Federal Do Not Call Laws…
And How MarketSharp M Can Keep You In Compliance
Why Should You Comply With The Federal Do Not Call Laws?
A consumer who receives a telemarketing call despite being on the registry will be able to file a complaint with the FTC, either online or by calling a toll-free number. Violators could be fined up to $11,000 per incident.
Does The Do Not Call Law Apply To You?
The National Do Not Call Registry applies to any plan, program, or campaign to sell goods or services through interstate phone calls. This includes telemarketers who solicit consumers, often on behalf of third party sellers. It also includes sellers who provide, offer to provide, or arrange to provide goods or services to consumers in exchange for payment.
Who Can You Call?
A telemarketer or seller may call a consumer with whom it has an established business relationship (a Customer) for up to 18 months after the consumer’s last purchase, delivery, or payment – even if the consumer’s number is on the National Do Not Call Registry. In addition, a company may call a consumer for up to three months after the consumer makes an inquiry or submits an application to the company (a Lead). And if a consumer has given a company written permission, the company may call even if the consumer’s number is on the National Do Not Call Registry. If a company DOES NOT have an established relationship with a consumer (a Prospect) then the company can only call the consumer if they are NOT on the National Do Not Call Registry.
How Often To Process (Scrub) Your List?
Telemarketers and sellers will be required to search the registry at least every three months (beginning January 31, 2005, once every 31 days) and drop from their call lists (scrub) the phone numbers of consumers who have registered. The dedicated, fully automated and secure Web site at https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/ will provide this information to telemarketers and sellers.
To Obtain and Process a Do Not Call List
When an organization accesses the National DNC registry for the first time, they will have to create a profile (register) and provide some identifying information, such as organization name and address, authorized representative, and the representative’s telephone number and email address. If an organization is accessing the registry on behalf of a client-seller, the organization may need to identify the client (or clients).
Once an organization creates a profile they will be able to download the phone numbers (by area code) listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. To register your organization with the National Do Not Call Registry, go to https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/FAQ/FAQBusiness.aspx and click on the button that says “Register New Users”. Then simply follow the instructions.
After registering, you can click the “Download Phone Numbers” button, enter your ID and password, and begin downloading phone numbers. You will download a separate file for each area code you want to scrub from your database. Select the “Full List Download” (NOT the “Change List Download”). Full List Download contains all the registered phone numbers in the area codes you have selected. You will also want to select the “Flat Text” format (NOT XML tagged file) to be able to process the list in MarketSharp. When you receive the file(s), they will be in compressed (zipped) format. You will need to unzip the files before processing.
To process the DNC list:
Phone numbers will appear red in color on Contact Record View.
When to Run The DNC List:
To view a list of the type of DNC list, the date that it was uploaded, and the employee that completed this follow the below instructions.
- Hover your mouse over your username and Company ID in the upper right corner. Choose Admin.
2. Choose Do Not Call from the Company Setup box.
3. Based upon the type of list downloaded (Federal, Change, or State), click Choose File to locate the .txt file obtained from the National Do Not Call Registry website
4. Choose Process File
Phone numbers will appear red in color on Contact Record View.
When to Run The DNC List:
To view a list of the type of DNC list, the date that it was uploaded, and the employee that completed this follow the below instructions.
- Click on the Admin link
- Choose Do Not Call
- And click on Audit Report on the right hand side
For additional information visit… https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/FAQ/FAQBusiness.aspx