Nuisance Call Blocking A Telsis White Paper January 2016
Introduction Nuisance calls are broadly defined as calls that are unsolicited or unwanted. They can include cold calls from telemarketers, prank or fraudulent calls and even threatening calls. In the UK, the Telecoms regulator Ofcom indicates that 86% of people receive nuisance calls and that the number of nuisance calls they re receiving is increasing every month. Clearly this is a growing problem that consumers want addressed. There are several techniques for dealing with the issue of nuisance calls. This white paper looks at the problem, how consumers feel about it, how it can be effectively dealt with and the role network operators must play. In addition, this white paper offers practical steps that network operators can take in order to protect their customers from such calls. The white paper concludes with a brief look at how Telsis helps network operators address the problem of nuisance calls for their customers. Nuisance Call Blocking Unwanted calls are an annoyance to most people who receive them. In the UK alone, the Information Commissioner s Office received 175,000 complaints relating to nuisance calls and texts in 2014. Existing solutions for tackling cold callers such as the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) are ineffective and leave users frustrated by a lack of options to block these unwanted interruptions to their lives. By providing an effective way of blocking nuisance calls, network operators can improve their customers experience which can help attract new customers and keep existing customers that might otherwise look elsewhere for a solution. Nuisance Calls Nuisance calls cover a wide range of different types of call ranging from silent calls and telemarketing calls through to malicious and obscene calls. The majority of nuisance calls are some form of telemarketing made from call centres that attempt large volumes of calls each day. Although not malicious, these calls can be a source of frustration to people as they cause an unnecessary disturbance. Most nuisance calls offer products or services which are of no interest to the people that they call. Some calls even attempt to trick people into giving over personal details or to sign up for a service that they do not want or need. Such calls can be particularly difficult for vulnerable people who may be more willing to buy services or fall for scams of this type. An example of this type of scam is boiler room fraud. This uses dishonest, high pressure sales techniques to sell investments, such as penny shares, with the promise of high returns and minimal risk. By pushing such shares the fraudster creates artificial demand for the shares, thus increasing their price. The fraudster then sells the shares that they initially bought at a low price, making large profits for themselves. A Problem of Consent One way in which the industry has tried to cut out nuisance calls is to set up opt out lists, such as the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) list in the UK. Users can express a preference that they are not interested in receiving telemarketing calls. Telemarketing companies are obliged to check the TPS list before making calls to telephone numbers on the list or else they risk being fined by the regulator. While this may appear to be a good solution to the problem, there are a number of issues with this approach: 1. Dishonest Callers Not every nuisance caller is an honest telemarketing caller. Legitimate telemarketing companies do check opt out lists but there are many other types of nuisance callers that simply ignore the list and operate outside of the regulator s gaze. 2. International Callers Research has shown that in the UK, 16% of all nuisance calls originate from overseas. Since the traffic is international in origin, it is outside of the remit of the regulators and as such the originators cannot be fined.
3. Consent Has Been Given Another source of nuisance calls to numbers on the TPS list is where people have given their consent to be called. Most forms that people fill include consent to have their details shared and be contacted by other companies in the small print. Unless the person completing the form explicitly states that they do not want to be contacted, they give their consent to be contacted by telemarketing companies. Often the wording on the consent statement is deliberately confusing so that people give their consent without realising. Other Disturbed Unnecessarily They Keep Phoning Silent Calls The net result of these is that opt-out lists are less than effective and despite them, people still receive nuisance calls. Customer Frustration With Nuisance Calls According to Ofcom research in the UK (March 2015), 86% of people receive nuisance calls, averaging 9.7 calls over a 4 week period increasing year-on-year from 8.4 in 2013. The biggest source of nuisance calls in the UK in 2015 relate to claims for payment protection insurance (PPI). These account for almost 1 in 4 calls. 85% of people find nuisance calls either annoying or distressing with only 1% finding them useful. Caller DoesnIt Listen To Me Scam Call Caller Hung Up After Answer Subject/Product Of No Interest Time Wasting Reasons for Attitude to Nuisance Calls Nuisance calls are annoying to people because they continue receiving calls that they don t want and have to interrupt what they are doing to deal with them. Distressing Useful Annoying Not a Problem Other PPI Unspecified Market Research Feelings about nuisance calls Solar Panels Energy Companies Insurance Accident Claims/Compensation Home Improvements Product/service being offered by nuisance calls
< 1/month < 3/month Would use if free Not interested How much would you be willing to pay for a nuisance call blocking service? Customers are willing to change provider to stop receiving nuisance calls According to research carried out by Telsis, 86% of respondents would be interested in subscribing to a nuisance call blocking service, however only 6% of respondents would be willing to pay more than 1 per month for such a service. Despite this, 43% of respondents indicated that they would be willing to switch networks in order to change to a provider which offered an effective nuisance call blocking service. Strategies For Blocking Nuisance Calls Any strategy for blocking nuisance calls needs to strike a balance between protecting against nuisance calls whilst still making it easy for other calls to be completed. Strategies for blocking nuisance calls include: Blocking all calls with a withheld Calling Line Identification (CLI) Most nuisance callers withhold their CLI so that they cannot be identified. By blocking all calls without a CLI the majority of nuisance calls can be blocked. Unfortunately there are a number of legitimate calls that withhold their CLI such as people worried about their privacy and many businesses that you may be dealing with. Blocking withheld CLIs can be a heavy handed solution that prevents calls that consumers may actually want. Would you be prepared to switch operator to one that provides nuisance call blocking? Blacklisting numbers Rather than simply blocking withheld CLIs, another option is to blacklist certain numbers screening out nuisance callers. While this may be by the consumer using their handset, handset apps do not let you discriminate between different callers that withhold their CLI. Alternatively the network can block callers based on their network CLI (that is not visible to handsets), however there then becomes an issue with how the list is managed by the end user. Whitelisting numbers For vulnerable people an alternative approach is to block all callers unless they are on a whitelist. This approach is heavy handed but does protect people that need extra protection. Manual screening Improving on the whitelisting approach is to have a whitelist and then allow someone else to screen calls made by people not on the whitelist. For example, a parent may wish to screen calls made to their children in order to protect them from unwanted or nuisance callers. Once a call has been screened, the caller may be placed on the whitelist and transferred to their intended destination or the call may be rejected by the person screening their calls.
