The FCC recently confirmed: "that callers (must) check their call lists against available third-party databases of reassigned wireless numbers." Several of our readers have indicated they don't know what an "available third-party reassigned database" is - or where to find one. With only one major company providing this service and demanding huge upfront costs, we asked reassigned number expert and guest blogger Adam Drexler at Payfone to demystify the universe of Reassigned and "Recycled" number verification.
If you don’t check for reassigned numbers on permission calls, it could get expensive. Abandoned landlines are picked up regularly by carriers and converted to wireless. Reassigned or “recycled” numbers are up 16% since 2007. “It’s increasingly common for individuals to get calls for the previous subscriber,” says the Wall Street Journal. Yet courts and the FCC have made it clear that businesses are responsible for calling the right person. The one that gave them permission to call in the first place. And predatory Attorneys continue to capitalize on mistakes in the millions of dollars.
Most TCPA Class Actions, the ones that can put you out of business that is, include some sort of permission to call component. Permission is usually the catalyst to court where lesser charges can be tacked on. Former TCPA litigants trapping unsuspecting telemarketers are people you just don’t want engage. And although the reassigned number law applies to cells and landlines, recognizing and archiving wireless is the significant step here. All these components and more make up what are called permission-based marketing communications.
Has the owner of the cell number you’re about to call changed? As a call center manager of permission-based communications, you can’t be entirely sure! About 25% of cell phone owners located in densely populated areas change their number each year. About a quarter of CFPB debt collector consumer complaints are for “no debt owed,” and most of those seem to be to the wrong party. And the FCC’s Declaratory Ruling of July 10th, 2015 confirmed: If a phone number has been reassigned, companies must stop calling the number after one attempt.
“The FCC recommends that callers check their call lists against available third-party databases of reassigned wireless numbers.” From the controversial TCPA Declaratory Ruling July 10th, 2015. [Click Video]
