TCN Unveils the “State of the Collections Industry” Report, Uncovering Technology Trends, Compliance Challenges and Future Outlook
St. George, Utah – April 18, 2017 – TCN, Inc.,a leading provider of cloud-based call center technology for enterprises, contact centers, BPOs and collection agencies worldwide, today announced the results of its “State of the Collections Industry” report, which reveals the collection industry executives’ views on technology, communications, regulations and future outlook. With the goal of understanding human sentiment and identifying the challenges collections professionals face, TCN surveyed numerous executives and owners at small and medium-sized collection agencies, collection departments and law firms that support the industry.
Despite industry consolidation and the challenges associated with new regulations in recent years, the report uncovers that collections industry executives feel positive about the future of their businesses and the industry as a whole. However, the findings also show that TCPA continues to be the most difficult regulation to navigate because of variations interpretations and application, coupled with the extreme costs associated with compliance failure.
Key Findings from the State of the Collections Industry report include:
Confidence in a Bright Future
While the results aren’t a clear landslide, most of the survey respondents expressed positive outlook for their own companies and the collections industry, in general.
How do you feel about the future of the collections industry as a whole?
- Extremely Positive: 17 percent
- Somewhat Positive: 35 percent
- Neutral: 35 percent
- Not Very Positive: 12 percent
- Negative: ~1 percent
How do you feel about the future of your company?
- Extremely Positive: 61 percent
- Somewhat Positive: 29 percent
- Neutral: 9 percent
- Not Very Positive: 0 percent
- Negative: ~1 percent
Confidence in Policy Adherence
Majority of survey respondents shared that they feel “extremely confident” or “somewhat confident” in their adherence to state and federal call center regulations. The positive sentiment is likely derived from businesses actively taking steps to protect communications and data collection processes.
Are you confident that your company is complying with state and federal dialing regulations?
- Extremely confident: 62.5 percent
- Somewhat confident: 30 percent
- Neutral: 7 percent
- Not very confident: ~1 percent
- Not confident at all: 0 percent
TCPA Remains a Dominant Concern
Though the survey results reflected an overwhelmingly positive sentiment towards confidence in policy adherence, respondents also shared specific concerns about compliance. A large percentage stated that they found TCPA regulations more challenging than others.
Which regulation is most challenging?
- TCPA: 41 percent
- CFPB Rulemaking: 18 percent
- FDCPA: 7 percent
- Other: 5 percent
- None are a challenge: 29 percent
Use of Digital Tools
With rapidly changing regulations and policies, it’s critical to stay up to date on the legal landscape in order to avoid costly fines and penalties. The survey reveals that more than half of the respondents are adopting cloud-based technology solutions to maintain compliance and stay updated on policy changes.
- 59 percent of respondents are using a cloud-based solution to keep pace and stay compliant with regulatory changes.
- Of the 41 percent who said they are not using cloud-based solutions, 52 percent said that they have plans to invest in a cloud-based call center solution in the future.
Which tech solutions are most beneficial to your organization’s operations?
- Compliance solutions: 29 percent
- Reporting and analytics: 19 percent
- Cloud-based technology: 13 percent
- Workforce/management technology: 12 percent
- Others: 27 percent
However, when it comes to compiling metrics and reporting, an overwhelming number still lean on Excel to generate analysis and reports.
What tool does your company use most to compile metrics and reporting? (Select all that apply)
- Excel: 73 percent
- On-premise platform: 24 percent
- Cloud-based platform: 36 percent
“Future-proofing is the name of the game in today’s collection agency, and this report shows that the overall industry is confident in the policies and evolving technology, yet has been slower to adapt their business models,” said Terrel Bird, CEO and co-founder of TCN. “Cloud-based technology solutions continue to be a key driver in transforming the change and helping collection agencies thrive and succeed in the face of regulation and an ever-changing marketplace.”
To view more insights from this survey, download the infographic here or the eBook here.
Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted online with 136 respondents between November 1, 2016 and November 28, 2016. The respondents were representative of collection agencies, collection departments as well as law firms supporting the industry. About 86 percent of organizations surveyed made between 500,000 and 2,400,000 outbound calls annually. Respondents are manager level and above: 36 percent are supervisors, 26 percent are partners and 10 percent are owners.
About TCN
TCN is a leading provider of cloud-based call center technology for enterprises, contact centers, BPOs, and collection agencies worldwide. Founded in 1999, TCN combines a deep understanding of the needs of call center users with a highly affordable delivery model, ensuring immediate access to robust call center technology, such as predictive dialer, IVR, call recording, and business analytics required to optimize operations and adhere to TCPA regulations. Its “always-on” cloud-based delivery model provides customers with immediate access to the latest version of the TCN solution, as well as the ability to quickly and easily scale and adjust to evolving business needs. TCN serves various Fortune 500 companies and enterprises in multiple industries including newspaper, collection, education, healthcare, automotive, political, customer service, and marketing. For more information, visit www.tcn.com or follow on Twitter @tcn.