Recall that both the TCPA and TSR provide a limited “safe harbor” defense against certain law violations. For example, companies who violate DNC laws but who can show they had good procedures and training in place, may be shielded from monetary fines. In order for you to claim the DNC safe harbor defense in a TCPA/TSR case, you must have the following in place before you are sued:
- establish and implement written procedures to comply with do-not-call restrictions;
- train personnel, and any entity assisting in compliance, in the written procedures;
- monitor and enforce compliance with the written procedures;
- maintain an entity-specific DNC list;
- use a process to prevent telemarketing calls to numbers on the national and entity-specific/internal DNC lists.
How better to implement, train and enforce your internal DNC policies than to require agents and floor managers to participate in online compliance training and pass compliance tests? Store logs showing when your personnel underwent the training and what their testing scores were. For agents who don’t meet minimum standards, retrain and retest until they are proficient in your DNC procedures. Agents need to be able to handle a DNC request properly, for example, and disposition a call so that someone isn’t called against after opting out. Get your training and testing in place and be better prepared to beat that TCPA/TSR claim when it knocks on your door!
Fortunately, DNC.com has a turnkey training app for supervisors and agents that you can use to bolster your safe harbor. Check it out today and add it to your done pile.