How Proper Data Compliance Minimizes Dialing Risks and Fines

A single bad call might cost your company big time! Consumers can recover up to $1,500 if you violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), so you’ll want to improve data compliance in your call center before it’s too late.

Adhering to data compliance regulations is a must for any call center. The TCPA and other legislation stipulate what agents can and can’t do when making telemarketing, prerecorded, or automated calls to cell phones or residential lines.

Complying with the law prevents hefty penalties when dialing consumers, preserving your call center’s reputation and bottom line. Staying out of trouble is also critical for building trust with your customers and establishing long-term and lucrative relationships.

Take robocalls and robotexts, for example. The FCC recently introduced new regulations to tackle these communications more efficiently, requiring companies to obtain written consent from consumers for mail-to-text message services and mobile carriers to block certain red-flagged numbers. Contact center managers must understand industry changes like these in order to improve due diligence.

Cleaning up your data is one of the best ways to stay compliant. This involves checking call lists with databases like the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND) and updating contacts in your CRM system. Depending on your jurisdiction and industry, failure to do so could violate data governance regulations like CCPA, HIPAA, and GDPR.

With so many new regulations in the last year, it can be hard to keep up. However, it’s easy to see why lawmakers are taking action. Fraudsters continue to use tactics that defraud consumers over the phone, lowering trust in genuine businesses like yours.

Here are some recent data compliance rules you need to know about:

Businesses in Maine must now check the RND before calling consumers. This prevents people from receiving unwanted calls intended for someone who previously had their number.

Previously, price comparison sites could share customer phone numbers with a list of marketing partners for lead generation if consumers gave prior express written consent (PEWC). Under a new rule from the FCC, consumers must grant consent to each individual seller.

As mentioned earlier, the FCC introduced a new rule that requires businesses to obtain PEWC before sending them text messages for marketing purposes. Texts must also make it easy for people to opt out of receiving messages.

Complying with so many rules can be stressful. However, it’s more important than ever, especially since regulators can impose expensive penalties for even small violations. Even if your industry or location doesn’t require you to adhere to certain regulations, you can still abide by these standards to set a good precedent for your customers.

Whatever you do, make sure you comply with the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND) and Do Not Call Registry (DNC):

The RND tells you if an individual on your call list has a new phone number, preventing you from contacting the person recently assigned that number. By checking your lists against the RND, you can verify prior consent and avoid calling the wrong people, reducing operational costs and maintaining your business reputation.

The DNC, maintained by the federal government, lists phone numbers that telemarketers aren’t allowed to call. Consumers can register their numbers to reduce the number of unsolicited communications they receive.

Complying with the DNC involves various tasks. Firstly, you should check—or “scrub”—your contact lists against the database regularly and remove any numbers listed. You can also teach agents about the importance of adhering to DNC regulations and updating systems when consumers want to opt out of future communications from your company.

Technology is critical for DNC compliance. Specialized software that automates scrubbing, for example, ensures your contact lists are up to date.

BatchDialer makes data compliance in your call center easier than ever. Our service audits your data against various databases, including the DNC and RND, to ensure your call lists are current, compliant, and legally sound. As a result, you can improve due diligence, eliminate violations, and prevent expensive penalties from the government. BatchDialer is the ultimate dialing compliance and risk mitigation solution for your business.

With ever-increasing federal and state regulations, data compliance in your call center has never been more important. Staying up to date with the latest laws not only prevents you from getting in trouble with the government but also protects your business reputation and customer relationships.