Although robocalls are automated, call centers where they’re managed are closed or have otherwise reduced their operations, Los Angeles Times business columnist David Lazarus noted last week.
Lazarus heard from a couple who noticed a reduction in the amount of robocalls they’ve received. He talked to leaders at You Mail, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that tracks them.
“The pandemic is disrupting everything,” Alex Quilici, chief executive of YouMail, told Lazarus. “So you can say this is a benefit of the coronavirus.”
About 4.1 billion robocalls were received by U.S. households in March — more than 132 million a day, according to YouMail.
That’s down more than 1 billion from the 5.2 billion calls that were logged in the U.S. in March 2019.
In the Pittsburgh area it means people received about 7.7 million fewer calls in March compared to March 2019, according to YouMail.
Pittsburghers received 29.6 million calls in March, compared to 37.3 million in March 2019, according to YouMail’s figures.
That bad news is the reduction in calls likely won’t be long lasting, Quilici told Lazarus.
Expect robocall volume to pick up again in coming weeks as overseas facilities lay the groundwork for transferring calls to workers’ homes, Lazarus reported.
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