10 Do-Not-Call Compliance Facts You Need to Know Before Picking Up the Phone

The FTC is Serious About Do-Not-Call Compliance

There are numerous compliance laws and regulations at the state and federal level that you could be violating and not even know it. This is why it is imperative you use the right compliance tools to certify your lists before placing a call. Don’t let a mistake that is easily avoided, cost your company thousands, if not millions.

Cold calling is no easy feat. There are many uncertainties that lie on the other end of the line when you pick up the phone. Don’t let non-compliance be one of them.

Below are 10 facts you may not have known about outbound marketing compliance:

1. Do-Not-Call violations can cost your company up to $40,000 in civil penalties, per offense, depending on which law you violate.
2. Six states in the U.S. prohibit telemarketers from calling wireless numbers, regardless of if you use an automated dialer or not.
3. Louisiana prohibits solicitations during a state of emergency when the Public Service Commission has been required to notify the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
4. Under TCPA, telemarketers are restricted from calling consumers before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. Call, curfew requirements apply based on the local times of the called phone number, not on the location of the telemarketer.
5. But, states have their own rules too on calling curfews. For example, Kentucky prohibits calls before 10 a.m.
6. If your organization utilizes independent contractors or agents to sell your services, you are liable for their telemarketing violations. Learn which satellite television provider had to pay upwards of $300 million in fines for do-not-call violations.
7. Unlike criminal law where an individual is assumed innocent until proven guilty, telemarketers always bear the burden to prove he or she is not liable for a DNC violation.
8. If you are under investigation in New Jersey or Indiana, you must immediately provide documentation of your scripts, name/address/ phone number of all of your callers, all phone records and a log of every telemarketing phone call made on your behalf.
9. While telemarketing laws were drafted to protect consumers, state and federal regulators can and will enforce their do-not-call regulations against B2B solicitations.
10. In addition to the National DNC Registry, 13 states maintain their own state DNC list. Additionally, 37 states have telemarketer registration requirements.