Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) Amendments - Additional Information
The prerecorded call amendment requires that any prerecorded telemarketing
call must:
1) Allow the telephone to ring for at least 15 seconds or four rings before
an unanswered call is disconnected;
2) Begin the prerecorded message within two seconds of a completed greeting
by the consumer who answers;
3) Disclose at the outset of the call that the recipient may ask to be
placed on the company's do-not-call list at any time during the message;
4) In cases where the call is answered by a person, make an automated
interactive voice and/or keypress-activated opt-out mechanism available
during the message that adds the phone number to the company's do-not-call
list and then immediately ends the call; and
5) In cases where the call is answered by an answering machine or voicemail,
provide a toll-free number that allows the person called to be connected to
an automated interactive voice and/or keypress-activated opt-out mechanism
anytime after the message is received. The telemarketer, while complying
with each of these provisions, also must be in compliance with all other
requirements of the TSR and other federal and state laws.
Regarding Permissible Abandonment
Rate
The additional technical amendment the Commission has made pertains to the
method of calculating the maximum allowable rate of call abandonment that
telemarketers may have. Call abandonment is a side-effect of very efficient
telemarketing equipment called predictive dialers. Predictive dialers place
calls in anticipation that a salesperson will become available by the time
one of the numbers called is answered.
Inevitably, a call will sometimes connect when no sales representative is
available. The TSR sets a limit on how often this can occur. It requires
that at least 97 percent of a telemarketer's calls that are answered in
person - not by an answering machine - be connected to a salesperson within
two seconds after a consumer answers. This is designed to minimize the
number of "dead air" and "hang-up" calls that result when no salesperson is
available to take the call. The amendment will retain the current three
percent permissible abandonment rate, but will permit it to be calculated
over a 30-day period, rather than on a daily basis as is now the case. The
change will permit the use of smaller calling lists than before without an
appreciable increase in call abandonments. It will enable all sellers to
target their calling campaigns to consumers most likely to be interested in
their offer, and will benefit small businesses that have smaller customer
lists in particular.
The provision requiring that all prerecorded telemarketing calls provide an
automated interactive opt-out mechanism will become effective on December 1,
2008. The provision requiring permission from consumers to receive such
calls will become effective September 1, 2009. The amendment modifying the
method for measuring the maximum allowable rate of call abandonment will
become effective on October 1, 2008.
The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice
announcing the amendments to the TSR was 4-0. The notice will be published
in the Register shortly and can be found on the FTC's Web site as a link to
this press release.
If you would like some assistance in understanding and implementing the changes required by the Telemarketing Sales Rule please contact Primas Today at 888-477-4627
To find out more, contact us today!