TCPA compliance checklist for sales calls

This checklist covers ordinary outbound sales voice calls. Select the campaign facts, then review each item with the linked sources. It does not cover every exception, state law, text message, fax, or special industry. This is not legal advice.

• Document who the campaign targets

  Review for this campaign

  You selected B2B. Confirm the offer and the recipient's line; do not use this choice as a blanket exemption.

  Separate a business offer from a consumer offer. The FTC's B2B exemption has exceptions, including specified deception rules and nondurable office or cleaning supplies. It is not an exemption from the FCC's separate wireless-call restrictions.

  • 16 CFR § 310.6(b)(7)
  • 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)
• Verify the recipient's actual line type

  Review for this campaign

  The line type is unknown. Verify it before relying on a residential, wireless, or business-line distinction.

  Wireless numbers and residential landlines have different consent rules. A person's job title or a business contact list does not establish that the number is a business landline. The statute also separately restricts calls to emergency lines, certain hospital lines, and services that charge the recipient for the call.

  • 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)–(B)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(1)–(3)
• Review the equipment, not just its product name

  Review for this campaign

  ATDS status is unknown. Get a technical and legal review of the equipment's actual capabilities.

  In Facebook v. Duguid (2021), the Supreme Court held that an ATDS must have the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers. Power, parallel, and predictive are product descriptions, not legal classifications. Artificial or prerecorded voice is a separate trigger even when equipment is not an ATDS.

  • Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021)
  • 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(f)(2)
• Review prior express consent and written-consent evidence

  Review for this campaign

  Confirm the line type, equipment, and message before deciding which consent rule applies. This result does not establish an exemption or permission to call. You have not identified reviewed consent evidence. Resolve that question before relying on consent.

  For ordinary sales telemarketing to wireless numbers using an ATDS or artificial or prerecorded voice, the FCC rule requires prior express written consent. Sales telemarketing using artificial or prerecorded voice to residential landlines also requires it. The agreement must identify the authorized seller, number, and calling technology, include a signature, and explain that consent is not a purchase condition. Exceptions need separate review. Consent to call is separate from consent to record.

  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(1)–(3)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(f)(9)
• Review National Do Not Call coverage and scrubbing

  Review for this campaign

  This page does not query the registry or decide whether an exception applies. Record coverage, the scrub date, and evidence of any exception.

  Check National DNC coverage, document any valid exception, and use authorized registry access when required. The FCC and FTC safe-harbor procedures use a registry version obtained no more than 31 days before the call, plus written procedures, training, suppression records, and other conditions. A fresh list alone is not the full safe harbor. The FCC residential and wireless scope must be assessed separately from the FTC B2B exemption.

  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2), (e)
  • 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii), (b)(3)
  • 16 CFR § 310.8(a)–(b)
• Maintain company DNC and revocation procedures

  Review for this campaign

  Assign a person to process opt-outs and suppression records. Check the list before calling. Review the legal scope rather than deleting this step for B2B.

  For calls covered by the FCC company-DNC rule, have a written policy and train staff. Record requests when made, honor them within a reasonable time of no more than 10 business days, and honor each request for 5 years. The FTC separately prohibits covered calls after a seller-specific opt-out. An established business relationship does not override a seller-specific DNC request. Record consent revocations and review how the current revocation rules apply.

  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(d), (e), (f)(5)(i)
  • 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(10)–(11)
• Check calling hours at the recipient's location

  Review for this campaign

  Verify the recipient's location and applicable rules. An allowed time does not establish that the call itself is allowed.

  The FCC rule bars residential telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the recipient's location, with wireless scope addressed in subsection (e). The FTC residence rule uses the same window absent prior consent. Confirm the person's location and review applicable state restrictions. An area code does not prove where someone is now.

  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1), (e)
  • 16 CFR § 310.4(c)
  Open the calling hours checker
• Transmit caller ID and identify the seller

  Review for this campaign

  Test the displayed number, callback route, and seller identification before the campaign starts.

  For covered telemarketing, transmit the calling number and the caller name when the carrier makes it available. The rule allows the seller's name and customer-service number instead. The displayed number must accept DNC requests during regular business hours. Do not block caller ID. Review the separate prohibition on misleading caller ID with intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.

  • 47 CFR § 64.1601(e)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(d)(4)
  • 47 U.S.C. § 227(e)(1)
  • 16 CFR § 310.4(d)
• Review prerecorded messages and voicemail drops

  Confirm scope

  You selected a live agent. Revisit this item if any artificial voice, prerecorded message, or voicemail drop is used.

  Artificial or prerecorded messages have separate consent, identity, callback-number, and opt-out requirements. Covered sales messages require an automated opt-out that records the request and ends the call. Covered voicemail messages must provide the specified toll-free opt-out path. The FTC also has a written-agreement rule for covered prerecorded sales calls. Do not assume a voicemail-drop feature avoids these rules.

  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(2)–(3), (b)
  • 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(v)
• Review multi-line and abandoned-call safeguards

  Review for this campaign

  If calls can reach a person before a representative is ready, review abandonment and multi-line safeguards and keep campaign-level records.

  The statute prohibits using an ATDS to engage two or more lines of a multi-line business simultaneously. Covered telemarketing abandonment rules use a 2-second connection measure after the completed greeting. The FCC and FTC safe harbors include a maximum 3% abandonment rate among calls answered by a person, measured by campaign over the specified 30-day periods, plus ring time, identification-message, and record requirements. Meeting the percentage alone is not enough.

  • 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(D)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(6)–(7)
  • 16 CFR § 310.4(b)(1)(iv), (b)(4)
• Review recording disclosures before recording starts

  Review for this campaign

  Recording is enabled or undecided. Review participant locations and prepare the required consent process before recording starts.

  The federal participant/one-party exception in 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) has a criminal or tortious purpose limit. Review the source-linked state recording rules for each participant's location and the interstate question before recording. Prepare a disclosure, obtain the consent required for the actual call, and provide a process for a refusal. This checklist does not determine state recording consent.

  • 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)
  Review the state recording-law sources
• Assign ownership of records and follow-up review

  Review for this campaign

  Choose an owner, retention plan, and review date. Preserve evidence separately from this planning page.

  For campaigns covered by the FTC recordkeeping rule, retain the specified campaign, call, consent, and DNC records for 5 years, subject to the rule's record-specific provisions. Allocate recordkeeping responsibilities in writing and check any applicable exemption. The FCC separately requires records for its DNC and abandonment procedures. A checkbox is not proof that these records exist.

  • 16 CFR § 310.5(a), (e)
  • 16 CFR § 310.6(b)(7)
  • 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(2)(i), (a)(7)(iii)

These choices and review marks stay in this page. They reset when you change campaign facts or reload. No phone number is collected. This page does not check the National DNC Registry, verify consent evidence, or change your Redialler workspace.