Caveat: Make Sure Your Outsourcing Providers Are Aware of Federal Regulations
September 2, 2015
The TCPA was enacted in 1991 but has received a lot of attention lately due to recent actions by the Federal Communications Commission that expand its powers.
A recent blog post by Cindy Williams at The WORKS discusses these changes at length. She notes the revised definition of the “autodialer,” new rules governing the reassignment of telephone numbers, consumer consent and revocation, updated rules for text messages, and exceptions to all of the above in the event of emergencies.
First, the definition of what constitutes an “autodialer” has shifted from devices that currently have automatic dialing capabilities to any device that could, in the future, have such capabilities. Any smart mobile device or application could fall under this vague description. As TMC (News – Alert) noted in a past review, this means that litigants could challenge the use of any such devices or applications and argue that businesses have used them improperly. It places a heavy burden on businesses to closely monitor their actions—regardless of the source of the hardware or software.
The reassignment of phone numbers has also taken on new dimensions. If a phone number has been reassigned from one consumer on a calling list to another consumer, businesses have only one opportunity to contact those individuals before they must remove them from their lists. Williams points out that businesses could face legal trouble for violating this requirement even if they did not intend to do so. If a consumer does not notify the business of the reassignment, the offending business could face litigation for its actions, even if it was unaware of the situation.
Consumers are now also required to provide express written consent stating that they wish to receive live calls, recorded calls, or text messages. They may also revoke their consent by any “reasonable means,” such as written or verbal statements.
Finally, businesses get some breathing room with one-time text messages. If consumers give their consent, businesses may send them specific information that consumers have agreed to receive. In addition, businesses may have some leeway when sending “emergency” calls or texts, such as fraud alerts. However, consumers will still have the right to opt out of these emergency communications verbally.
These updates are intended to protect consumers, but they can restrict the operations of businesses in ways that could cause them undue hardship. Therefore, opponents have been vocal about what this could mean for any business with a dedicated call center. Nearly every industry will feel the impact of these regulations, but since they have only been in effect for a few months, their true impact may not be clear for some time.