Call Centers. Telemarketing. Purchasing Advice.

Do Not Call List Restrictions

If a business is featured on the Do Not Call (DNC) list, telemarketers cannot call that business to sell (or plan to sell) products and services. They can’t even gauge potential interest in future purchases. Take registrants on the DNC list seriously – violations can cost you as much as $11,000 per incident.

However, there are a few restrictions to the Do Not Call List:

1. It doesn’t cover calls made by political groups, charities, or non-sales surveys
2. If a company already has a standing business relationship with another business, the company can call those customers for up to 18 months, even if they appear on the registry.
3. If the potential customer contacts the company doing the telemarketing, the telemarketer can call them up to three months from the last correspondence. It can be longer if the company grants written permission to the business to contact them about more information.

To avoid getting called, even if the above restrictions apply, businesses must implicitly state they don’t want any calls from any type of telemarketing group. And if you maintain an internal do not call list, you must agree not to call those businesses either.

Businesses that use telemarketing must do regular searches (once per 31 days) and comb their lists to remove names and numbers that appear on the DNC list. Mailing list brokers and direct mail service providers must also have a subscription to access the registry. An annual fee is required to gain access to this registry. The fees help ensure the list stays current and that businesses adhere to the laws.

The laws are pretty tight here. It doesn’t matter if you’re directly selling to businesses or telemarketing on behalf of another company. You must adhere to the laws to avoid fines and other penalties.

For the most up-to-date information on DNC policies, check back frequently with Call Center Comparison, or visit http://www.donotcall.gov.