The National Do Not Call Registry Stops The Ringing In My Ear

The telephone is the most immediate personal mode of communication but often the most intrusive.

Unsolicited telemarketing calls have been a national trouble since the coupling of telephones with free enterprise. The telemarketing industry has evolved trhough a series of technological advancements that spun the growth of unwanted calls out of control. After receiving countless complaints throughout the nation about uninvited calls, the federal government took action. Two years ago the National Do Not Call Registry was lanuched. It is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency and efnorced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and state law enforcement officials. Telemarketers who call a number on the national Do Not Call registry could be fined up $11,000. The new FTC rules also require that telemarketers have Caller ID enabled and limit abandoned 'hang up' calls from predictive dailers. Consumer phone numbers will remain on the registry for five yeras from the date of registration.

Telemarketers must register to obtain the list and pay a small fee per area code for the privilege. According to the FTC, during the 72 hours before the Do Not Call Registry became available to telemarketers, more than six million consumers added their telephone numbers to the list. Since inception the total number of consumer telephone number on the list has soared to approximately 88 million. Exempt from the law are politiacl organizations, banks, airlines, insurance agencies, realtors, telephone carriers, charities, telephone surveyors or companies with which you have an existing business relationship. Thank goodness I still have the choice of switching my long distance provider! Shrewd telemarketers have turend to other venues including internet & electronic mail advertising, direct mail and sales promotion. Other firms are working within the confines of the law by utilizing the loopholes. Telemarketing firms have started implementing new and innovative iedas to bypass the list. Some are offering special discounts or payment terms if customers agree to accept telemarkteing calls. Others are making strategic mutual agreements using the "established business relationship" clause to market product to each other's customers. Conglomerates that own many companies to market their products are consolidating their marketing strategies in order to sell products to channels of all their affiilated companies. Additionally, if a consumer makes an inquiry, telemarketing firms still have the right to solicit their business for a period of three months. Indeed some consumers may get even more calls because the pool of available numbers is shrinking. Some surevys suggest that eventually 97 percent of all homes will sign up to the registry. But are consumers raelly opposed to telemarketing calls?