TCPA Compliance Checklist: A Resource for Your Call Center

It’s understandable that, as a consumer, nobody likes to be annoyed with robocalls — which is why guidelines need to be established. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) aims to protect consumers by eliminating irrelevant, repetitive, or excessively intrusive calls.

However, as a result of the TCPA regulations, many contact centers and organizations who are trying to communicate important information to consumers are now having to tip-toe in an effort of avoiding penalties. The TCPA applies to everyone, “any person within the United States, or any person outside the United States if the recipient is within the United States.”

In the call center world, everyone can use all the help they can get when it comes to keeping their call center compliance in check. Implementing features such as the Natural Language Compliance and Manually Approved Calling from the TCN platform can help your contact center control where, when, how, and to whom communications are happening.

Simply having a list of the important things in one place can help you stay organized. With the rules always changing and updating, keeping a current TCPA compliance checklist for your contact center is essential. The following can be used as a resource for your call center, however, it is not fully comprehensive of all TCPA regulations and is not intended to be used as legal advice.

General Guidelines Checklist

• Train employees about practices that customers could consider unfair or deceptive
• If using a prerecorded message, make sure the recipient has an option to opt-out and have their number put on the DNC list
• Keep a “Do Not Contact” list for your business contacts and honor requests for five years
• When making a call, give your name, the name of your company, and a phone number or address where the consumer can reach the company
• Do not purchase lists of phone numbers with contacts who have not opted in
• Check regulation updates frequently to stay up to date about changes

“Do Not” Checklist

• Do not call residences before 8 AM or after 9 PM local time
• Do not text or call anyone on the National Do Not Call Registry
• Do not use autodialers, recordings, or simulated voices for mobile phones or other recipients where the receiver pays for the call itself
• Do not use an automatic dialing system to make calls to:

– An emergency phone line or any emergency line of a medical physician, hospital, service office, health care facility, poison control center, fire protection, or law enforcement agency

– The phone line of any guest room or patient room of a hospital

– The phone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, or mobile radio service

Consent Checklist

• Artificial voice calls or recordings to residences require prior express written consent
• Initiating any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message requires prior express consent from the called party — exceptions may apply under paragraph (2)(B) of Telephone Consumer Protection Act 47 U.S.C. § 227
• Calls made from an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) to a residential phone number need prior consent — emergency and healthcare facilities are exempted.
• ATDS calls may not be placed to a cell or mobile phone without prior express consent. Use a manual dial system that requires human intervention in order to place each individual call.
• A marketing call or text needs prior express written consent (PEWC) from the recipient first.
• Sending pre-recorded messages to cell or smartphones (mobile phones) requires prior express written consent. Include consent for telemarketing, collection and other business purposes in your written consent language.

Compliance is critical for a profitable and sustainable call center. Enjoy this TCPA checklist for you to reference over time to ensure your contact center is following the best practices. Learn more with TCN’s Complete Guide to TCPA Compliance.