What You Need to Know About TSR Call Recording for Your Hosted VoIP Call Center

At Votacall, we serve clients across all industries and sectors, including those that need to implement and support a cost-effective, customer-centric call center (or multiple call centers). And that is where the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) may be applicable.

What is the TSR?

The TSR is a comprehensive set of federal laws that govern telemarketing activities, and are designed to prevent abuse and fraud. It is important for businesses to note that they do not have to be classically defined as “telemarketers”. All calls made by the business (regardless from where they originate) to prospective or existing customers based in the U.S., and which are of a sales nature, may be governed by the TSR.

Abiding by the TSR

Essentially, the TSR mandates that businesses fully disclose certain information before a prospective customer makes a purchase (either products or services). This information includes:

• The identify of the seller
• The nature of the products or services that are being sold
• The total cost of the offer, including any handling and shipping fees
• Any restrictions related to the offer
• Policies regarding order cancellations
• Policies regarding returns

This information may be provided to prospective customers in different ways, including via mail prior to the transaction, during a call (more on this below), or via email.

Express Verifiable Authorization and Do Not Call

In addition to the above, the TSR obliges business to obtain express verifiable authorization when prospective customers wish to make a purchase in ways other than a credit or debit card. This is because these other methods do not have built-in safeguards against authorized charges. Plus, businesses must not call numbers that are listed in the federal government’s Do Not Call Registry. 

Consent to Record

As noted above, one of the ways that businesses can abide by the TSR is during a call with a prospective customer. Obviously, this involves recording the call. Less obviously, however, is the fact that businesses must obtain consent to record the call in the first place. For more information on this, we invite you to read our blog “A Basic Primer on Hosted VoIP System Recording Laws”.

Fines and Penalties

Fines for violating the TSR are steep, and currently pegged at $16,000 per violation. There can also be significant reputation damage as well, as even well-intentioned businesses that make an “honest mistake” may be wrongly perceived as trying to circumvent the rules.

TSR Tips

To ensure compliance with the TSR, we recommend that businesses:

• Use automated greeting messages that disclose key TSR-related information, as well as consent to record information
• Record all interactions (voice and screen)
• Use speech analytic software
• Ensure that the latest Do Not Call registry is loaded into the system

Learn More

To learn more about deploying hosted VoIP for your call center (or multiple call centers), contact the Votacall team today. Your consultation with us is free, and since not all VoIP vendors are created equal, check out our FREE eBook on how to choose the right partner for you hosted VoIP Phone System today: