Governments are introducing stricter legislation restricting telemarketing activities.
The recent backlash against nuisance calling has resulted in increased legislation regarding telemarketing. This trend is likely to continue, as consumers continue to demand restrictions against annoying calls and invasion of privacy.
Many of the protests against nuisance calling arise out of a lack of technological efficiency in predictive dialing. Many consumers complain that when they pick up the phone no one is there, or that they pick up the phone and there is a five second delay until someone responds.
Of course, it is not just inefficient technology that has resulted in a backlash against nuisance calling; it is also the calls themselves. An incomplete view of the customer can lead to unnecessary and annoying nuisance calling – for example, trying to sell lawn care services to high-rise apartment dwellers. These types of calls make consumers understandably unhappy with telemarketing efforts.
Recently, such unwanted and dropped calls have also incurred the attention of lawmakers. The state of California has passed two bills restricting telemarketing practices. One bill enables residents to put their names on a ‘do not call’ list. If people on the ‘do not call’ still get called, companies must pay a fine for interrupting their privacy.
The second bill prohibits the use of predictive dialers to make telemarketing calls when no person or prerecorded message is available for the consumer who answers the phone.
Such legislation will continue to proliferate, as more and more states and countries follow the lead of California and implement their own bills restricting telemarketing. Companies that use outbound contact solutions and predictive dialing technology cannot afford to ignore these rules – and nor can the technology vendors that supply them.
Related research: Datamonitor, The Future of Customer Service Software (DMTC0827)
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