It is important that you understand what the predictive dialer rules are to prevent any legal action being taken, as well as to ensure you run optimal campaigns. You also want to make sure you check with an attorney about the rules and legalities of your state and industry.
We are going to provide an overview on predictive dialer rules for abandonment rates, concurrent call ratios, call recording, TCPA regulations, and the FTC’s (Federal Trade Commission) telemarketing hours and state calling regulations.
Predictive Dialer Abandonment Rate Rules in Management
Abandonment rates are probably the most critical issue to review when you are using a predictive dialer. You are not allowed to go over three percent (3%) on your abandonment rate for each individual campaign over a 30-day period, from the beginning of the campaign until 30 days later. After thirty days, the abandonment rate resets and then you are measured for another 30-day time period. You are able to go over the 3% for a day or even for a week, but by the end of that period you need to bring your abandonment rate down to three percent or less.
Some dialer systems allow a cell center manager to control this in order to stay at or under a 3% abandonment rate by changing the concurrent call ratios on the fly or through changing the number of agents available. The concurrent call ratio is the number of calls that a predictive dialer will make per agent. This means that if it is set on a three-to-one ratio and there are ten agents, the dialer will make 30 phone calls at a time as long as they are all in dialing mode. Management could also set the concurrent call ratio a five to one, or seven to one, or sometimes even higher call ratio depending on the number of agents or dialer capabilities.
Ricochet360’s predictive dialer automatically manages and adjusts concurrent call ratios. This algorithm optimizes your ratio in order to stay under three percent or even lower depending on if you are more conservative with your abandonment rates.
Predictive Dialer Call Recording Rules
Call recording is legal, but each state has different regulations. About 38 states are single-party consent states, which means that the salesperson needs to be informed that the call is being recorded but the consumer does not need to be informed. Other states require dual party consent, meaning both the salesperson and consumer need to be notified that the call is being recorded.
Make sure to check with an attorney about which laws are applied to the state you’re calling so that you are compliant.
TCPA Regulations for Predictive Dialers
The Telemarketing Consumer Protection Act is constantly updated. The most recent notable change was in regards to mobile phone regulations. The mobile phone TCPA changes created many new requirements about how telemarketers contact someone. One requirement is that the company must have an e-signature with the contact showing approval to call them. Another change is that the consumer must check a box on a web form agreeing for you to call them with a pre-recorded message from an auto-dialing system. There are many disclaimers required and a person must completely agree. The disclaimers need to be clear and concise on the website for the customer to see.
Make sure to check with an attorney in your state about what the regulations are for your industry.
FTC and Telemarketing Hours
The general FTC’s telemarketing hours are 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM for the given state you are calling. Some systems adjust when calling consumers not only based on the telephone number but also if the consumer provided their state. For example, the customer may have a California area code for their mobile phone but reside in New York. There are many ethics issues to consider when choosing how to setup your system and contact consumers.
The Ricochet360 dialer has three layers of FTC settings that you can adjust. The dialer can get tighter and tighter based on how conservative you want to be.
State Calling Regulations
Each state has different regulations and in some states you are not able to call on Sundays. In Some states you you are not able to call before 10:00 AM and in other states you have wider calling regulations. In general the hours are usually from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Most states follow the FTC’s regulations but not all of them do. Make sure that you look into your states rules and regulations.
Campaign and List Quality
Having high quality campaigns, lists, and making sure you have all your agents available and online in order to pick up will help keep the contact rate higher. Having a higher pickup rate which will help keep your abandon rate down at or under the required 3%.
