There are thousands of telemarketing companies in the United States, and industry revenues total about $15 billion per year. The industry is quite heavy. The fifty largest companies get more than sixty percent of the revenue. The telemarketing industry has been regulated since the approval of the Telephone Consumer Protection Law of 1991, which declared certain practices illegal. For example, telemarketers cannot call you before 8 am or after 9 pm, and they must correctly identify themselves and their business. The National Do Not Call Registry, started in 2003, allows consumers to register their phone numbers on a list so most telemarketers can’t call them. Has this had an impact on the telemarketing industry?
When Do Not Call registration was implemented, the response was overwhelming. Within four days of its launch, ten million phone numbers were registered. At its peak, about 158 numbers were being recorded per second. With the volume of numbers out of service as far as telemarketers are concerned, it was estimated that they would lose around half of their annual revenue. Those who haven’t registered their phone numbers know they still receive telemarketing calls, was the impact widely felt in the industry?
Telemarketing companies have had to change the way they do business. Since being on the Do Not Call list does not exempt people from receiving calls from political campaigns, charities and some non-profit groups, and companies they have recently done business with, telemarketers are concentrating their efforts in those sectors . The industry did not have to lay off as many people as originally feared.
All of this means that we still have to deal with telemarketers in our lives. It is always important to know your rights as a consumer when it comes to telemarketers. If you feel you have been harassed or miscalled, file a telemarketing complaint so you can spread the word about that particular company and perhaps help other consumers.
