Keeping Agents TCPA Compliant: 4 Tactics Proven to Reduce Grey Hair

Keeping agents TCPA compliant is tough.

There are many ways contact centers can inadvertently bring down a hefty fine on their call center.

But there are few tactics managers and agents can apply to remain TCPA compliant and avoid a regulatory consequence. Discover each one below.

4 TCPA Compliance Tactics

Obtain Written Consent

Every call center agent must get prior express written consent (PEWC) before they call anyone to advertise an offer or perform any kind of telemarketing using an automated dialer or robocall feature.

Agents cannot simply rely on verbal consent (it does matter, however); but best practice should really be a writing consent.

But that doesn’t mean it has to be a paper contract. The FCC usually accepts electronic or digital signatures. That includes website forms, text messages and telephone-key press – as long as agents explicitly ask for permission to contact someone, they’re not violating the TCPA.

We should also mention that the number a contact center agent calls must match up with the name of the person who’s provided written consent.

If an agent calls a person who has provided consent but now has a different number, a call center may be liable for TCPA noncompliance.

Scrub Call Lists

Managers need to make sure agents regularly review their call lists to make sure they can actually call those numbers legally.

If a number is found to be on the National Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry, then call planners should immediately remove that number.

Similarly, if the person matching the phone number has not given prior express written consent, then agents can’t call them.

There is a grace period in case contact centers call a mobile phone without the correct permissions, however.

According to section 47 CFR § 64.1200 of the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR):

“A person will not be liable for violating the prohibition in paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section when the call is placed to a wireless number that has been ported from wireline service and such call is a voice call; not knowingly made to a wireless number; and made within 15 days of the porting of the number from wireline to wireless service, provided the number is not already on the national do-not-call registry or caller’s company-specific do-not-call list.”

Our suggestion is to scrub lists every 15 days just make sure all calls are legal, and if they aren’t, there’s a safety period. Or, rather than manually having agents or managers check each call, try TCN’s cell phone scrub – it’s automated and efficient.

Enable Agents to Dial Manually

An autodialer is excellent for large telemarketing campaigns targeted at people who have given written consent, but it can’t be used all the time.

Sometimes it’s better to allow agents to manually call and scrub the list as they go, especially if contact centers have little information about the phone number.

Manual dialing is a strategy that should be used alongside autodialing.

And there are services that help streamline this process.

Manually Approved Calling (MAC) is one of them.

MAC sets up one group of agents who review and approve calls for another group of agents who will answer live calls.

It creates a seamless interface for rapidly switching between approving calls and taking them.

Call center agents are given all the information available on the number on their screen, giving them the chance to review each account in real-time.

And no calls are placed without an agent first reviewing and approving it.

Stay TCPA Compliant: Remain Informed and Up-To-Date

Ultimately, the best tactic to remain TCPA compliant is by continually staying informed, up-to-date, and proactive about updates to the rules and regulations of the call center software industry.

One of the best places to go to stay on top of the latest TCPA news is this page from the FCC. It currently provides an archive of major notices, events, and orders.

But what call center managers really need is some kind of resource they can depend on to keep them up-to-date at all times. An easy to use guide they can reference at any time.

Which leads us to your final tactic…

One Proven Tactic for Helping Managers Keep Their Agents TCPA Compliant

Constantly hunting for the latest TCPA news is tedious and time-consuming.

Call center managers need to be able to seek and find whatever TCPA regulation they need instantly.

That’s why we created the Manager’s Guide to Call Center Regulations.

We catalog the governing laws of TCPA to help managers stay compliant.

inside this slim, actionable guide managers will discover:

• The newest best practices for TCPA and FDCPA.
• How to handle changes to regulations.
• The implications for possible breaches.

And much more.

Get our Manager’s Guide to Call Center Regulations today!