The American Teleservices Association and the Direct Marketing Association jointly requested that the Federal Trade Commission adopt the less-stringent restrictions on call abandonment that were proposed by the Federal Communications Commission.
In a statement, the two organizations advocated measuring abandoned calls over a 30-day period, rather than looking at single-day violations. They also asked for flexibility regarding using recorded messages where existing business relationships exist and where toll-free numbers provided by the marketers allow consumers to sign up for an individual do-not-call list.
“To our knowledge, The FCC has no indication that there has been abuse of the 30-day standard, nor is there indication that it is not producing its intended result,” said Jerry Cerasale, the DMA’s senior vice president for government affairs.
“Small businesses need cost-effective means for contacting customers. Prerecorded messages serve the customers and businesses,” said Tim Searcy, the ATA’s chief executive officer.
