Ofcom introduced guidelines to minimise the number of dropped or "silent calls." There is now a maximum fine of £2 million for companies that ignore the rules.
Many companies don't give these rules much thought — possibly through lack of knowledge or the belief that their dialler company will handle everything. The good news is that the regulations are reasonably straightforward.
Important: This post doesn't constitute legal advice. We advise you to visit the Ofcom website and consult a professional dialler manager for full guidance.
You must identify the company responsible for calling the customer. For example, if you're calling on behalf of a charity, state the charity's name. If you're a comparison service with multiple partners, state the comparison service name.
During the message, you must give the customer the opportunity to exclude themselves from further marketing calls. This can be a contact telephone number or an IVR option that automatically marks the number as "Do Not Call."
It's also good practice to include a voicemail option for customers to make contact even when your agents have gone home for the day.
There are restrictions on the type of phone number you can use for outbound calling. It must be:
You must avoid using local landline numbers that give the impression you're closer to the customer than you actually are. For example, if your company is based in London, you cannot use a Manchester number to call Manchester customers — unless you have a genuine office there with staff on‑site.
You cannot use the dropped call message as an opportunity to market your business. Stating your company name, reason for the call and giving an adequate opt‑out mechanism is fine — but mentioning a "great opportunity" or "low price" would be against the rules.
You can provide your standard sales number in the message. If a customer wants to call back and hear what you have to offer, that's their choice.
"This is an automated call from Blue Telecoms regarding predictive diallers. Unfortunately, due to a technical error, no agent is available to speak to you at this time. This is not an important call and you do not need to take any action as we will call back at another time. If you wish to receive no further calls from us, please call 0333 444 555 8 and we will be happy to remove you from our calling list. Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience."
A short, clear message — ensuring the customer has the option to opt out, knows who called, and understands what the call was about.
Our predictive dialler comes with built‑in compliance tools to help you meet Ofcom requirements from day one.