Robo Dialer

[SwiftnBold]

This issue has come up before but i am curious of a couple things -- pre recorded telemarketing blasts are illegal ya? and that is a federal law?

Does that include appointment setting? is appt setting seen as a solicitation in this regard? Somewhere i read that if there was an opt-out mechanism these calls were ok is that right?

I am also asking because i know a guy who is doing this (not in the insurance field) and making a ton of calls - 100's a day, everyday and he should probably be made aware of the potential consequences.

 

[Josh]

You are 100% correct and your friend is risking a $16,000/call fine.

The law is fairly convoluted, but hopefully this will help:

If you use voice broadcast (robocall) to get appointments because you're offering free home energy audits, you're not "selling with a prerecorded message" as the law clearly states you can't use. Seems legit? The problem is if you're end goal is to sell something, such as insulation, windows, etc, then the law presumes that was your goal from the beginning.

To relate this to insurance, if you're using an autodialer to offer "free insurance reviews", you are basically making a list of people you can't sell insurance to. Should you get caught you'd be in the uncomfortable position of trying to explain that you weren't trying to sell something, but the intent is fairly transparent in a situation like this, even if you had noble goals.

If you want more info on this you can start here: New Rule Prohibiting Unwanted "Robocalls" to Take Effect on September 1 .

 

[SwiftnBold]

So thats it then huh?

thanks for the response.

Its funny you use that first example because that is exactly what he is doing. and yes it is very obvious that the end goal of a "free energy audit" is to sell the owner something.

and plus with all the sales numbers and what not how could you not say the intention was to sell something?

at the same time i still get robocalls all the time, do these people not know the law or are they just risky sonofabitchs

 

[djs]

You can still robocall business numbers and a lot of people do.

Some people push the envelope, heck, they push the envelope over the edge. Some people figure they won't get caught. Some just don't know the rules.

There are also times that robocalls are okay, though I don't remember all of the details. The pharmacy robocalls me to let me know my wife's prescription is ready to pick up. The doctors office might robocall to remind you of your appointment tomorrow. These kind of uses are okay, though to be honest, I still hate those robocalls.

Dan

 

[Aram Fingal]

Ya, basically you can use them to send out "notifications" but there can't be any kind of solicitation involved. And you have to give people the option to opt out.

I've been toying with the idea of using it to send out birthday greetings to clients and prospects. I've been doing a lot of checking and it seems that you can (have to actually) state who you are and what company you're with, say that you're calling to wish them a happy birthday (even sing a bit if you want) and say if they want to call you regarding this message your phone number is xxx-xxxx. But you CAN'T say something like "if you want to call me about anything insurance related" because then it's a solicitation.

I haven't started doing this because as previously mentioned the law is so convoluted it's hard to be absolutely sure you're in compliance when doing this. I have been checking in to it, and it does appear that you could do it, but I'm still paranoid. Like any other legal action, you don't have to be guilty, you just have to be accused to have your life ruined.

There are also times that robocalls are okay, though I don't remember all of the details. The pharmacy robocalls me to let me know my wife's prescription is ready to pick up. The doctors office might robocall to remind you of your appointment tomorrow. These kind of uses are okay, though to be honest, I still hate those robocalls.

 

[djs]

Why would you want to robocall birthday greetings?
I think I would take that the wrong way if I received a call like that. Seems very impersonal, very cold.

Okay, it works for 4 year olds received a call from Santa, got that, but that isn't what we are talking about here.

Dan

 

[Aram Fingal]

Because when you have a few thousand contacts it's kinda hard to call them all personally. If you make it something funny or entertaining it's better than not calling them at all. And if used in conjunction with cards it's just one more way to stay front of mind with people.

Anyway, the point was that you can robo call people if you are giving them a notification but not a solicitation.

Why would you want to robocall birthday greetings?
I think I would take that the wrong way if I received a call like that. Seems very impersonal, very cold.

Okay, it works for 4 year olds received a call from Santa, got that, but that isn't what we are talking about here.

Dan

 

[cttaylor]

I would rather not even get a call than to get one from a robo dialer.