Bluetooth marketing has received a boost following a government decision that it is no longer covered by UK privacy laws.

The decision by the Information Commissioner means direct marketing sent out via Bluetooth is no longer covered by guidelines relating to unsolicited material.

And Bluetooth users will no longer have to opt-in to receive a specific company's Bluetooth marketing as is currently the case.

Reacting to the decision, Julia McNally, director of mobile marketing agency New Visions, said: "Bluetooth marketing is actually less intrusive than text messaging, because the user has to accept the content.

"People will always be able to have that capability because the opt-in function is built in to the configuration of the phones," she added.

Bluetooth marketing has recently been utilised by Vue Cinemas with the company hiring direct marketing agency Bluepod Media to install its software in posters around their cinemas.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'