Auto dialers and other mass notification systems that call or text many numbers at once can be super useful, save huge amounts of time, and can even save lives. But if your hospital, school, government agency or business is using one of these systems, it is important to know and follow the rules for legal mass calling (also known as robocalling).  These rules are in place to cut down on unwanted and scam calls to telephone subscribers.

If you make illegal robocalls over our telephone network (knowingly or not), the Federal government may require us to shut off your service without notice to you. We recommend these best practices to make sure your important auto-dialed calls can reach the people who WANT to receive them:

  • Maintain an accurate database of numbers for customers who have opted in to receive your notifications. Scrub your calling list for numbers you know are not accurate, people who are no longer your customers, and any who have specifically asked you NOT to call.
  • Don’t use purchased lists or send calls to entire groups of non-verified numbers. Using an auto-dialer to call everyone with a 406-485 prefix, or everyone in Montana, for example, will set off alarms in our system and get you blacklisted as a spam caller.
  • Reference the National Do Not Call List and the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND). Calls attempting to sell goods or services are prohibited from calling numbers in the Do Not Call registry. Your organization can protect itself from liability by using the RND to ensure you are not calling disconnected numbers that may have been reassigned to another person who doesn’t want your calls. Mid-Rivers Hosted PBX customers should use your PBX system’s call analytics to remove RND and failed numbers from your calling lists.

Maintaining Your Caller Reputation

Using your mass notification system in ways that fall outside of normal calling patterns can get you “blacklisted,” or labeled as a spam caller, even if you aren’t trying to spam. Most cellular and landline telephone providers now have robocall prevention systems in place that may label your mass calls as “potential spam” or block them completely. Mid-Rivers takes proactive steps to ensure legitimate calls can still get through, but depending on the system you are using these are not always easy to identify.

The best way to maintain your reputation as a legitimate caller (and avoid being labeled as a spammer) is to follow the best practices noted above. If your reputation score still falls below the standard, however, there are additional steps you can take:

  • Register your calling profile to help validate the classification of calls you are making. If you are concerned that your legal calls are being blocked or marked as spam, you can go to https://reportarobocall.com/trf/ to validate the classification of your business telephone numbers.
  • We encourage customers who are making legal mass calls to proactively manage your caller reputation by also registering at https://www.freecallerregistry.com/fcr.

The systems in place for preventing unwanted robocalls have made noticeable impacts on the volume of unwanted calls, but they are not perfect. If your number is being incorrectly labeled as a spam caller, you can also contact Mid-Rivers directly to investigate and fix the issue for legitimate calls.