Can a HTML telephone link be made to begin call and bypass the dial pad?

Question

I have been encountering more and more marketing / SEO represenatives that want links on their client websites to have click-to-call links that bypass the dial pad and instantly start the call.

Is this even possible with html: <a href="tel:+01-555-555-5555">1-555-555-5555</a> ? If not, is it even possible with scripting?

Answer 1

Thats not possible and it really should never be. The browser should not give websites the ability to start arbitary calls.

This would not just lead to more scams, but could also lead to websites calling paynumbers which cost money to call.