Optus telemarketer leaves callers hanging

The owner of a Melbourne-based number that has been plaguing people with calls which, when answered, are silent on the other end, has been traced to a Fiji-based call centre of OCIS, which provides telemarketing services for Singtel subsidiary Optus.

People affected by the issue would have received a call, or a number of calls, from the number 03 9009 6600 only to hear dead air on the other end when they answered the phone.

ZDNet Australia understands that a fault in the predictive dialler that is used to connect the telemarketer to the customer has led to the issue. People who have attempted to call the number back would either encounter no response, or would hear a pre-recorded message from OCIS stating that the company is providing services for Optus, and that customers can expect another call from the company.

When the original call does connect, the telemarketer has generally asked questions about which telco the customer is with, and how much the person is paying for that service, according to the WhoCallsMe forum.

It is understood that the fault with the predictive dialler has since been fixed.

ZDNet Australia approached both OCIS and Optus about the issue; however, neither company had issued a statement at the time of writing.