Free hold

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This article only presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

A free queue is a telephone queue that is free of charge for the caller.

In Europe, free queues were defined by a directive of the European Union , which the German legislator implemented with delay while EU infringement proceedings were ongoing.

The legal definition in Germany only affects certain value-added services . The amendment to the Telecommunications Act came into force in May 2012. The implementation took place over a year transition period in two phases. All phone number ranges are affected : 01801, 01803, 01805, 01802, 01804 (from cell phones ), 0900 (with a minute rate), 01372, 01373, 01374, 0700 as well as all premium short codes in the cell phone networks . Speech dialog system -based information services such as B. Announcement of the time, announcement of the lottery numbers, etc. are by definition no waiting loops.

Phase I.

Phase I, which includes free queues at the start of calls, will be implemented by September 1, 2012.

The transition period ends on August 31, 2012 and phase 1 of the Telecommunications Act comes into force on September 1. From then on, inbound queues must be free for up to two minutes at the beginning of the connection. The legislature threatens heavy fines of up to € 100,000 for non-implementation. Queues during the call, so-called "downstream" queues, are initially not affected by phase 1 of the new law. Companies that use a selection menu at the beginning (press 1 if you want to be connected to ..., 2 if ...) are also not affected by the change in the law for phase 1, since the pending queue is interpreted as a "downstream" queue . All number ranges affected by the new rules for the free waiting loop must be converted with immediate effect. Waiting loops at the beginning of phone calls are free of charge for the caller. One solution implemented at the moment is to break the connection after 120 seconds on hold, and the caller then has to dial in again.

Phase II

Phase II, which includes all waiting loops and connection processes free of charge, will be implemented by June 1, 2013.

Phase 2 begins on June 1, 2013 and contains extensive rules for the free waiting loop. From here on, all queues, including downstream ones, must be free of charge for the caller at all times. If there are queues, the expected duration of the waiting time must also be communicated. Information about the free queue or about a block tariff must be communicated to the caller clearly and free of charge. Penalties for non-implementation remain as in phase 1. However, the rights of customers are further strengthened: If the law is violated, callers do not have to pay the cost of the entire call.

The assignees or owners of the service numbers are responsible to the Federal Network Agency for the implementation of the legal requirements.

Technical solution

A technical solution that is financially feasible is not available at the moment. So-called offline billing is only supported by very few IN systems ( intelligent network ). The conversion effort and the associated set of generated data within call centers would not be economically efficient. So far, there is no technical solution at all for mobile communications. A timely development of an application does not seem to be in sight. On August 8, 2012, the legislature reacted with an aid to implement the free waiting loop. The two new number ranges 0180-6 and 0180-7 are intended to make it easier for companies to implement the TKG amendment. The number range 0180-6 is a real innovation. With it, calls from the landline network and calls from the mobile network can be billed at a uniform fixed price. Waiting patterns in accordance with Section 66g (1) No. 4 TKG can be switched in this alley without restriction. The second newly created number range 0180-7 is intended to be an option, especially for companies with a permanent input queue of less than 120 seconds. For the caller - when dialing in - the first 30 seconds will be free of charge. The delayed connection (Connect) ensures that downstream queues of less than 30 seconds are free of charge in the overall connection. These two number ranges are allocated by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA). Phone number owners who want to change their "old phone number" to the new alleys are preferred when purchasing, so-called mirror phone numbers (two-stage day-one procedure). Other solutions for service number providers include switching to geographical numbers, to 0800 aisle, or number ranges with block tariffs.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Waiting loops for service hotlines should no longer cost anything in the future. Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , October 27, 2011, accessed on April 6, 2017 .