3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

It really should come as no surprise that the number one complaint the Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) receives concerns unwanted calls and texts. The FCC receives thousands of complaints every month on both telemarketing and robocalls. Last year, the FCC received more than 215,000 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) complaints.

A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public-service or emergency announcements. Some robocalls use personalized audio messages to simulate an actual personal phone call. There are not too many things that I find more annoying than rushing to answer the phone only to hear a synthesized voice telling me to stay on the line for an important call.

Although the TCPA was supposed to stop unwanted calls -- and these days text messages -- from reaching us, thanks to technology that can trick caller ID systems, telemarketers and scammers continue to find creative ways to get past these defenses.

It is with this in mind that last week FCC chairman Tom Wheeler (News - Alert) proposed new rules designed to cut down on the number of robocalls that we all receive. If you think that the number is small and not really a problem, you should talk to the person who filed a complaint detailing the fact that they received 4,700 unwanted texts over a six-month period.

One of the problems with the TCPA and a way that telemarketers get around the act is due to the wording. As technology changes clever workarounds are created which has the FCC attempting to expand the TCPA’s definition of an automatic telephone dialing system, or autodialer. Unfortunately, most of these attempts have been rejected by federal courts.

According to an official FCC blog, the following actions are being proposed:

• Give the green light for robocall-blocking technology, declaring that these market-based solutions can be offered without violating our call-completion rules. The FCC wants to make it clear: telephone companies can – and in fact should – offer consumers robocall-blocking tools.
• Clarify the definition of "autodialers" to include any technology with the potential to dial random or sequential numbers. This ruling is true to Congress's intent when passing the law, and would ensure that robocallers cannot skirt consent requirements through changes in technology design.
• Close the "reassigned number" loophole, making clear that consumers who inherit a phone number will not be subject to a barrage of unwanted robocalls OK'd by the previous owner of the number.
• Make it easier for consumers to say "no" to robocalls. People won't have to fill out a form and mail it in to stop unwanted calls and texts. Any reasonable way of saying "no" is allowed.

The initial reason that telemarketers were able to get through in the first place was because of Nathan Kingsbury. He was the AT&T (News - Alert) vice president who signed his name to a 1913 letter pledging that the company would open its network to other phone services. It is because of him that AT&T and Verizon (News - Alert) are required by law to deliver any call that reaches their networks.

A recent Lexology blog authored by David O. Klein mentions that the FCC is scheduled to vote on Tom Wheeler’s proposal in a few weeks, on June 18, 2015. If the proposals are approved then the rulings would go into effect immediately and impose additional regulatory requirements on telemarketers.