compared with this time last year.

NIACT has begun planning for its annual conference, which will be on 7 March 2002. The venue in Belfast, whowhatwherewhenwhy-W5, is Northern Ireland's first 'interactive discovery centre'. The venue provides a comprehensive selection of interactive exhibits in the field of science, engineering and technology. This ties in very well with the conference theme, The Future of Communications.The Director General will be giving the keynote address. To attend the conference please contact the NIACT secretariat on 028 9024 4113 or bye-mail at niact@acts.org.uk.

Communications for Business (CfB)

The Director General has appointed Ian McPherson as Northern Ireland representative to CfB, Oftel's advisory committee for small businesses. With this appointment, the committee now includes representatives from all four countries of the UK.

For further information on the work of the ACTs, please contact the ACT Secretariat (tel: 020 7634 5301/e-mail: actsec@acts.org.uk).