Compliance is a top of mind issue for contact centers, especially those conducting outbound campaigns. Enterprises and nonprofits alike need to stay within what is often a confusing and ever-changing set of laws and regulations.
1. Have knowledge of the rules
2. Have written compliance guidelines
3. Meet record-keeping requirements
4. Have mutually-supportive due diligence
5. Have a defendable position
“Even the most sophisticated firms have compliance issues,” explains ATA Chief Executive Officer Tim Searcy. “Constant vigilance to know the requirements and ongoing diligence to verify that your firm meets those requirements is crucial in avoiding potential mistakes.”
Steve Brubaker, Senior Vice President — Corporate Affairs, InfoCifion Management Corporation, offers these compliance recommendations:
1. Understand the state and federal regulations and how they apply to different industries
As a third party vendor it is the teleservices company’s responsibility to be compliant with both federal and state Do Not Call (DNC) regulations. To make sure the organization is in line with all of the laws it is beneficial to have a compliance officer. The compliance officer can work with the corporate attorneys to understand and interpret the laws and regulations as they pertain to the company, clients and the different types of campaigns being run. At the end of the day it is the teleservices company that is responsible for compliance. This is what clients expect.
2. Invest in compliance from a monetary stand point and a personnel standpoint
There is a significant commitment of resources for ensuring compliance. There are ongoing costs for staff and legal expertise, in addition to federal, state and even international fees to maintain up-to-date DNC lists. It is important to invest in a highly trained and experienced compliance staff that will monitor all levels of business and the applicable state and federal regulations. On top of these expenses are the investments in compliance technology. Even…