Melanie Batley looks into a new way to connect with voters at a fraction of the traditional cost

Imagine being able to speak directly to tens of thousands of people in your constituency at one time, in less than an hour, for as little as £2,000.

The tele-town hall is a virtual town hall meeting that enables a candidate or politician to make live, direct contact with tens of thousands of voters at a time - and, per person, it's cheaper than posting them a letter. In the US, hundreds of elected officials and candidates, from city mayors to President Obama, are now regularly using the technology, which has been found to boost favourability ratings by margins of over 10 per cent, while energising supporters and raising funds.

Here's how it works - a computer simultaneously dials thousands of phone numbers from voter lists. The call may contain a pre-recorded message by the candidate or politician asking the voter to participate in a live teleconference. For example, it might say: "Stay on the line, or press one to join the call." Those who don't answer the phone receive a pre-recorded message. During the live call, listeners can ask questions by pressing a number on their keypad, which is logged by an operator. The questions then appear in a queue on the politician's computer screen, allowing them to select which questions to take and screen out the hostile ones (the fantasy superpower of every politician).

Candidates can conduct real-time polling during the call, with questions that participants can answer using their keypads. Instant survey results are produced and the data can be integrated into the individual voter records, enabling targeted future communications on particular subjects and positions. An appeal for donations can also be made, with operators standing by to gather credit card information. Often, the politician is able to recoup the cost of the event with the funds raised during the call.

The candidates and elected officials who have used tele-town halls have found major shifts in their favourability ratings, name recognition and support at levels unheard of through the use of direct mail, canvassing or even by hosting traditional town halls meetings. One study shows that 63 per cent of those who received a call voted for the politician, compared with 41 per cent in a control group who did not receive a call, while 69 per cent of those who participated in a call said it strongly or moderately improved their opinion of the politician. Research also shows increases in satisfaction with the politician's overall job performance.

This is an entirely different animal from the ‘robocall' that has been around for at least a decade in the US, and has also been used on this side of the Atlantic. Robocalls, also made by computerised auto-dialing, leave a prerecorded message, sometimes from famous personalities, but don't offer live interaction.

In the UK, a number of the main parties used robocalls during the 2005 election, but they ran into problems when people complained about being contacted without their consent; a practice the Information Commissioner's Office said contravened privacy and electronic communication regulations.

Tele-town halls haven't made it to the UK... yet. European privacy laws will only permit automated calls where the householder receiving the calls has given prior consent to be contacted. That eliminates the possibility of calling anyone and everyone in one's constituency, which can be done in the US - a major limitation for a new candidate, for example. But all is not lost.

If you have lists of key supporters and others that have said they are interested in hearing from you, they should be suitable to use. It may sound onerous, but in an age when modern parties understand data protection limitations, most campaigns have policies in place to gather consent for future communications and enable an ongoing dialogue.

You may say, it's all well and good for the Americans - they're a chatty bunch - but do people on this side of the Atlantic really want to get called at home by politicians? In a word, yes. The first tele-town hall in France was conducted in December. Live contact was made with 13,000 people, with opt-in rates of 60-70 per cent, and an average participation time of 10 minutes. Another 6,000 who didn't answer the phone received a prerecordedmessage.

Meanwhile, independent survey research found that voters who get the calls appreciate hearing from politicians and enjoy the opportunity to ask questions and offer their opinions. The success of tele-town halls in the US is an example of how political communication in the 21st century is all about the personal touch. Politicians who find ways to talk directly to individuals in a personal way will have the advantage.

Thanks to advances in technology, it seems that just one phone call has the power to convince thousands of people to start listening again.

Melanie Batley has worked as a US campaign adviser and was a researcher for the Conservative Party