Making it time consuming for nuisance callers Most nuisance callers are working towards time or customer volume related targets. If there are obstacles in place that prevent them from communicating with people quickly or give people an opportunity to screen their calls before speaking to them, then they are likely to hang up before disturbing the person they have called with a nuisance call. Consumer vs Network Centric Approach to Dealing with Nuisance Calls There are two main ways that nuisance calls can be prevented. Either by the user managing this themselves with their device or at the network level. User level solutions rely on the user signing up to (ineffective) lists or by them purchasing an appliance which plugs into a phone line, or a smartphone app. Calls made to the user are intercepted and screened. Network level solutions perform the screening within the network and do not require an appliance or app. Feature Consumer Network Fine control of call screening parameters Screening of calls from individual calls where CLI is withheld Manual installation of app/ appliance Ease of use accessible to all users Crowdsourced learning Network analytics for subscriber profiling and future revenue opportunities Adaptive service tweaked to offer greater protection Where CLI is available Comparison between consumer and network based nuisance call blocking While device level solutions are able to provide good levels of protection against nuisance calls and do not have any impact on the telecoms network, there are several advantages of network level solutions which make them attractive to operators. Network level solutions: 1. Are easier for consumers they do not require the installation of an appliance or smartphone app 2. Are able to offer greater protection calls can be screened using their network CLI, even if their customer facing CLI is withheld 3. Provide network analytics it allows network operators to look where nuisance calls are coming from, and where applicable block all calls from those callers 4. Provides promotional advantages network layer solutions provide network operators opportunities for positive advertising and news coverage. The Telsis Solution to Preventing Nuisance Calls The Telsis solution to preventing nuisance calls is to provide a network based solution which consists of personalised blacklist and whitelists combined with measures to frustrate potential nuisance callers such that they do not disturb users. The first time a new caller makes a call to the user, they are asked to say who they are and press the star key. Providing that they do so, a call is made to the user to introduce the caller. The user can then choose to accept the call, always accept calls from this caller, reject the call, or reject all calls from that caller. (The network operator may choose which options are available to users.) Once a user had chose to always accept calls from a caller, subsequent calls will go straight to the users. If the caller is a nuisance caller they are unlikely to leave their name and will simply hang up and move onto the next number on their list. The Telsis solution detects speech patterns to determine if the caller has left their name. An increasing number of nuisance calls rely on recorded messages and then only connect to a live agent if the person they have called presses a key. Since recorded messages will not contain key presses they will not be passed through, preventing users from being interrupted. Users may also manage their personalised blacklist and whitelist using a web interface or smartphone app. Although the service provides personalised configuration for users, it also provides analytics for network operators allowing them to monitor potential nuisance callers and take action where appropriate. The Telsis nuisance call blocking solution is a next generation solution that requires minimal network integration.
Conclusion Nuisance call volumes are increasing year-on-year and affect almost 9 out of 10 people. The majority of people on the receiving end of nuisance calls find them annoying - only 1 in 100 calls are found to be useful. In this white paper we ve examined the different types of nuisance calls and the impact they have on consumers. In addition we ve looked at the different approaches for dealing with nuisance calls including those reliant on the user and those available through the network itself. Current approaches to blocking nuisance calls, such as opt-out lists, are ineffective due to nuisance callers either ignoring the opt-out or by gaining consent from people filling in forms for a variety of companies. Network based solutions for preventing nuisance calls offer significant advantages to network operators, both in terms of the level of protection offered and being seen to address a problem users face every day and gaining positive press and media coverage as a result. The Telsis nuisance call blocking solution is a personalised network call screening solution which is designed to offer the best level of protection against annoying nuisance calls with the minimal impact on genuine callers. It s easy to deploy and delivers a very quick return for the network and its users. For more information, please visit www.telsis.com. www.telsis.com Email: contactus@telsis.com UK t: +44 (0) 1489 76 00 00 Germany t: +49 (0) 6151 827 850 Copyright 2016 Telsis Communication Systems Limited. 1590-1381-01 Telsis products are subject to continual development and specifications may change. Prospective buyers should exercise their own independent judgement to confirm the suitability of our products for their particular application. Telsis, Ocean and NODAL are registered trademarks of Telsis Communication Systems Ltd. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.