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Ofcom's 3% abandoned call rule: what auto-diallers must do
If your team uses an auto-dialler, silent and abandoned calls are the risk to manage. Here's what Ofcom's policy sets out, what changed in its later review, and how to set a dialler up so it doesn't leave people listening to silence.
Not legal advice. A plain-English summary of Ofcom's published policy. Where we couldn't confirm a point from Ofcom's own text, we say so. Read the current Ofcom statement before relying on it.
1. Silent and abandoned calls
Predictive diallers ring more numbers than there are agents free, betting that some won't answer. When more people answer than expected, the system has nobody to connect them to. The person hears either nothing (a silent call) or a recorded message before the line drops (an abandoned call). Either way someone has walked to the phone for nothing, and if it keeps happening it's distressing, especially for people at home.
B2B callers aren't exempt. Many small businesses answer on a mobile, and a sole trader's phone is often a personal one.
2. Where the power comes from
Ofcom deals with these calls under its powers on persistent misuse of an electronic communications network or service, in the Communications Act 2003. The legal test is whether calls cause someone unnecessary annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety. The detail of what Ofcom takes into account sits in its published policy statement, not in the Act itself.
3. The steps Ofcom looks for
Ofcom's persistent misuse page sets out the "positive steps" it takes into account when deciding whether to act against someone making abandoned or silent calls. They include:
| Step | What Ofcom's page says |
|---|---|
| Abandoned-call rate | No more than three per cent of all live calls made on each individual campaign over a 24-hour period, including a reasoned estimate of answer-machine-detection (AMD) false positives. |
| Information message | A brief message giving details of the caller on any call answered when no agent is available, played no later than two seconds after the phone is picked up or after the person starts to speak. |
| 72-hour rule | A number that received an abandoned call shouldn't be called again within 72 hours unless an agent is guaranteed to be available. |
| Ring time | Unanswered calls should ring for at least 15 seconds before being ended. |
| Caller ID | Calling line identification on outbound calls, so the person can call back. |
These come from Ofcom's revised statement of policy published in 2008, with a 2009 amendment on the timing of the information message. Keep daily records of your abandoned-call rate too, so you can show what happened. The Ofcom page we checked doesn't set out record-keeping in detail; see the full statement.
4. The 3% figure, and the 2016 review
For years the 3% abandoned-call rate was treated in practice as a line: stay under it and Ofcom was unlikely to act. Ofcom reviewed how it uses its persistent misuse powers in 2016. Several industry summaries say that, since 1 March 2017, the 3% figure is no longer a "safe harbour", and that Ofcom may act on silent or abandoned calls at any level if they cause harm.
We couldn't confirm the exact wording of the post-review position from Ofcom's own text, and some sources still describe 3% as the limit. The safe reading is the same either way: aim for as few abandoned calls as possible, treat 3% as a ceiling rather than a target, and never leave silence on the line.
5. Measuring your abandoned-call rate
The rate is abandoned calls divided by live calls (calls answered by a person) for each campaign in a 24-hour period. A few practical points:
- Measure per campaign, not across your whole floor, or one aggressive campaign can hide behind a quiet one.
- Count AMD errors. If your dialler uses answer-machine detection, some real people will be mistaken for machines and dropped. Ofcom expects a reasoned estimate of those false positives in the rate.
- Keep the daily figure and the reason each call was abandoned, so you can show what happened.
6. Setting up a dialler safely
- Prefer a power or progressive dialler, which rings one number per free agent, over a predictive one.
- Set the information message with your company name, and check it plays within two seconds.
- Block redialling of abandoned numbers for 72 hours.
- Let unanswered calls ring for at least 15 seconds.
- Show a UK number that people can call back and that tells them who you are.
- Watch the rate per campaign daily, and pause when it climbs.
- Train reps not to work around it, for example by hanging up as someone answers.
None of this replaces the PECR rules on who you can call. See UK cold calling rules in 2026.
7. How Patchline handles it
Patchline's auto-dial is a power dialler. It rings one lead at a time, only while a rep is at the screen with a working microphone, and connects the business the moment they answer. If the rep's line drops as they answer, the person hears a short information message instead of silence. It pauses itself if abandoned calls go over 3% of answered calls in 24 hours (per campaign on Growth and White-label), won't redial an abandoned number for 72 hours, rings for at least 15 seconds and won't start until your company name is set. These rules are always on, and every call is kept with whether it was abandoned and why, with a daily abandoned-call report.
That's a set of guard rails, not a guarantee: how your team uses the dialler stays your responsibility. More about the power dialler →
8. FAQ
What is an abandoned call?
A call that a dialler connects but then ends, or leaves silent, because no agent is available when the person answers. A short information message may be played before it ends.
Is the 3% rule still in force?
Ofcom's published policy describes a 3% limit per campaign over 24 hours. Industry summaries say that since Ofcom's 2016 review, 3% is no longer a safe harbour. Treat 3% as an absolute ceiling and aim far lower; check Ofcom's current statement.
Does the rule apply to B2B calls?
Ofcom's persistent misuse powers aren't limited to calls to consumers, and businesses often answer on mobiles. Assume the same steps apply.
What should the information message say?
Who is calling, so the person isn't left wondering. Ofcom's policy says it should give details of the caller and play within two seconds. Keep it short and factual.
Does a power dialler avoid abandoned calls completely?
It greatly reduces them because it only rings when a rep is free, but a dropped line or network fault can still abandon a call, so you still need the message, the 72-hour rule and a daily rate.
Official sources
An auto-dialler with the guard rails always on.
See auto-dial ring a lead in practice mode, and the abandoned-call report, in a 20-minute demo.