Free nuisance call blocking service announced by Sky

Sky, UK's telecom major, will be introducing a free call blocking service which will go live from 9^th June, available to both existing and new customers free of charge, The Sky Talk Shield system will work with existing handsets, not needing any additional equipment, which Sky says will protect customers from nuisance and spam calls. The service when once opted for and enabled, will accept any given call for one time, first time. Allowing the call, it can be added to the personal Star List of the customer. Reject the call and it will be added to the Block List, or send the call over to the voicemail. Customers can use their home phone or MySky to manage their Star List and Block List.

Sky claims this is a 'first of its kind' service, but rival giant BT too had launched last year a free spam protection service, Call Protect, for its residential subscribers. The company uses its own blacklist to stop most common nuisance or unwanted calls from reaching customers. This service too works on BT's existing equipment and also allows adding numbers tot he customer's own personal blacklist.

Chief Commercial Officer at Sky UK, Lysa McGowan, said Sky has always considered extremely important to provide customers the very best experience across broadband, phone and TV. She added that this is another step in their commitment with the launch of Sky Talk Shield that offers a simple, brilliant, free service that puts power back to customers, to stop the inconvenience and frustration caused by nuisance calls. One in five UK households get a nuisance call per day and those over 55 years of age land with the highest number, observed Sky.