Telemarketers Required to Transmit Caller-ID Info
Beginning Thursday, Federal Trade Commission regulations required outbound telemarketing calls to include caller identification information to consumers.
The display must include the name of either the company trying to make a sale or the company making a sales call on behalf of another company. The display must also include a phone number consumers can call during regular business hours to request that the company not call them in the future.
The rule applies to businesses that make telemarketing calls, as well as service providers that make them on their behalf.
“The DMA has supported transmitting caller identification information because it enhances two-way communication between people making and receiving phone calls,” said Patricia Faley Kachura, vice president, ethics & consumer affairs, of the Direct Marketing Association. “Whether to buy a product or service, provide feedback, or to ask not to be called again, caller-ID is good for businesses and good for consumers.”
Kachura added in a statement that DMA members — including nonprofits and other groups exempt from FTC jurisdiction — have been required for some time to transmit caller ID data.
But the DMA did note that there are mechanical barriers in the way of the requirement. For example, on the back end, several local exchange carriers are not yet equipped to transmit and/or display parts of, or all of, the information to the recipients of the calls.
