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5 Things Marketers Must Know About Prerecorded Phone Messages

RSS FeedOne of the amendments made last August to the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule goes into effect on Sept. 1, leaving marketers that use the telephone to communicate with consumers who have not opted out of such contact roughly two months to obtain the necessary written consent to send prerecorded sales calls to this group.

To help its members prepare for compliance, the Direct Marketing Association's Corporate & Social Responsibility department synthesized the amendment's features into the following set of guidelines:

• In soliciting written consent, marketers must make it crystal clear that they are asking for permission to send customers prerecorded phone messages.
• Agreements must include the consumers' phone numbers that may be contacted and their signatures.
• Agreements must "evidence consumers' consent to receive prerecorded calls by or on behalf of the specific marketer."
• Marketers cannot require consumers to "agree to receive prerecorded calls as a condition of purchasing any good or service."
• Agreements do not have to be print documents; written agreements may be obtained from consumers electronically in accordance with applicable laws such as the E-Sign Act.

Source: - Target Marketing