Outbound calling on weekends and bank holidays

Outbound calls are not normally made on a Sunday
Contrary to what you might think, there do not seem to be any written regulations governing the time of day that you can make outbound calls.

However, there are times when people are more receptive to receiving an outbound call.

Traditional outbound calling times

Traditionally many call centres used the following times for outbound calling:

Monday – Friday 10.00am to 8.00pm
Saturday 10.00am to 2.00pm
Sunday No outbound dialling
Bank Holidays No outbound dialling

In some call centres dialling did not start until 12.00 noon most days and on Saturdays outbound calling was turned off by 12.30.

Today’s calling patterns

Monday – Friday 10.00am to 8.00pm
Saturday 10.00am to 8.00pm
Sunday Some call centres (mainly debt collection) are calling between 11.00am and 6.00pm
Bank Holidays No outbound dialling

Practical considerations

The phone ringing after 8.00pm, (and definitely after 9.00pm) can wake up sleeping children and may cause anxiety.

Sunday calling may not be very well received for religious or social reasons. It is also harder to get staff in to an outbound call centre on a Sunday.

DMA Guidelines

The Direct Marketing Code of Practice is usually taken as a ‘best practice’ set of guidelines.

The Code of Practice (3rd Edition) states:

Reasonable Hours 21.41 ‘Members must not make sales, marketing or service calls during hours which are unreasonable to the person being called recognising that what is regarded as unreasonable can vary in different locations and different types of households and businesses. In general members should not make calls between the hours of 9pm and 8am Monday to Friday, and 9pm and 9am at weekends unless an express invitation to do so is received. Members must also be aware that many consumers might consider it unreasonable to be called on Sunday or on national/religious holidays’.