TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)
The federal law that limits automated and prerecorded sales calls and texts, sets calling hours and underpins the do-not-call rules.
Use this definition in team training or when clarifying a sales note.
Definition
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227, and the Federal Communications Commission’s rules under it, 47 CFR 64.1200, govern how businesses call and text consumers.
Four rules matter most to a sales team. Marketing calls and texts to a mobile number that use an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice need prior express written consent, and so do prerecorded marketing calls to a home line. Telephone solicitations are limited to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the called person’s local time. Sales calls must respect the national do-not-call registry and the company’s own do-not-call list. And a customer can revoke consent in any reasonable way.
Texts count. The Supreme Court noted in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez (2016) that a text message to a cell phone qualifies as a call under the law. This is general information, not legal advice.
Why it matters
The law lets consumers sue: $500 per violation, which a court may triple when the violation was willful or knowing, and each call or text can be a separate violation. That is why these claims are often brought as class actions, and why a calling or texting program needs its consent records, its do-not-call handling and its quiet hours settled before it starts. Have counsel review the program, since the rules and the FCC’s interpretations keep changing.