Tired of random companies calling and texting to sell you…whatever? Sick of anonymous texts from “some random number”? Scared to pick up the phone? You’re not alone!
A year ago the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted in favor of the One-to-One Consent Rule, effective January 27, 2025. The rule essentially requires all telemarketers and robotexters to get direct permission from a consumer before calling/texting them—yes, in writing—and consumers everywhere let out a collective Hip Hip Hooray!
Businesses? Not quite so much. In addition to almost certainly generating fewer overall leads, there is a lot of fine print involved in mastering compliance. And, messaging campaign approvals have already plummeted as the Direct Connect Aggregators (DCAs) prepare for this brave new world. Following is an overview of the details and what you might still need to do.
What It Is, and Who Should Care
Specifically, the FCC has expanded the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to state that companies must have 1. Prior 2. Express and 3. Written or digital (e-sign) consent from a consumer before they can market to or communicate with them. This consent must clearly identify the brand in question and the type(s) of communication they’re consenting to receive, as well as the consumer’s signature in compliance with the E-sign Act. Required consent applies to:
- Telemarketing / robocalling
- Messaging campaigns / robotexting
- Consumers only; not B2B
- Exemption: emergency situations
A big question mark? People who use their phone for personal and business purposes, as many of us do.
Tread carefully! In fact, lots of sources have noted the FCC’s potential penalties—$500 to $1500 per violation—that’s per person, per call. But there’s more: state laws and penalties, with carrier penalties to top it off. Perhaps worst of all is damage to your brand’s reputation; nobody wants to be called out in the court of public opinion!
Furthermore, if you think this is simply an issue for the marketing department, think again. We recommend the following roles should be involved, at a minimum:
- Marketers / other communicators
- Companies that share lists between sister brands
- Lead generators / sellers
- The legal team
- Compliance officer / internal expert (if you don’t have one, you should!)
- And, make sure your team is educated
Yes, independent lead generation is still an option, but proceed cautiously. Tracking consent should be noted in your contract, and we strongly encourage both the buyer (brand) and the seller (lead generator) to track it. If the FCC asks a brand to show consent, “Let me ask my source” will not be considered an acceptable response. Ultimately, be aware that the legal and financial risk is on the brand doing the calling/texting. And last but not least, if a comparison site is used, brand names must be listed individually for the consumer to choose from.
The Devil’s in the Details
As with most laws, there are specific requirements. For one-to-one compliance, the brand that is communicating must be able to provide the following information upon request, and maintain the record for five years:
- What the consumer is consenting to—i.e., robocalls and/or texts
- From whom: the registered brand, by name
- The expected frequency of communications
- Date, time, consumer’s full name, and preferred language
- The consumer’s mobile number
- Date & time stamp of consent
- IP address, if applicable
- Consent acquisition medium (e.g., cell-submit form, physical sign-up form, SMS keyword)
- Capture of experience (e.g., language and action) used to secure consent
- Specific campaign for which the opt-in was provided (the request for consent must be related to their reason for interacting)
- Web capture confirmation consent box was checked, if applicable
Note that there are some excellent tools to help you track and manage the information, such as products from ActiveProspect.
Also of note, the TCPA is now categorizing text messages the same as phone calls. This means they are subject to the same requirements as calls regarding phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry (DNC), and neither calls nor texts can go to someone on the DNC list without express consent. And, carriers need to block numbers identified as fraudulent.
Finally, you must have an easy-to-find privacy policy plus terms and conditions on your website that clearly states their information will not be shared; for example:
We will not share your opt-in (consent) to an SMS campaign with any third party for marketing and/or promotional purposes.
After They Subscribe
After consumers provide their consent, text messaging campaigns need to make it easy for them to find help or unsubscribe from any further robocalls or texts if they so desire, and requests to unsubscribe should be honored quickly.
Examples:
Is Your Company One-to-One Compliant?
Although brands have had a full year to work toward compliance, and the DCAs have used tough love (i.e., increasingly stringent campaign reviews), many companies are only beginning to address the new requirements. If your company is still struggling with the details, we suggest you appoint a compliance officer or specialist, review the requirements in more detail, and audit your lists and systems. As always, Commio is happy to help. Please feel free to request a free FCC One-to-One Consent Rule Review.
