New BT phone to bar nuisance calls

Guardian News and Media/London

Nuisance calls from payment protection insurance pushers, dodgy sales calls from abroad and irritating “silent” calls could become a thing of the past after BT unveiled a phone it promised would block 80% of unwanted calls.

The home phone will bar all calls from “international” and “withheld” numbers, and numbers without a caller ID. It will also allow householders to bar up to 10 specific numbers, so any nuisance calls from a known number can be automatically blocked.

Blocked calls will be silently routed to the answer machine so genuine callers can leave a message, unless they are from a specific number blocked by the householder.

The launch comes amid growing concern about the number of people being harrassed in their own homes by multiple unwanted calls every day.

BT said it received more than 50,000 calls to its nuisance calls advice line each month.

Especially irritating are silent calls, generating thousands of complaints to telecoms regulator Ofcom every month. On average, people complaining to Ofcom have been receiving five nuisance calls a day.

Worst hit are the elderly, with four out of five people aged between 65 and 74 saying they receive these types of calls.

The new phone, called BT6500, comes at a price. It costs £44.99 for a single handset, £69.99 for a twin, and £89.99 for a trio.

John Petter, managing director of BT’s consumer division, said: “We know from talking to our customers that nuisance calls cause huge frustration and even anxiety at times. When people feel as though they are being harassed in their own homes they need to be able to take action and block the offending callers.”

The phone also comes with a ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode, which switches off the ringer but allows friends and family to get through. It also allows parents to bar outgoing calls to premium rate numbers and selected mobile phones.