Corporate Telephone Preference Service
As of June 25th 2004, Direct
marketers from sole traders to PLCs are now
under a legal requirement to check and comply with Corporate TPS (Telephone
Preference Service) registrations or risk a fine of up to £5000.
The extension of the TPS to include businesses will now affect every organisation
involved in telesales, yet, only a small proportion of UK businesses fully understand the new TPS legislation. Even less actually know how to comply.
Smarttalk Communications has a simple solution that ensures your employees do not break the law, removing the risk of potential fines of up to £5,000 for talking to the wrong people.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE Corporate TPS EFFECTIVELY MEANSè
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You can no longer make
unsolicited calls to just any number you see on a letterhead, in the yellow
pages or a web site for example, without first checking that it is not
opted-out.
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You can no longer make
unsolicited calls to numbers held in your own databases, contact management
systems etc without first checking that they are not opted-out.
A week after it was launched, the
Corporate Telephone Preference Service generated over 20,000 registrations.
This figure is in addition to the 4 million individual/consumer telephone
numbers already on the basic TPS register. According to Tessa Kelly, director
of compliance operations at the DMA, registrations could reach 16%. This
indicates that unless telephone numbers are checked against Corporate TPS before
calling, then up to 1 in every 6 sales calls will be to a number that is an
opt-out.
Click UPDATE for latest figures.
HOW BEST TO REMAIN COMPLIANT
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Purchase the TPS list (updated monthly)
for an annual licence of £11,250 for the complete list down to £3,750 for just
corporate registrations. Cleanse each an every list you intend to use on a
month to month basis.
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Subscribe to a list-cleansing agency –
costs vary – typically 1p per number checked.
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Use a carrier for your outbound calls that
has in-built TPS Call Barring facilities that automatically suppress calls
to TPS registered numbers - the hasstle free option
THE FREE HASSLE FREE OPTION
Smarttalk Communications, in response to the rapid expansion of the TPS list, offer a FREE,
hassle free, call suppression service for businesses that wish to remain
Corporate TPS compliant.
Click PRESS RELEASE for more info.
The service works via carrier
pre-select and each call made is automatically screened against the TPS
database during call set up, within the telephone network, 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year.
Each month the updated TPS list is
uploaded to the telephone call barring tables which sits on the phone network
and, if a TPS number has been dialled unknowingly, a recorded message will
confirm the number has been barred.
NOTE; The service has proved so accurate that we are willing to accept all liabilities in the unlikely event a TPS registered
number is dialled using our service.
No extra equipment is required to benefit fron this service and many of our clients use it as a backup to other cleansing activities. For example, our service will block calls to
newly registered numbers contained in a list that had not been checked against
the TPS or Corporate TPS for two months.
For more info (Adobe Reader required)
DOWNLOAD our Corporate TPS Faxback
Enquiry Form now.
Alternatively call 0870 900 9092 or email any queries to tps@smarttalkuk.com.
THE FACTS
1. The Telephone
Preference Service (TPS) is an opt-out register for subscribers who do not want
to receive unsolicited direct marketing by phone. The TPS was originally
introduced for private subscribers and has operated on a statutory basis since
1999. The amended regulations allows all business types to join the register.
The legislation now in force requires any company making sales calls to pre-screen its contacts against the register before it makes that call. Failure to comply with this legislation could result in legal action against your company and a fine of up to £5,000 per complaint.
Working experience of the original scheme shows that registration is a very
effective way of preventing cold calls to phone subscribers who do not want
them. For more info (Adobe Reader required) DOWNLOAD the Government Guidance Document
now
or visit http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
2.
Registration is free for corporate
subscribers, as it is for individuals. However, corporate subscribers will be
required to register in writing in order to safeguard against bogus or
inappropriate registrations.
3.
SMARTtalk’s carrier based service is
provided within the telephone network under a bespoke licence agreement with the DMA (who
currently manage the TPS & Corporate TPS lists). This arrangement enables our
clients to remain Corporate TPS compliant without subscribing to the DMA or the hassles
normally associated with cleansing lists.
SUMMARY
The new legislation poses a serious
problem for all businesses that sell to other businesses, as they will have to
check every number they want to call against the TPS opt-out list before they
call it. On the positive side, the cleansing
process need not be such an issue –
(i)
SMARTtalk offer a
seamless carrier-based solution that provides a failsafe guarantee of
compliance and eliminates the need to manually cleanse data prior to making
calls.
(ii)
SMARTtalk's service is provided 'free of charge'. Our clients simply pay for their outbound calls through us at
the same call rates if not lower than those they paid previously.
(iii)
SMARTtalk’s
carrier pre-select TPS barring service is available with NO
set-up costs, NO minimum contracts to commit to, NO subscription or service
charges, NO additional equipment, NO software, NO
disruption to your current phone service and NO reduction in service
levels.
(iv)
SMARTtalk provide businesses of all types with the opportunity to
remain TPS compliant 'free of charge'. It stops calls toTPS registered numbers without the cost and complexity associated with an in-house solution. It eliminates the
need to acquire the TPS database, perform monthly updates and cleanse lists, and it is proving to be the most
hassle free way to remain TPS compliant.
For more info call 0870 900 9092 or email any queries to tps@smarttalkuk.com
