Providers are reminded to ensure they take appropriate steps to prevent silent and abandoned calls.
Silent and abandoned calls are a form of misuse of electronic communications services and networks. Organisations should ensure that their practices, systems and processes are designed to prevent silent and abandoned calls. This includes ensuring Automated Calling Systems (ACS), dialler systems and call handling arrangements do not generate these types of calls.
Repeated silent and abandoned calls may amount to persistent misuse under the Communications Act 2003. Organisations are reminded that Ofcom may take action for persistent misuse including imposing penalties of up to £2 million, taking into account Ofcom’s statement on persistent misuse and enforcement guidelines.
Any person/organisation can be liable for persistent misuse, including call centres and communications providers.
Communications providers are also reminded of their legal obligations under General Condition B1 relating to the efficient and effective use of numbers, particularly B1.6, B1.8 and B1.9. This includes ensuring numbers they have been allocated, or allow their customers to use, are not misused. Noncompliance with these conditions may also result in enforcement action, including a financial penalty of up to 10% of turnover.
Background:
Ofcom is aware of the harm that can result from silent and abandoned calls and between 2006 and 2023, it conducted an enforcement programme looking into this kind of misuse – this included several organisations being investigated and penalised. While Ofcom closed this enforcement programme, it does not preclude it from taking enforcement action if it identifies this sort of misuse.
When do silent and abandoned calls occur
Ofcom’s statement on persistent misuse sets out various examples of misuse and silent and abandoned calls are prime examples. This statement explains what silent and abandoned calls are and how these may occur. In summary:
Silent calls:
Silent calls occur when someone answers the phone and no caller is present — they may hear nothing, faint background noise, or the line disconnects immediately, or they may hear something but which falls short of a message directed to them.
Silent calls can often result from organisations, or call centres calling on their behalf, using Automated Calling Systems (ACS) and there is over-dialling. This can lead to:
- call centre agents not being available when a call recipient answers the phone, and/or
- the ACS disconnecting the call prematurely.
Abandoned calls:
Abandon calls, often referred to as “dropped calls”, occur when a party makes a call with view of the recipient speaking to a live agent, but instead the caller plays the recipient a message (or would have, had they not disconnected the call).
Abandoned calls can result
- from parties making calls but abandoning them because agents are not available and a recorded message plays instead;
- when Interactive Voice Messaging (IVM) systems are used and it asks the call recipient to interact before speaking to an agent but then fail to connect them; or
- when the recipient disconnects before the information message plays in a situation where the call was about to be abandoned.
Organisations should take appropriate steps to prevent silent and abandoned calls. As explained above, this includes ensuring ACS, dialler systems and call handling arrangements do not generate these types of calls.
See Ofcom’s statement on persistent misuse for further information on silent and abandoned calls and other types of calls that may also be considered misuse such as calls that ring for less than 15 seconds before being terminated or left to ring for extended periods.