UK ISP TalkTalk Adds CallSafe to Enhance Nuisance Call Blocking

Low cost ISP TalkTalk has launched yet another free tool to help their broadband and phone customers tackle the scourge of nuisance calls (e.g. unwanted marketing and scams). CallSafe will automatically check who is calling and “make sure it’s someone you want to hear from.”

The UK ISP already blocks nuisance calls at a network level (e.g. they blocked more than 100 million scam calls during June 2017) and they’ve also enabled the Caller Display and Last Call Barring features for all users with a fixed line phone service on their platform. On top of that subscribers can use their Check & Report site to test who has called them and report unwanted callers.

How Does CallSafe Work?

Every time you get a call, CallSafe will automatically check the number to make sure it’s someone you want to hear from. Regularly dialed numbers like friends and family, will be put straight through. For any new callers, CallSafe will:

1. Check to see if the number is on a list of unwanted callers. If so, it’s automatically blocked and your home phone never rings.

2. Manage any other callers with an extra step. It will ask the caller to record a short introduction before your phone rings. You’ll hear this message when you pick up your home phone and have the choice to either answer, ignore, or block the call.

CallSafe needs no extra kit, simply dial 1472 to turn it on and leave the rest to us. If you want, you can view and manage your approved and blocked callers through My Account or by calling 1472. Or you can let CallSafe manage it, giving you one less thing to worry about.

As part of this announcement the ISP has published the results of a new survey from Mortar, which was conducted with 2,000 adults during October 2017. The survey found that 61% of Brits are ignoring their landline to avoid unwanted sales or scam calls and as a result the average person misses at least 1 important call a month.

Meanwhile 70% of Brits claimed they would return to answering the landline if they had a feature that blocked unwanted calls, and over half felt their landline provider wasn’t doing enough to stop them receiving unwanted calls. On this point it’s unclear whether or not the respondents were aware of all the new systems that have already been introduced by TalkTalk, BT and Sky Broadband in order to tackle such calls.

Tristia Harrison, TalkTalk’s CEO, said:

“We’re tackling the industry-wide issue of unwanted calls head on. Protecting our customers is incredibly important to us and we’re committed to eliminating the disruption caused by unwanted callers. It would be a real shame if landlines became obsolete just because we are too afraid to pick them up.

CallSafe provides our customers with a free and simple way to avoid unwanted calls, enhancing their call security and allowing them take back control of their landlines – hopefully saving them from extinction in the process.”

It’s worth pointing out that answering machines are also viewed by many people as being incredibly annoying, although hopefully the similarities with CallSafe won’t cause the same level of annoyance.