What is Conversation Compliance in Call Centers?

In today’s digital age, clear and consistent communication is more important than ever. Many businesses are turning to automated communication tools to interact with customers across highly regulated industries.  

With increased federal, state, and local regulations regarding telemarketing and outbound calling comes the responsibility to ensure these interactions are conducted in a way that respects user privacy, adheres to relevant laws, and upholds ethical standards.  

This is where the concept of conversation compliance for call centers and TCPA compliance comes in – a crucial aspect of building trust and enhancing the total experience in the age of automated communication.

What is conversation compliance in call centers?

Conversation compliance is the process of ensuring telemarketing conversations in call centers adhere to relevant laws, regulations, and ethical standards.

Conversation compliance can apply to many aspects of compliance including: 

• Industry-specific requirements such as the guidelines, procedures, and policies of an organization’s operations that relate to regulations of a specific industry such as insurance or financial services 
• Internal policies including acceptable use and ethical standards 
• Regulatory compliance that most organizations must comply with as part of normal operating procedures 
• Contact compliance including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Do Not Call (DNC) lists 
• Data privacy and security acts such as the GDPR
• Intellectual property and copyright laws

Importance of conversation compliance 

Conversation compliance in your call centers is important for many reasons. If your organization is found to violate compliance laws, you could be at risk for legal ramifications like fines, lawsuits, class action lawsuits, and more. When an organization fails to take the necessary steps to remain compliant, they are at risk of violating the TCPA and DNC, which can be costly. 

Under the TCPA, you could be fined up to $500 per violation/call and up to $1500 per violation/call if it is proven that your organization willfully and knowingly violated any laws. There is no cap on statutory damages so thousands of dollars of violations can end up resulting in millions of dollars of penalties. For violating the DNC, organizations can be charged up to $43,000 at the federal level and up to $25,000 in certain states.   

Once a call is legally made, there are many factors during the conversation that are key, like ensuring that call recordings are legal and disclosed, particularly in two-party consent states. Agents must cite any regulatory disclosures that a consumer must be made aware of during a conversation. Additionally, there are nuances in regulated industries where conversations must remain compliant according to the industry’s own guidelines.  

Conversation compliance can also assist with ensuring that express permission for a consumer to be contacted is recorded and documented. With laws that regulate how and when consumers are contacted by an organization, ensuring that consent is documented is crucial. 

Conversation compliance is important because it builds trust and fosters a positive customer experience with consumers. When compliance laws and regulations are violated, consumers can lose trust in your brand. When organizations adhere to all applicable conversation compliance standards, it ensures consistent, positive interactions which are key to long-term success.

Examples of conversation compliance 

Conversation compliance can look different depending on the industry. In certain industries, there are parts of the conversation that are highly regulated and require specific guidelines to be followed. 

Financial Services 

In the finance industry, conversation compliance is key. When it comes to debt collection, there are strict rules and regulations to remain compliant. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) governs debt collection practices by regulating where, when, and how you contact consumers that owe money. 

Additionally, conversation compliance can include things like ensuring agents cite regulatory disclosures to consumers for things like new mortgages or credit cards.  

When it comes to conversation compliance, agents in the financial services industry cannot call consumers before 8 am or after 9 pm, cannot place phone calls more than 7 times within a seven-day period, and, in certain states, disclose that calls are being recorded to all involved parties. 

Healthcare 

In the healthcare industry, personal and private information cannot be shared under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). HIPPA requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of protected health information and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without an individual’s authorization. This means that your health information cannot be used or shared without your written permission, ensuring patient data privacy and security. 

In the context of conversation compliance, a healthcare chatbot wouldn’t store personal health information within the conversation and would offer secure channels for users to share such details. 

Retail 

Retailers must comply with consumer protection laws like the TCPA when it comes to complying with telemarketing practices. This includes obtaining proper consent to contact someone, the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or autodialer, and maintaining and adhering to Do Not Call lists. 

An example of conversation compliance in the retail industry would be a store obtaining prior express written consent before communicating with consumers via SMS/text messaging. 

How conversation compliance enhances the total experience 

The total experience (TX) aims to create exceptional experiences for all people involved within an organization, including customers, employees, users, and partners. TX is based on the idea that all experiences are interconnected and interdependent, and that focusing on TX can lead to smoother interactions and better outcomes.  

Instead of treating customers and employees separately, total experience integrates them together to create consistently exceptional experiences for everyone involved in the organization, whether they are internal or external. Total experience combines four key areas: multi experience (MX), customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and user experience (UX). 

Conversational compliance plays a critical role in enhancing the total experience by fostering trust, efficiency, and a sense of respect, leading to consistent positive interactions which is key to long-term success.  

When your employees are abiding by all relevant laws, regulations, and ethical standards, customers trust your organization more. They feel like they can trust your organization with their data, privacy and that your organization is taking all the necessary precautions to remain compliant with federal, state and local regulations. When customers trust your business, overall satisfaction with your brand increases.  

Conversation compliance also enhances the total experience by enhancing efficiency across your entire organization. Conversation compliance is about clear, concise and consistent communication. In highly regulated industries, sellers need to make certain disclosures, obtain consent before calling, and more to avoid fines. When sellers stick to necessary scripts, the conversation becomes focused on the customer’s specific needs and stays on topic. This saves time and frustration, leading to a more positive overall experience.

Learn more about conversation compliance in call centers 

Conversation compliance may seem like a daunting task, but leveraging an artificial intelligence tool can help. Through real-time coaching, script adherence, sentiment analysis, and more, artificial intelligence can help your organization achieve conversational compliance and get the most out of every consumer interaction. 

For more information on how AI is transforming conversation compliance, click here. 

Achieving conversation compliance 

Gryphon’s real-time, AI-powered conversation intelligence solution combined with automated TCPA and DNC call compliance enable better conversations so customer-facing teams can sell more, remain compliant, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.  

If you are ready to harness the power of artificial intelligence in your conversation compliance strategy, contact us today.