A silent call is a telephone call that is generated by a predictive dialler (or dialler) which does not have an agent immediately available to handle the call. In this instance the call may be terminated by the dialler, and the called party receives a silence ("dead air") or a tone from the telephone company which indicates the call has been dropped.
In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) uses the term "abandoned call" instead of silent call in its regulations applying to telemarketing. "Abandoned call" in non-FTC contexts may refer to a caller who decides not to await answer before hanging up.
For more information on why the technology makes silent calls, see predictive dialer.
Read more about Silent Call: Other Reasons For Silent Calls, Telemarketing and The UK DMA, The Legal Position in The UK, The No Agent Available (NAA) Message
Famous quotes containing the words silent and/or call:
“Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;”
—Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–1894)
“With the holders holding my hand nearing the call of the bird,
Comrades mine and I in the midst, and their memory ever to keep, for the dead I loved so well,
For the sweetest, wisest soul of all my days and
lands—and this for his dear sake,
Lilac and star and bird twined with the chant of my soul,
There in the fragrant pines and the cedars dusk and dim.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)