BELL CANADA IDENTIFYING UNKNOWN CALLERS
By Adnews Staff
A new SmartTouch service from Montreal-based Bell Canada will let customers control who has access to their homes through the telephone. The service, called "Call Privacy", intercepts unidentified callers before the phone rings. The service will ask callers to identify themselves, then give customers the option of accepting, rejecting or diverting calls to their Bell Call Answer voice mail service. According to Bell, the new SmartTouch service was developed in response to its customers top complaint of receiving "nuisance calls". The new service, currently only available in Ontario, is being promoted with two 30-second television spots created by Toronto-based Cossette Communication-Marketing. The service is expected to roll out into the Quebec market shortly. Bill inserts are also being used to promote the new service.