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What is prerecorded voice?
Also known as robocalls, prerecorded voice calls occur when a device dials a phone number and waits for a live answer. Upon answer, a prerecorded message will play. If the consumer is then prompted to interact with the system by pressing buttons, this is known as Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
What are the risks?
The risks for robocalls are extremely high. Even following the Facebook ruling, both prerecorded voice and IVR should be considered ATDS devices and, thus, subject to the TCPA’s consent restrictions. Moreover, the most recent legislative overhaul of the TCPA—the TRACED Act, passed in 2019—introduced a host of other restrictions regarding robocalls. Combating illegal robocalls has become a major goal of FCC enforcement. And an increasing number of state-level anti-robocall bills have been passed in recent years. The lack of direct human oversight of prerecorded voice calls increases the probability that they will result in violations.
Case Study
The largest fine in FCC history was a $225 million penalty levied against a Texas-based health insurance telemarketing company for alleged robocall spoofing violations. The recipients of the fine made over one billion robocalls, often using spoofed numbers and knowingly calling phone numbers on the DNC list.