Autodialers are handy tools, but an autodialer with a focus on TCPA compliance can certainly make a world of difference for marketers. At the very least, it saves marketers the hassle and expense of using separate systems for their autodialing and compliance needs. At the most, it acts as a filter against bad calls and data, saving marketers hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in TCPA litigation.
Any marketer who deals with outbound calls ought to know the importance of TCPA compliance.
Why TCPA Compliance Matters
All marketers must adhere to federal law that protects consumers against spam marketing practices. This applies to outbound calls and messages, autodialing systems, and pre-recorded messages.
TCPA rules stipulate that businesses must receive express written consent from individuals prior to contacting them. (Obtaining a lead’s contact information is NOT the same as receiving permission!)
Common pitfalls that can lead to TCPA violations include:
- Calling numbers that are on the National Do Not Call (DNC) registry
- Calling residences before 8AM or after 9PM local time
- Contacting leads without a Jornaya LeadiD, TrustedForm certificate, or another consent certificate
- Contacting leads with a fraudulent consent certificate, typically purchased in good faith from a call network (more on this later)
- Contacting numbers that are associated with known TCPA litigators
- Not properly providing options for consumers to opt out over the phone or by SMS
- Improper calling frequency and cadence resulting in increased complaints
- Mismanaging your internal DNC lists
TCPA litigation is on the rise and has seen a whopping 1,273% increase in lawsuits since 2010. While this is very good news for litigators, what began as a well-intentioned consumer protection act has in many ways opened up avenues for predatory litigation against marketers. Noncompliance with TCPA regulations can mean a fine of $500-$1500 per violation. With marketers contacting thousands of numbers a day, TCPA noncompliance can easily wrack up fees of hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions!
In a nutshell, marketers that deal with outbound calls and messages must protect themselves against TCPA litigation – and that means taking the necessary steps to ensure proper compliance.
Pipes.ai Makes TCPA Compliance Simple
Pipes has a proprietary suite of validation services to help marketers practice safe dialing and messaging outreach with confidence of remaining TCPA-compliant. We intimately understand the challenges and laws associated with outbound calls, SMS, and call centers.
Many TCPA violations are a result of carelessness, ignorance, or otherwise accidental on the marketer’s behalf. Unfortunately, being aware of TCPA rules isn’t always enough to avoid becoming the victim of TCPA litigation. Even with the proper steps to heed TCPA best practices, unintentional violations can arise from:
Contacting leads without a consent certificate
Consent certificates such as the Jornaya LeadiD and TrustedForm provide an independent third-party witness to TCPA compliance, verify the origin and history of your leads, and confirm you’re receiving authentic leads with real intent.
To lower costs on purchased leads, some marketers buy cheaper leads without a consent certificate. The old adage of “you get what you pay for” often holds true; without the verification of the history nor consent given on these leads, contacting them holds a higher risk of TCPA violation.
Contacting leads with a fake consent certificate
Networks and advertisers are often only as good as their publishers, and we all know that not all publishers are created equal. Disingenuous publishers sell leads with fake consent certificates to unsuspecting call buyers, a persistent problem in the PPC industry.
These leads with their fake consent certificates are likely to be noncompliant with TCPA regulations. Unfortunately, the victims of this type of fraud are often none the wiser until they find themselves with a TCPA lawsuit in their hands.
With proprietary cloud-based technology that allows for outbound dialling, call and SMS suppression, validation, remarketing, AI-optimized dialing patterns, campaign split-testing, DID management, and call scheduling, Pipes.ai goes beyond being just an autodialer.
Our Features & Integrations
Pipes hosts a full suite of features and integrations dedicated to TCPA compliance that stands out from other autodialers and outbound call solutions. With Pipes, all the compliance tools you need are in one place, so you can have confidence your dialing campaigns and SMS campaigns are operating in compliance with TCPA.
Our suppression and integration features are optional, and can be effortlessly used or adjusted to fit individual requirements and risk comfortability.
High Risk Number Scrubbing
In today’s legal climate, there are a number of known serial litigators and serial plaintiffs just waiting for marketers to make mistakes. Pipes acts as your TCPA firewall, filtering out these bad actors from your calling lists automatically as you load your leads.
Our High Risk Number Scrubbing feature also filters out DNC numbers, and is updated daily with a robust API. High risk numbers can be scrubbed from both outbound campaigns and inbound calls.
Jornaya LeadiD
Pipes integrates with Jornaya to block leads without a valid Jornaya LeadiD, or a fraudulent Jornaya LeadiD, from being contacted. This integration verifies TCPA checkmarks such as the fact that a lead has personally filled out a form, the TCPA statement was legible, and that a consent button was clicked prior to a lead being contacted.
Phone Type Validation
Pipes allows users to validate in real-time whether provided numbers belong to landlines or mobile.
Under the TCPA, calls to landlines and mobile are treated differently with each having their own distinct guidelines. Pipes’ phone type validation serves a dual purpose of ensuring TCPA compliance, as well as allowing users to filter by phone type on their campaigns, e.g. send SMS campaigns to mobile numbers only.
Email Validation
If the email is fake or a spamtrap, chances are, the associated phone number isn’t one you should be calling either. Use email validation to improve your compliance on the dialing side.
Pipes sends you and your agents down the right path with accurate, validated information. Don’t spend dollars and time chasing the wrong leads!
Phone Number Validation
Pipes can ensure the numbers you are calling are actual working numbers, saving you money twice. Don’t waste money buying a lead with a non-working or inaccurate number and spending the effort to call it!
Fake or inaccurate phone numbers often lead to real people with working lines; just not the individual you’re trying to reach. Anyone you mistakenly contact based on inaccurate information is within their rights to file a TCPA complaint against you.
Lastly, Pipes’s Phone Number Validation Feature allows our users to evaluate the data they receive from their lead sources from a bird’s eye view. If a lead source is sending data with a high percentage of non-working numbers, it could indicate the overall quality of the leads they send.
Pipes’ validation features save marketers time and money on pursuing low quality leads. Weed out fake and duplicate lead information, exclude non-American numbers, non-existent email domains, connect with third parties that validate email addresses and in-service phone numbers, and more!
TCPA Consent Date
The TCPA Consent Date integration allows users to set a custom parameter around the original TCPA content date of a lead. Whether it’s 90 days or 365 days, users can take extra steps to ensure TCPA compliance in their campaigns.
Time Zone Dialing with AI
Each state has different laws that regulate the hours in which telemarketing calls can be placed. Manually accounting for different time zones with varying hours can be confusing and time consuming, even without factoring in the margin of accidental human error.
Pipes automatically accounts for these regulations in our proprietary AI dialing patterns so that no calls are made outside of acceptable calling hours.
Built for Compliance
With Pipes’ industry expertise and proprietary technology, we give our users peace of mind that their campaigns remain TCPA compliant, and act as a safety net against bad calls, accidental TCPA violations, and more.
TCPA compliance is more than a checkmark item, and Pipes was built with TCPA as a forefront focus that differentiates us from other products on the market. Don’t leave the safety of your company up to chance!
