No one enjoys having their dinner interrupted by a sales call, and the advent of the internet has done nothing to lower the access to phone numbers provided to auto-dialers. But the DNC list can be quite helpful in maintaining the peacefulness of your home. However, there is some confusion on who exactly is protected from whom. What numbers need to be registered? What are the qualifications of “telephone solicitations” for the Do Not Call list? How long will I be protected for? Hopefully this can help clear up some of the confusion.
There appears to be a bit of debate on what exactly defines a company as telemarketing. An example of this would be companies polling for political organizations – these calls do not fall under the heading of "solicitation." Nor, as an example, would calls requesting funding or donations for a company that is strictly not for profit. Even in this instance, a company must ONLY place calls in a not for profit setting to qualify to pass this restriction. There are even restrictions on calls from a company with an existing history with the consumer; if your last transaction was not within the last eighteen months, you are not permitted to call.
Possibly the most confusing aspect though is whether or not your phone number is eligible to be placed on the Do Not Call list. For example, there is no database of US cell phone numbers, and it has always been illegal for solicitation calls to be placed to cell phones. Because of that, there is no need to list a cell phone number on the Do Not Call list. Another misconception is that you can place a business number on the DNC list; All business to business calls are permitted for telephone solicitation. So registering your company’s number on the DNC list will not prevent B2B telemarketing.
Upon registering for the DNC list, your number will be protected for five years. After that, it is up to you to ensure that your number is relisted.
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