State House backs ban on `dead calls'

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City),  Mar 5, 2002  

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A type of telemarketing call that has led to consumer complaints would be banned under legislation approved Monday in the Oklahoma House.

The bill by Rep. Fred Perry, R-Tulsa, would prohibit telemarketers from making so-called "dead calls" to Oklahomans. Dead calls occur when a telemarketer uses equipment that dials and engages more than one telephone number at a time. The first customer to answer is connected to the seller, but the remaining customers hear nothing when they answer the phone.

Perry said dead calls are caused by "poorly automated equipment." He said computer software has been developed that will cut down on their numbers although not completely eliminate them.

A spokesman for one of the nation's leading telemarketing groups said the measure is counterproductive and will make the telemarketing industry less efficient.

"It will become a nightmare for everyone," said Lou Mastria of The Direct Marketing Association, a national organization with almost 5,000 members, including many telemarketers.

The bill would amend the state law that prohibits deceptive telemarketing practices to also prevent telemarketers from using equipment that allows dead calls.

Mastria said his organization opposes the measure and separate telemarketing legislation that is pending in the Senate to create a statewide "no-call" list of telephone customers who do not want to receive telemarketing calls.

He said the industry employed 66,000 people in Oklahoma and had $7 billion in sales in the state last year.

The measure, House Bill 2837, passed 90-1 and was sent to the Senate for action.

Fred Jones Enterprises

When Oklahoma City-based Fred Jones Enterprises bought more powertrain parts distribution rights in the southeast last week, it could move the company into areas outside the auto sector.

Fred Jones Enterprises, a Ford authorized distributor of Ford Remanufactured and Motorcraft Powertrain assemblies, was established in 1938. Until recently, it also was an authorized Ford remanufacturer, said Fred Hall, chairman of Fred Jones Enterprises. "When we sold the manufacturing operations and moved distribution into 900 W. Main St., we did so with a plan to grow," he said. "We have been looking for acquisitions. We will continue looking for acquisitions to grow our business."

With distribution and warehouse facilities in 12 states across the Southeast, the company is poised for further growth within the auto sector, but possible outside that sector, Hall said."We are seeking opportunities that would fit what we have and optimize our present distribution and warehouse locations," he said. "It would be more geographic based rather than product based."

Last week, the company bought the powertrain parts distribution rights in Tennessee, Kentucky and southern Indiana from Hesco Parts Corp. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. With this purchase, Fred Jones Enterprises distributes Ford powertrain products to 950 Ford Lincoln-Mercury dealerships.

The company is the largest Ford parts distributor in the United States, Hall said.

In connection with the latest acquisition, Fred Jones Enterprises has leased a sales and distribution facility to serve the new area. It is the company's seventh distribution site. Fred Jones Enterprises' distribution territory now stretches from the Gulf Coast to Indiana and from far west Texas to the East Coast.

More layoffs in Pryor

A company that puts educational courses on the Internet will lay off 60 people as part of a consolidation of operations.

White Plains, N.Y.-based Learn2 Corp. has decided to close its office in Pryor, which employs 40 people in the MidAmerica Industrial Park. Another 20 positions will be cut in field sales offices.

In 1999, Learn2 Corp. bought a Pryor-based computer graphics company, called Viagrafix, which employed 150 people.

The industrial park lost more than 800 jobs last year when two major employers closed their doors. The Pryor operations will be consolidated with Learn2's e-learning business in Denver.

New from a la mode

Oklahoma City-based a la mode inc. has introduced InterFlood.com, an online source for digital Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The flood maps are produced by FEMA to indicate flood hazard areas and provide flood risk information required for real estate transactions.

InterFlood.com is providing 111,052 flood maps, which cover 99.96 percent of the nation by county. InterFlood maps are actual FEMA flood maps digitally enhanced for computer use. They are also geo- referenced, which allows the user to obtain flood maps by entering the property address, said Michael Combs, InterFlood product manager.

InterFlood.com flood maps are available for an introductory price of $95 for 250 maps per year, Combs said. Larger map quantities are also available.

Playing politics

A Comanche County Republican barbecue in Lawton resulted in a no- show by the invited guest speaker and a bogus press release fired off by an angry opponent who wasn't asked to talk to the crowd.