How to stop advertising cold calls in Switzerland forever
Swiss telecommunications providers are now compelled to offer customers a spam filter for advertising calls and texts. Here’s how to set it up.
As of July 1st, new regulations came into effect which required Swiss telecommunications providers to allow filters against advertising calls.
Under the Federal Council’s Telecommunications Ordinance, providers must set up “a suitable means against unfair advertising calls”, reports Swiss news outlet 20 Minutes.
While some providers including Swisscom and Sunrise had already set up filters, UPC and Salt are now compelled by the new regulation to do so.
How do I set up an advertising filter on calls in Switzerland?
The filter works similar to one for spam emails, in that suspected advertising calls are immediately blocked before they reach users.
This means that it does not require users to put each number on a list, but instead that certain calls are blocked without users ever knowing about it.
This is a big change from the previous system which would require people to contact call centres and put their phone number on a ‘do not call’ list.
While this applied frequently to landlines, it meant that mobile phone users frequently bore the brunt of the advertising calls.
To activate the filter, you will need to get in touch with your telephone provider and ask to have your call filter activated.
Some such as Swisscom and UPC have a dedicated site at which you can do this, while with the others you will need to contact them by phone and ask them to set up the call blocking function.
Once set up, advertisers can be liable for criminal consequences if they ignore the list.
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As of July 1st, new regulations came into effect which required Swiss telecommunications providers to allow filters against advertising calls.
Under the Federal Council’s Telecommunications Ordinance, providers must set up “a suitable means against unfair advertising calls”, reports Swiss news outlet 20 Minutes.
While some providers including Swisscom and Sunrise had already set up filters, UPC and Salt are now compelled by the new regulation to do so.
How do I set up an advertising filter on calls in Switzerland?
The filter works similar to one for spam emails, in that suspected advertising calls are immediately blocked before they reach users.
This means that it does not require users to put each number on a list, but instead that certain calls are blocked without users ever knowing about it.
This is a big change from the previous system which would require people to contact call centres and put their phone number on a ‘do not call’ list.
While this applied frequently to landlines, it meant that mobile phone users frequently bore the brunt of the advertising calls.
To activate the filter, you will need to get in touch with your telephone provider and ask to have your call filter activated.
Some such as Swisscom and UPC have a dedicated site at which you can do this, while with the others you will need to contact them by phone and ask them to set up the call blocking function.
Once set up, advertisers can be liable for criminal consequences if they ignore the list.
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