The Truth About Robo Calls

Tracy Borreson on January 21, 2020

For years, we’ve all thought that “robocalls” are the bane of our existence. We’ve done everything in our power to complain about them, and I’m sure lots of people are happy about the new USA TRACED Act.

What is the TRACED Act? The act mandates telephone carriers to “verify and transparently block unlawful robocalls.” But, how do the carriers determine what is unlawful and what is legitimate?

I don’t think anyone would want the fraud notification call from their bank blocked. Or that timely notification of an emergency in your area. Or an invite to that super exclusive VIP club you opted into.

When vendors don’t ask, and when we don’t manage our relationships ourselves, the industry starts to take over to keep us “safe”.

But at what loss? 

It's always easier to let someone else make your decisions for you, but then you can't really understand the impact until it's too late. How much pain would you feel if you tried to use your credit card and it didn’t work because it’s frozen? Or if you weren't informed by your insurance company that your car is in fact ready to be picked up after your claim? Or if you missed the once a year 50% off deal with your favorite retailer.

The only person that can reasonably set these expectations is you. 

Responsible businesses have been collecting consumer consents for years; and sending automated calls with these consents have driven some of the highest ROI’s and customer experience improvements those companies have ever seen. To endanger these legitimate relationship building activities with a heavy-handed legislation like the TRACED Act punishes the good with the bad.

So, we could keep giving this power to the legislators and telcos, or, we could say that we want to take the power back as consumers, and only allow automated communication with express consent. The systems exist, if we are willing to participate.

Systems like the SPLICE ROCC Program are built to collect these express consents for brands to communicate in the way the customer chooses. And if we can show the market that people will participate in this data share (hint: they are), and companies are using the data responsibly, then the need for legislation like TRACED will become obsolete.

Just imagine, not receiving any of those silly unsolicited contest calls. And always being informed with the latest updates in your auto claim. And being able to pay your overdue bank fees with the touch of a button. And receiving a special VIP gift because you made it to the Customer Appreciation Event. It’s all possible.

It’s time to take our power back. Who’s with me?