Record, Assess, Refine: Reliable Pathways to TCPA Compliance

Call centers are rightfully worried about TCPA compliance.

And what they’re all looking for is a complete guide to TCPA compliance they can reference over time to ensure they’re following the best practices.

After all, running afoul of the law can be quite costly.

The FCC’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act 47 U.S.C. § 227 states clearly that the standard fee for violating the TCPA is $500. It goes on to say:

“If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated this subsection or the regulations prescribed under this subsection, the court may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 3 times the amount available under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph ($500).“

That means a call center can be charged up to $1,500 per call for each instance where they shouldn’t have dialed.

This, however, is preventable!

In today’s post, we’ll detail the different ways a call center manager can record, assess, and refine their processes to maintain TCPA compliance.

4 Reliable Pathways to TCPA Compliance

1. Obtain Prior Express Consent (PEC)

We put this at number one because it’s the most important step any call center can take to remain TCPA compliant.

But, how do call center managers ensure PEC?

Nicole Strickler, during our TCPA Litigation Defense Webinar, said this about making consent a natural part of your process:

“If you build consent into your scripts correctly, it can serve as quite the tool in defeating the class action… if your policy or procedure is: every time the collector is speaking to the consumer they say something to the effect of “Is this a good number to call you on?” and the consumer says ‘yes.’”

“Building that script into your policy can serve as a nice defense tool because, for class action context, if I can provide that type of evidence to the consumer attorney to say, “Hey, maybe on this one-off call or account we didn’t have consent, but let me tell you what our policy and procedure is and here’s a bunch of examples of us using it over the past X amount of time, so you’re never going to get class certification because this is a one-off, this isn’t a pattern or practice of calling without consent.”

2. Scrub Call Lists

The TCPA states plainly who call centers may call and who they may not.

Call centers are not allowed to make robocalls or send prerecorded messages or unwanted SMS text messages without prior express written or recorded consent.

Unless the person has given prior express consent.

One of the most important call center practices managers can implement is the consistent scrubbing of their call lists to remove anyone who hasn’t given consent, along with anyone who has registered their number on the national Do Not Call list.

Top-of-the-line cloud contact center software includes automatic call list scrubbing.

3. Record Selected Calls Between Agents and Customers

Automated call recording allows call center managers to listen to conversations between their agents and customers.

This might not strike you as a path to compliance, but if you’ve integrated requests for express consent to be contacted on the line with every call (step 1), call recordings are a great pathway to a better defense should a compliance issue arise.

Not only that, but recordings will also help reveal if agents are correctly dispositioning permission outcomes in your system.

Did a customer complain about being contacted?

Check the previous call recording to see what they said during the permission question – did the agent update their contact preferences correctly? Did the customer give a clear disposition answer? Should a clarification question be added in those situations? (Yes, by the way.)

With a recording assessment tool handy, managers can see which agents need additional coaching or training, how call scripts are working, and potential improvements that may encourage consent to be contacted.

The Best Pathway to TCPA Compliance? The Complete Compliance Guide Designed for Busy Call Center Managers

We mentioned at the beginning of this post that what managers want (and need) the most is a comprehensive guide that walks them through all the nitty-gritty details of TCPA compliance.

Well, we answered that call and created the complete guide to TCPA compliance.

And if any managers want the guide in a handy, downloadable pdf sent directly to their email…

Along with a checklist that managers can refer back to for instant clarification on the rules and regulations of TCPA…

Then download both for free today.