Sytel Limited

Sytel Limited (Sytel) is a supplier of predictive dialing software based in the United Kingdom. Sytel states that it has campaigned for years for responsible predictive dialing and to limit the number of "non-agent" calls. Two years ago it set up a regular e-mail newsletter dedicated to good outbound practices - www.outboundfocus.com.

Sytel states that it believes that there is a role for automated predictive dialing, but it also belies that there should be clear restriction on the extent of non-agent calls made by dialers. Sytel describes four types of what it calls "non-agent" calls, or calls made to a consumer during which either no agent is available quickly to talk to an answering party, or the call is terminated after just a few rings and before anyone has had a chance to answer it. The four types of "non-agent" calls are:

(1) The phone rings a few times and then stops before consumers have a chance to reach it.

Historically, Sytel states, a number of dialer vendors have enabled users to launch many calls as soon as an agent is free, more than are reasonably required to get a live call. As soon as the first live call comes in, the dialer hangs up on remaining calls, not recording them as abandoned or error calls. This has meant some calls being terminated after only several seconds of ringing. The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has suggested a minimum ring time of 12 seconds. Sytel states that this kind of non-agent call probably is not widespread in California, but it is likely to increase if restraints are placed on other types of calls. It recommends that the Commission consider a minimum ring time, as the DMA has done.

(2) Consumers answer the phone, and there is no one there to respond to them within a couple of seconds, so they wait for several seconds or they hang up before an agent comes on the line.

If the consumer hangs up, a dialer is not sure why, and the call does not need to be recorded as an abandoned or error call. Sytel states that it believes that this kind of "dead air" call is significant in California. Sytel recommends that if the Commission sets an error rate, it should require that calls that cannot be answered by an agent should be considered abandoned within a given period of time. DMA guidelines set a maximum delay from the consumer's phone going off-hook of two seconds, i.e., at that point, the call must be abandoned. The United Kingdom code is just one second. Sytel recommends that the maximum time that a call should be held up before being abandoned should be two seconds, and it commends the maximum of one second now in use in the United Kingdom.

(3) Consumers answer the phone. There is no agent available so the dialer plays a message to avoid silence on the line or having to abandon the call.

Sytel states that, while this practice is banned under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, it understands that some dialing equipment does play messages in California. It states that it understands that the practice is not widespread.

(4) Consumers answer the phone and the dialer abandons the call within a second or two.

Sytel states that these abandoned calls comprise the "error rate" being considered by the Commission. Sytel notes the DMA guideline specifying that abandoned or hang-up calls should be kept as close to 0% as possible, and in no case more than 5% of answered calls per day in any campaign, with the measure applicable to "answered calls" or "live calls" rather than to "all calls." From the studies that it has done, Sytel states that if appropriate controls exist in the first three categories of calls, then implementation of a 5% error rate (measured on a live call basis) would lead to a "tolerable" level of such calls for the vast majority of consumers.

Based on approaches made to it, Sytel states that it believes that a disproportionate amount of the non-agent calls recorded in California probably comes from crude dialing methods and overdialing used by small operators who are not members of any national or state dialer organization. Based on its experience in the United Kingdom, Sytel also believes that states can reduce the number of abandoned calls by adopting an effective do-not-call list and by making caller ID available so that consumers can see who abandoned a call.

In its reply comments, Sytel questions the Attorney General's conclusion that a 5% rate would result in an unacceptably high number of hand-up calls. Sytel estimates that if the Commission sets an error rate of 5% maximum, with the requirement that such abandoned calls must occur within a maximum of two seconds of the consumer's phone going off-hook, then compliance with the legislation would reduce the incidence of abandoned calls by at least 20-fold. It states that further relief will occur when California sets up and enforces a do-not-call registry, which is scheduled for January 2003.