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TPS Online | Telephone Preference Service | TPS Telephone Call Barring

What is the TPS Corporate Telephone Preference Service?

The TPS has been in operation since 1999, and allowed UK householders to opt out of receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls.

In a completely unexpected extension of the law, and surprisingly lobbied for by the supposedly business-friendly Federation of Small Businesses and British Chambers of Commerce, all companies can now register.

Hundreds of companies are joining the scheme every week, and you must now know who these are.

Apply today for your FREE telecom audit and no-commitment trial

Why use our Automated TPS Call Barring call centre services instead of lists?

If you were to pay the annual subscription fee of £11,250 to join the TPS, and receive both Corporate and Sole Trader numbers, you'd get a CD-ROM with some 2m+ numbers every month. If your office is not electronically run or your telesales staff use lists or databases, that would mean each one of them having to check all the numbers to see that they were not calling someone subscribed to the TPS.

What constitutes telemarketing calls?

Telemarketing calls are those from a commercial Company, a charity or even a political party promoting their goods and services. A call made by a market researcher is permissible unless part of the call also includes the promotion of a particular product or service. A call to check contact details is also permissible, but telemarketing companies should not try to circumvent TPS registration by using such a call as a lead into telemarketing calls.

Will it stop all calls to our business?

TPS registration only applies to unsolicited, that is, uninvited telemarketing calls. It will not prevent a company from calling you back with a quotation if you call and request one. That would be a solicited, that is, invited call. Nor does it prevent people from phoning your business to ask for a quotation or information about your products and services.

About the Legislation

Communications Minister Stephen Timms said:

"Well targeted phone marketing can be a powerful tool but not all businesses are geared up to this and for small businesses in particular unwanted cold calls can be a real burden. Extending the right to register on the TPS to Corporate subscribers will give businesses the right to opt out if they do not want this form of marketing."

Apply today for your FREE telecom audit and no-commitment trial

Benefits of Free Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) call barring
Costs
How to apply
Registering your phone numbers
How it works
Managed Offices
Home workers
Additional Services
Help wanted! Become a Partner
Opting your numbers out

Who can benefit from Free Telephone Preference Service TPS call barring?

Any business and/or homeworker who transfers their outgoing calls to the Your Communications network
If you are still using BT as your main carrier you may also benefit from significant call charge reductions (but see notes below for Business Plan 500)
If you are already using an alternative call carrier to BT you will need to join a different Network as the TPS call barring service is only available from our partner supplier, Your Communications
There are no changes to phone numbers, telephone lines or equipment
There are no contractual commitments
Routing of your calls is done transparently at the BT exchange
You will still receive your quarterly line rental bill from BT, and a separate fully itemised bill for calls
Line rentals can also be supplied separately if desired, resulting in no BT bill

You then get a single bill
Billing is then monthly in arrears, rather than quarterly in advance
This benefits your accounting and cash-flow

Application is quick and easy

Fax through some pages from recent billing
I prepare a pre-filled application form
Sign and return originals to me
Once processed, registration takes 10 working days
Contact me today for a free 60-day no-commitment trial

Is the service expensive?

No, it is built in to the network and is free of charge
You only pay for what you use in the inclusive call rates per minute
Important notes for BT Business Plan 500 customers

Your calls are capped at 10p, and include a 2.00p set-up charge (i.e. an engaged or failed call is still charged at 2.00p even though you did not get through - if you didn’t realise this please check the fine print on your contract!)
The TPS service is charged per-minute at an inclusive and highly competitive rate (the traditional model)
If the majority of your calls are lengthy you may see an increase in your call charges were you to adopt the service; however, this must be offset against the annual TPS membership fee of £11,250 and the monthly list-cleaning requirements
You may choose to retain your BT business plan for some of your phones and register others for TPS call-barring (see next section below)
If you conduct many telemarketing calls which are usually quite brief but of high volume, the BT business plan is quite possibly costing you more than you should be paying and you may benefit from overall cost reductions as well as the TPS call-barring feature
Audit your BT bills to see where you stand, or contact me to do this on your behalf at no charge
If you cancel a BT Business Plan ensure you do so in writing as reconciliation charges may apply against your committed annual spend

Do we have to register all our numbers?

No, if you do not make telemarketing calls from all your phones, and prefer to leave some of them as they are you can do so; however, please note

Any phone making telemarketing calls that you wish to register must present it’s DDI (direct dial) extension number when calling out for the service to work
You may be getting lower outgoing call costs on TPS-registered extensions as part of the service, so your other calls may be costing you more and should be carefully monitored for call charges during the first few weeks; again, we can help you with this as part of our service

What happens if I call a number that is CTPS registered and I am a subscriber to the network?

There is a test number you can call to ensure the service is active and can be overridden
You hear a brief recorded message, and the call is barred
You can override the service with a 3-digit code if you are calling a TPS-registered client who you have permission to call

We have managed offices and are billed for our telecoms as part of the overall service, can we still benefit?

If you receive your own phone bill from your telecom service (e.g. BT), you can apply for the service
However, if you are billed by your Managed Office supplier for calls, your Managed Services provider will need to become a subscriber to be able to pass the service on to you
SEEDA-sponsored Enterprise Gateway users fall into this category
Please lobby them for this service and have them contact me for more information

I work from home, can I still benefit?

Yes, you can transfer your calls just the same as a Business
You will need a BT line rather than cable (e.g. ntl, Telewest)
If you have a monthly fixed “bundle” type deal with your provider, to benefit from call-barring you will have to go back to a pay-per-minute based bill like your original BT service - this will mean your call charges are likely to rise, however the cost of this has to be compared to the options of monthly lists and subscription fees

Additional Services we can supply (please contact us for more information)

Save money on BT call rates even without using TPS call barring
BT line rentals as mentioned above
Sophisticated On-line Internet based incoming call management without the need for an expensive switchboard
Comprehensive Extension-based billing
FREE memorable Non Geographic Numbers (0800, 0845, 0870)
FREE Premium Rate Numbers (09xx)
Mobile phones
Mobile data (email on your mobile phone)
Broadband services
Leased Lines
Web hosting
More ...

I can see the advantages of this service and would like to recommend it to colleagues/clients, can I be a partner too?

Yes! The combination of the Government Legislation and the availability of the unique network-based call-barring service has unexpectedly created an excellent business opportunity which you can share in
Any organisation with a database of clients who may conduct telemarketing activity can themselves supply this excellent service and earn new revenue
Contact me to discuss how the program works and how you can benefit

I want to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls or faxes

Don’t forget you can reduce your BT bill even if you have no need of TPS call barring
Please visit the TPS Online home page where you can register all your numbers free of charge; there is a 28-day registration period

Apply today for your FREE telecom audit and no-commitment trial

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