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10 Myths about the Telephone Preference Service (TPS)

Dispelling the Myths about TPS

There may be more than 10 myths about the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), but here is a list of our top 10.

You may have heard some of them yourself.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR), soon to be updated with a new ePrivacy Regulation, set out the law in relation to the use of electronic communications for unsolicited marketing to individuals and organisations.

Companies must not make sales and marketing calls to any number listed on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or Corporate TPS (known as the CTPS). You then need to re-screen call lists against the TPS registers every 28 days, if you are still calling on the same list.

So who’s on which list?

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a central opt-out register. It contains individuals, sole traders and partnerships, that do not want to receive unsolicited sales and marketing telephone calls.
The Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) is the central opt-out register for corporate subscribers (including limited companies, PLCs, limited liability partnerships, Scottish partnerships, government bodies, schools &, colleges and charities) to register their wish not to receive unsolicited sales and marketing calls.

The only exceptions are people who have expressly consented to receive your your calls.

That seems pretty straight forward doesn’t it?

So what are the top 10 myths about the Telephone Preference Service (TPS)?

1. It's not a service it's a register

TPS itself doesn’t stop nuisance calls. Only companies complying with the law can make this happen. The way to comply and to reduce nuisance calls is by screening telephone numbers against both the TPS and CTPS registers and not making calls to registered numbers.

2. I only need to screen against one register

No. To be 100% certain that the numbers you’re screening are not registered on either register, you should screen against both TPS and CTPS registers. There is a high probability that some of the numbers are on the ‘wrong’ list. This could be due to small limited companies being located at residential addresses and using a residential landline, or work mobile numbers being registered to residential addresses for example.

3. I only need to screen numbers once

No, if you’re still calling the same telephone numbers, after 28 days following the initial C/TPS screening, you’ll need to re-screen the telephone numbers every 28 days.

4. Screening monthly is OK, right?

No. You need to re-screen your numbers every 28 days, which is 4-weekly, not monthly. That means 13 times per year (not 12), if you’re still calling on the same list of numbers.

5. There’s only one way to screen numbers

No. You can screen numbers in several ways. Chord ensures that all clients’ numbers are screened at the start of campaigns and then every 28 days thereafter by automating the whole process for you. If you would like to screen other numbers that are not part of your campaign we can prepare and screen your numbers for you. We call this a Managed Service. Or we can put you in touch with our C/TPS partner who is a full licensee. You can then arrange to upload lists to their website or screen single numbers online. You can also automate checks using their Application Programming Interface (API) via your CRM, application or dialler; but may need the help of a developer to do this.

6. There’s no need to keep records

In order to respond to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the event of a complaint about your calls, you’ll need to demonstrate that you had permission to call the number(s). You’ll also need to provide evidence to show how you’re complying with the current legislation e.g. a auditable history of your TPS checks. You may also be asked to demonstrate that you have maintained an in-house ‘Do Not Call’ list. This is a list of individuals not on C/TPS that have requested that you do not call them.

7. I can use anyone to screen my data and I’ll be OK

No. You should use a company like Chord who has access to the complete TPS or CTPS register data. Or your company must become a full licensee and buy an annual license and screen your own data. The current costs for an annual license for both TPS and CTPS register data is £3,300+vat per year. You would also need to build a system to match your telephone numbers to the register data.

8. It’s expensive and time-consuming

No it’s quick, easy and low cost to stay legally-compliant. Your business can receive a monetary penalty from the ICO of up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the legislation. For example, C/TPS-checking 10,000 numbers costs £50+vat and will take less than five minutes. The costs for checking higher quantities is not calculated pro rata. So the cost per number checked reduces with higher quantities too.

9. I don't need to screen numbers for existing clients

Incorrect, as illogical as it may seem. You must have prior consent from clients to make sales and marketing calls to be legally-compliant. The Information Commissioner’s Office clarifies this in their ‘Direct Marketing’ guide on page Page 31, section 113: “An organisation might want to continue calling an existing customer who has registered with the TPS even though they have not specifically consented, because it is confident in light of the past relationship that they would not object. However, calls in these circumstances are in breach of PECR and could result in enforcement action”.

Here’s where you can find the Information Commissioner’s Office Direct Marketing guide.

10. My data supplier’s already screened the numbers

It’s essential to take responsibility for C/TPS screening telephone numbers yourself. It’s no defence in the eyes of the ICO to say that you thought someone else was doing it, for example a third party data supplier or agency. It’s your company’s responsibility to screen telephone numbers if you’re instigating sales and marketing calls. The ICO has already issued monetary penalties to several companies who thought that it was OK to rely on the screening or word of others.

Here’s where you can find the Information Commissioner’s Office-issued monetary penalties.

To discuss the ways that Chord can save you time and money and help you stay legally-compliant with your C/TPS screening, please get in touch.

Tags: Telemarketing, Dialogue, Data, Legal Compliance, GDPR, C/TPS