Millions In The UK Determined To Eradicate Telemarketing Nuisance Phone Calls





BT: One million say "no" to phone pests

-/August 22, 2005 - Wi-Fi Technology News/-BT revealed that a million households have said "no" to nuisance calls by signing up to BT's free service, BT Privacy. Registrations are currently running at up to 30,000 every day - that's a new registration every three seconds.

BT said that its customers have been showing increasing dissatisfaction with receiving nuisance calls, with its Nuisance Calls Bureaux logging 130,000 complaints a month, so the company decided to take action. BT Privacy gives free caller display (normally ?1.75 a month) to BT customers making calls on its network, allowing them to preview incoming calls numbers. It also registers BT customers with the Telephone Preference Service - thereby filtering out around 90% of unsolicited marketing calls.

BT's John Petter, BT Retail chief operating officer said: "The interest has been phenomenal and the huge numbers have taken us by surprise. To have a customer sign up every three seconds is remarkable and just shows what an irritant many of these calls are".

"It's clear that our customers are telling us that they don't want silent calls and some of them don't want to receive unsolicited marketing calls. We encourage our 18 million other customers to sign up for free and enjoy some extra privacy - at the moment they are getting bothered unnecessarily."

BT customers can sign up to BT Privacy by calling 0800 121 8000 or registering online at http://www.bt.com/btprivacy.

As part of the new BT Privacy service - launched by BT on 12 July - customers can opt-in to be added to the Telephone Preference Scheme (TPS) register, which helps block unsolicited sales calls. Caller Display will also be offered free of charge to all BT residential customers making some calls on the BT network. Caller display equipment is required. Customers can see who's calling and decide whether or not to answer the phone. Usually, Caller Display costs ?1.75 (inc VAT) a month. Whereas previously it was up to individuals to contact the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) themselves to register for the scheme, BT Privacy will offer all BT customers the convenience of having it done on their behalf.

Telemarketing is widely regarded as the most intrusive of all marketing media, as illustrated by a survey conducted by the Future Foundation for the DMA in October 2004, with 64 per cent of respondents saying they agreed strongly that it was an intrusion.

For more Information about BT, visit: http://www.btplc.com