Silent call

rdf:langString Silent call

rdf:langString A silent call is a telephone call in which the calling party does not speak when the call is answered. Most such calls are generated by a cold call telemarketing operation's predictive dialer which makes many calls, and sometimes does not have an agent immediately available to handle an answered call; the called party hears silence ("dead air"), followed by the call being disconnected. This differs from a ghost call, which is not dialed intentionally, and is due to technical issues or pocket dialing. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) uses the term "abandoned call" instead of silent call in its regulations applying to telemarketing. "Abandoned call" in non-FTC contexts may refer to a caller who hangs up when the call is not answered promptly. For more information on why the technology makes silent calls, see predictive dialer.