How TPS Protection Can Help Safeguard Your Business Calling

Phone conversations and outreach marketing have a variety of roles to play in many businesses, whether that’s account management support, demand qualification or service clarification. For those businesses making sales and live marketing calls to potential consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B), it’s important to ensure that the highest level of compliance and consent is followed wherever possible.

In terms of caller permissions, 'Do Not Call' lists offer individuals and businesses one of the best ways to exercise consent and to successfully opt out of receiving marketing calls.

In the UK, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) are services that provide such a way for individuals and businesses to opt not to receive unsolicited direct marketing calls.

What is the TPS?

The Telephone Preference Service, commonly known as the TPS, is a central register containing a list of landline and mobile phone numbers which have indicated that they do not wish to receive unsolicited telemarketing phone calls.

The TPS is the UK's official 'Do Not Call' register of landline and mobile numbers belonging to individuals, including residential numbers, as well as numbers belonging to sole traders and partnerships.

It is free to register a number with the TPS, and doing so will reduce the number of unwanted marketing and sales calls. The Telephone Preference Service was created, and is run by, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), with enforcement and related fines operated by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

What is the CTPS?

CTPS stands for Corporate Telephone Preference Service and is a similar ‘Do Not Call’ register to the TPS.

However, the difference between the CTPS and TPS is that the Corporate Telephone Preference Service is a register specifically intended for business numbers, such as those owned by limited companies, limited liability companies, and PLCs, but also numbers owned by schools, hospitals, government departments, and other public bodies.

Why should marketers comply with the TPS and CTPS?

Organisations are legally obligated to refrain from calling numbers registered with either the TPS or CTPS. Those that fail to respect the TPS and CTPS lists can be fined up to £500,000.

Ensuring that your organisation respects both the Telephone Preference Service and Corporate Telephone Preference Service can benefit your business by:

• Showing you are a responsible marketer who seeks to respect your customers.
• Helping build trust and credibility in your organisation by reducing reputational risk.
• Maintaining a better quality of outbound calls, as call recipients are more likely to be receptive to marketing initiatives.
• Improving productivity as your teams aren’t wasting time conducting outreach to disinterested parties.

How to comply with the TPS and CTPS register?

With Yay.com’s TPS Protection feature, it’s possible to ensure that your organisation avoids calling any phone numbers registered with either the TPS or CTPS.

While businesses are required to screen their marketing lists at least once every 28 days against the CTPS and TPS register, we are licensed with the TPS and our TPS Protection feature operates a lookup against the register each week to assist your business in remaining compliant.

Turning this feature on within your Yay.com phone system will screen and restrict calls only to those numbers not listed on either register.

With TPS Protection enabled, if your organisation does attempt to call a number that features on either the TPS or CTPS register, the caller will receive an audio notification as to why the call has been restricted and that particular outbound call will be blocked.

In cases where a number is not on the register, but that call recipient requests that you not to call them in future, their number can easily be added to an free phone system trial today and discover how we can immediately start to improve your marketing efforts and business communications.