2014 has gone by and when you look back, you feel you have committed a few gaffes last year that would have caused you serious trouble in business. No worries, this New Year gives you a chance to wash your hands clean of any past transgressions and get a fresh start, fixing up and learning from the mistakes that you committed.
One of those gaffes could have been leveraging an Auto Dialer Software in a way in which it wasn’t following the strict mandates. An expensive mishap could lead to penalties and other adverse consequences that any business will dread to deal with.
Below we have discussed certain regulations pertaining to Auto Dialer Software, which you should be aware of before you bring your product in the market.
So How It All Started?
Back in 1991, Congress had first passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) as a way to prevent consumers from being overwhelmed by a significantly high number of unsolicited Dialer Software telephone marketing calls made to their residences.
In response, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started rules for Automatic Dialer Software that require anyone making a telephone solicitation call to residences needs to provide his or her name, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at which that person or entity can be contacted.
On June 27, 2003, the FTC opened the National Do Not Call Registry – a list of telephone numbers from consumers who have expressed their preference not to receive telemarketing calls
The list was created to offer consumers a choice regarding telemarketing calls. More than 50 million US households (representing about 1/3 of all households) joined the new DNC list in just a few months.
The rules regarding automatically dialed and pre-recorded calls apply, whether or not a number has been registered on the national Do-Not-Call list.
Few guidelines that your business needs to adhere, if in future you want to avoid these mishaps and pay a heavy price for it.
The rule astringently prohibits telephone calls made by Auto Dialer Software:
- To residences before 8 am or after 9 pm, and require telemarketers to comply with any do-not-call request you make directly to the caller during a solicitation call.
Except for emergency calls or calls made with the prior express consent of the person being called, Automatic Dialer Software and any artificial or pre-recorded voice messages may not be used to contact numbers assigned to:
- Any emergency telephone line;
- The telephone line of any guest or patient room at a hospital, health care facility, home for the elderly or similar establishment;
- A paging service, wireless phone service (including both voice calls and text messages) or other commercial mobile radio service; or
- Any other service for which the person being called would be charged for the call.
Calls using artificial or pre-recorded voice messages – including those that do not use Auto Dialer Software – may not be made to home phone numbers except for:
- Emergency calls needed to ensure the consumer’s health and safety;
- Calls for which a consumer has given prior express consent;
- Non-commercial calls;
- Calls that don’t include or introduce any unsolicited advertisements or constitute telephone solicitations;
- Calls by, or on behalf of, tax-exempt non-profit organizations; or
- Calls from entities with which you have an EBR.
It is recommended that any company which creates its automatic dialer software adjusts to “Do Not Call” related rules as they change. In fact, if your auto dialer software seamlessly integrates both inbound and outbound call center campaigns, boasts a high level of flexibility and is extremely user-friendly. It can then successfully run in the market without being impeded by the automatic dialer software regulations.