عنوان درس: تماس های تلفنی خاموش

به گزارش گوش بدهيد

It's an annoying thing many households have to put up with - answering the phone to find nobody on the other end of the line. They are often from a company's call centre which uses automatic dialling in the hope of selling you something. But if there aren't enough staff on hand to speak, the call into your home stays silent.

Industry regulator, Ofcom, says it's a breach of their guidelines for businesses who make persistent unwanted phone calls. And now those caught breaking the law could face fines of £2m.

Kevin Brennan, Consumer Affairs Minister: 'It is still a real problem, despite the raising of fines that have gone on in the past. Last year, Ofcom did a survey and found that half of people that they surveyed said that it was a real nuisance to them.'

David Hickson, campaigner: 'We don't know how much of a deterrent it will be. The point is that the action point of Ofcom should be to stop people from making silent calls, not just to penalise them.'

Despite previous attempts to tackle this, almost half of the UK still receives silent phone calls. So officials will hope the threat of a bigger fine can help stamp it out.

Gavin Ramjaun, BBC News

به کلمات گوش بدهيد

to put up with
تحمل کردن...........

automatic dialling
شماره گیر اتوماتیک

staff on hand
در اینجا: کارمندی که سر کار هستند

a breach of their guidelines
زیر پا گذاشتن دستورالعمل ها، نقض دستورالعمل ها

caught
در اینجا: کسانی که غافلگیر شده اند، کسانی که گیرافتاده اند

a real nuisance
یک مزاحمت واقعی

how much of a deterrent
تا چه حد بازدارنده است، تا چه اندازه موثر واقع می شود

to penalise
جریمه کردن، تنبیه کردن

to tackle
مقابله کردن، حل کردن

stamp it out
از بین بردن، پایان دادن ( به تلفن های خاموش)