The House of Representatives have been discussing a bill that would allow prerecorded voice messages to call mobile phones. This bill is called The Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011. This bill would change the Telephone Consumer Protection Act which was enacted in 1991. Currently, the TCPA does not allow companies to use automated dialing and prerecorded voice messages to call cell phones.
This new act is a bipartisan act, one supporter is Lee Terry. One argument for the act is that technology has changed in many different ways since the TCPA was enacted in 1991. This statement is true since many more people use wireless phones instead of land lines since 1991. Also cell phone customers are not typically charged by the minute like they were in 1991.
The argument against this bill would be that most mobile phone cutomers do not want telemarketers calling their wireless phones. What does the bill do to counteract this argument? The bill states that the person receiving the automated call must have given prior express consent. What does prior express consent mean? According to the bill it means the oral or written approval of a person. The bill also states that express consent is given if the call is regarding an already established business relationship or if the customer provided a telephone number as a means of contact when purchasing a product or service.
When reading this bill, I understood this as, if a customer orders a product and provided a phone number, regardless what type of phone it it, that customer could receive an automated call in the future. So the only way a consumer could make sure that they would not recieve an automated cal would be to not provide a phone number for means of contact.
Could this bill provide companies with more profits therefore stimulationg the economy? If businesses were able to place automated calls to wireless phones, they would be able to reach more potential customers. This could increase sales therefore causing the need for more products or services to be produced or provided. This would mean more jobs and increase in profits that could be taxed.
More people have been switching from landlines to mobile phones in the past few years. The question then becomes, has the TCPA been causing companies to lose profits, since companies cannot contact as many customers as they were able to in 1991? Could this bill help our economy?
This new act is a bipartisan act, one supporter is Lee Terry. One argument for the act is that technology has changed in many different ways since the TCPA was enacted in 1991. This statement is true since many more people use wireless phones instead of land lines since 1991. Also cell phone customers are not typically charged by the minute like they were in 1991.
The argument against this bill would be that most mobile phone cutomers do not want telemarketers calling their wireless phones. What does the bill do to counteract this argument? The bill states that the person receiving the automated call must have given prior express consent. What does prior express consent mean? According to the bill it means the oral or written approval of a person. The bill also states that express consent is given if the call is regarding an already established business relationship or if the customer provided a telephone number as a means of contact when purchasing a product or service.
When reading this bill, I understood this as, if a customer orders a product and provided a phone number, regardless what type of phone it it, that customer could receive an automated call in the future. So the only way a consumer could make sure that they would not recieve an automated cal would be to not provide a phone number for means of contact.
Could this bill provide companies with more profits therefore stimulationg the economy? If businesses were able to place automated calls to wireless phones, they would be able to reach more potential customers. This could increase sales therefore causing the need for more products or services to be produced or provided. This would mean more jobs and increase in profits that could be taxed.
More people have been switching from landlines to mobile phones in the past few years. The question then becomes, has the TCPA been causing companies to lose profits, since companies cannot contact as many customers as they were able to in 1991? Could this bill help our economy?
Ok let me be perfectly clear with this statement. In no way should this bill be construed as a jobs bill. the TCPA is still in place and should stay there. Everytime you are forced to give your number for anything you should demand a copy of what you sign. If they don't want to give it to you RED FLAGS should pop into your head.
ReplyDeleteI will make it a point to contact my reps in congress to vote against this unless he or she is willing to give me their personal cell phone number.
I do not think that it is being introduced as a jobs bill. It was just an observation I had, but if it could create even one job would it be worth it. Some jobs it could create would be IT, customer service, sales. It wouldn't cost America any money. I am undecided at this time on whether or not I am for or against it. I just wanted to give people a different perspective and let people know that they shouldn't just denounce a bill right away.
ReplyDeleteThis bill should not be considered. I don't know what kind of cell plan you have, but mine still charges by the minute for every minute over our "bucket" of minutes. The telemarketers found their way around the Do Not Call list and they'll find their way around this too. Besides, how much of the economy is really driven by telemarketers? Most people I know hate 'em.
ReplyDeleteI instantly hang up on all telemarketers. Even so, a 1 second call counts as 1 minute and I will get charged for overages. I pay for these minutes and I should be able to tell telemarketers, pollsters and politicians they cannot call me. It isn't their phone or money!
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the minutes if you are unsure on who the call is coming from you can always ignore and then check you voicemail. It doesn't cost you anything to check your voicemail. The one thing I do not think alot of people understand about this bill is that you have to opt-in to receive calls, that means you can always opt-out. If you tell a company to not ever call you again and place you on their do not call list and they do not listen to your command they can be severely fined and that employee can also be fined and lose their job. People just do not seek action against that company like they should.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell telemarketers, pollsters and politicians not to call by not giving them your number according to this bill. If you do not give them your number or tell them not to call you they are not allowed to. Their are ways to prosecute these companies and they are currently available right now.
ReplyDelete