Orange Telephone, a mobile application against cold calling

By Kesso Diallo Posted, Updated

This mobile application, developed by the French operator Orange, makes it possible to block unsolicited calls made by unknown numbers.

Are you fed up with unwanted calls on your mobile phone? The Orange Telephone application, developed by the telecom operator Orange, aims to be a guardian against telephone spam. It is available for customers of all operators (SFR, Bouygues Télécom and Free) and on iOS and Android, Apple's mobile operating systems and Android. It is free and allows you to block unsolicited calls made by unknown numbers on a mobile phone. The service was released quietly at the end of last year, according to the specialized site iGénération.

Orange Telephone offers various functionalities. The anti-spam service is available to all users, regardless of their operator. It detects unwanted calls such as canvassing services or scams before they even pick up. This is possible thanks to a list updated by Orange and the reporting of users. The other features are only offered to Orange customers. Thus, a reverse directory integrated into the application allows them to identify the professionals who called them. They are also informed of the price of premium rate numbers before calling them. On the other hand, Orange Telephone does not block hidden numbers or spam SMS.

Ineffective solutions

Telephone canvassing is a problem for many French people. Several services have been made available to them against this practice, but they have not proven to be very effective. This is the case of Bloctel, an anti-soliciting telephone list set up by the government and available since June 1, 2016. This service is supposed to curb the telephone harassment that many French people complain about on a daily basis, but it is not not very efficient. A survey published on June 20 by UFC-Que Choisir revealed that 92% of French people still found cold calling "too frequent". The consumer association had even already launched an online petition against Bloctel in 2017.

Following Bloctel's failure, a bill by Pierre Cordier, deputy Les Républicains des Ardennes, was examined by the National Assembly last June. Its objective was to let the French choose whether they wanted to be canvassed or not. This bill was reviewed and adopted by the National Assembly last December, then by the Senate in February. In this version, it plans to multiply the penalties by five against direct sellers who do not comply with the law that established Bloctel (law no. 2014-344 of March 17, 2014 relating to consumption). In other words, canvassers who solicit people registered on Bloctel are liable to a fine of 75,000 euros instead of 15,000 euros for a natural person and 375,000 euros instead of 75,000 euros for a legal person. In addition to presenting themselves in full (name, reason for the call and client company of the call), the canvassers must also remind consumers at the start of the call that they can register on Bloctel and check all months the opposition lists.