TCPA Consent Checklist

TCPA Consent Overview

When it comes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), consent is the name of the game. You either have it, or you don’t, and if you don’t, you could be in trouble. Bottom line, if you can’t prove you have TCPA consent, then it’s like you never did. All informational calls or texts to cells phone made via an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) or containing a pre-recorded message should be supported by “prior express consent.” Any marketing calls or texts using an ATDS or pre-recorded voice should likewise be supported by “prior express written consent.”

Checklist

• Document consent
  • Your consent is no good if you can’t prove it. Thoroughly document consent should you ever need to product evidence of its existence.
• Track consent
  • Every phone number should belong to a single person in your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
  • Document the original source of the phone number as well as the consent itself.
  • Track the amount of time between calls or texts to a consumer. Long periods of time raise questions if the number is still tied to the same consumer.
  • Train your representatives to obtain and verify consent