Bob's Do-Not-Call Protection Blog

It can be frustrating for individual and regional office Real Estate agents looking for TCPA call protections. Corporate offices do want compliance coverage for their outsourced agents, but hesitate to commit with the implied liability exposure. Can we reach a happy medium?

Are the carriers over-suppressing potential bad player calls? Probably. For sure consumer caller ID cell messages like "Telemarketer" from AT&T and "Likely Scam" from Tmobile are cutting down on call completions from marketers by the millions. 

Top members at PACE (Formerly the American Teleservices Association) are quietly exploring ways to help carriers suppress bad actor solicitations more accurately. The ones that route calls all over the world and can't be caught. This includes a scheme to have call compliance service providers work directly with carriers to ensure more on-target suppression. The reason? If such low completion rates continue, this could cripple the telemarketing industry.

How did the professional caller go from being a welcome break in the day to making people never want to pick up?

Once upon a time my mother answered the phone to the soothing sounds of a man's deep voice selling magazine subscriptions. She listened intently to the presentation on the importance of staying up with the latest fashions, haircuts and makeup lines. She eagerly bought, feeling great about herself. When I asked her why she took the subscription, she said: "Because I love the sound of his voice." 

Dish Network has had a rough go of it with call compliance. Some would say a complete disregard for the Do-Not-Call and TCPA Laws. Going to their annual meetings as a compliance provider yielded some memorable laughs from the many, ah, wild west vendors: "Ya mean ta tell me we need to watch who we call..." Let's take a look at the recent decision.

It can become confusing and time-consuming for a single real estate agent to adequately comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Do-Not-Call Laws. What's more, the amount of misinformation on call prohibitions available to associates can be costly and downright scary. Let's take a look at one agent's challenges and solutions.

Think you can buy your way out of mediocre compliance procedures? Calculate the maximum damage your unsolicited FAX's could cause and offer it up to the judge? The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) freshly ruled that an unaccepted proposal of resolution can no longer invalidate a proposed TCPA class action. This quiet landmark finding is sure to shake up traditional defense strategies heavily dependent on bailing out sloppy phone marketing clients via accepted settlements.
 

lAt the ACA International's Washington Insights Conference this month, FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly made it plain he is driving for more business-friendly reforms to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Calling for "clear and rational" dictates that enable legitimate businesses to present patrons with the knowledge they require, while opposing practices that create genuine outrage. Let's take a look.

Consumer privacy rights seem to be helping marketing companies dodge TCPA complaints. Carriers like T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T are thinking twice before handing over private information to court filers,  even when compelled by a Judge. Plaintiffs claim they need more customer details supplied by these carriers to effectively pursue TCPA class actions. 

Between questionable sales practices and call compliance infractions, energy resellers may be in danger of losing their incredible financial opportunity. Or at least not taking full advantage. Broken consumer price promises are common to the industry. Call complaints to State AG's and the publicity surrounding them typical.  Is the combination ripe for burnout? Let's take a look at the customer procurement calling challenges industry resellers face and how to mitigate risk.

Admittedly, Craig Cunningham had no place to turn as he ran up bills in the thousands with no intention of payback. That was before he discovered the hopelessly slanted TCPA, FDCPA and FCRA laws in his favor. Craig has parlayed that knowledge into an aspiring author on the yet-to-be-written "Tales of a Debt Collection Terrorist: How I Beat the Credit Industry at it's own Game" and with blogs like TCPA enforcement for fun and profit up to 3k per call. So how is it the FCC is awaiting comment on a Petition for Declaratory Ruling introduced by Craig requiring all cell calls to have the more stringent express written consent permissions - further inconveniencing businesses. So he can have some more fun?