Predictive dialer abandon rate rules: what outbound floors need to know

What counts as an abandoned call

Under both the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule and the FCC's rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a call is abandoned when a live person answers and the call is not connected to a live sales representative within two seconds of that person's completed greeting. The clock starts when the person finishes saying hello, not when the phone is picked up.

Predictive dialers create this risk by design. They place more calls than there are free setters, betting that many will go unanswered or reach voicemail. When more people answer than the dialer expected, someone hears silence or a recording instead of a person. That is the call these rules are written about.

Read the definition closely and one thing stands out: it does not care why the delay happened. A slow answering machine detector, pacing that is too aggressive, or a setter who took too long to go ready can all produce the same result for the person on the other end. Ask counsel how your specific setup should count these edge cases.

The FTC safe harbor

The Telemarketing Sales Rule treats abandoning an outbound call as an abusive practice, then offers a safe harbor for sellers and telemarketers who meet four conditions together. Meeting only some of them does not earn the protection.

• Abandon no more than 3 percent of calls answered by a person, measured over the duration of a single calling campaign if it runs less than 30 days, or separately over each successive 30 day period the campaign continues.
• Let the phone ring for at least 15 seconds or four rings before disconnecting an unanswered call.
• When no sales representative is available within two seconds of the completed greeting, promptly play a recorded message that states the name and telephone number of the seller on whose behalf the call was placed.
• Keep records that establish compliance with the first three conditions.

Two details from the FTC's guidance

The FTC's business guidance on the rule adds details that matter on a real floor. Calls answered by a machine, calls that are never answered, and calls to nonworking numbers do not count in the calculation. A telemarketer running several campaigns cannot average their abandonment rates together, so each campaign stands on its own. The guidance also says the recorded message must not contain a sales pitch, and the number it gives should be one a consumer can call to make a do not call request.

The FCC rule

The FCC's rule, at 47 CFR 64.1200, uses the same 3 percent figure but states it as a direct limit: a telemarketer may not abandon more than 3 percent of telemarketing calls answered live by a person, measured over a 30 day period for a single calling campaign. It uses the same two second definition and the same minimum ring time of 15 seconds or four rings.

The FCC's message requirement is more specific. When no live representative is available within two seconds, the message has to say the call was for telemarketing purposes, name the business on whose behalf it was placed, and give a phone number the person can call during regular business hours to make a do not call request. It also has to offer an automated, interactive opt out, by voice or key press, that adds the number to the seller's do not call list and then ends the call. The message may not carry an advertisement. The FCC also requires records establishing compliance, and calls made by or for tax exempt nonprofits are not covered by this part of the rule.

Which rule reaches you depends on who you are, who you call for and what you sell, and many outbound sales floors have to think about both. A practical approach is to build a process that satisfies the stricter version of each element, then have counsel confirm it fits your situation. Some states have their own telemarketing laws that can add requirements.

How to measure it correctly

Most abandon rate mistakes are math mistakes. The denominator is calls answered by a live person, not total dials. The numerator is the live answers that did not reach a representative within two seconds. If a report divides by all dials, the number will look far better than the one a regulator would calculate.

• Measure per campaign. Do not blend a slow campaign with a busy one to bring the average down.
• Track it daily and on a rolling 30 day basis, so a problem shows up before the period closes.
• Know how your dialer defines a campaign, and keep that definition consistent in your records.
• Keep the raw call records, not just a summary, so the number can be rebuilt later.

Answering machine detection and the two second window

Answering machine detection deserves its own review. Detection takes time, and time is exactly what the two second rule limits. Test how long your detector takes to decide, how often it guesses wrong, and what a live person hears while it decides. A detector that is accurate but slow can still produce abandoned calls.

Setting up the dialer

The safest setup is one where the dialer enforces the cap itself rather than relying on a manager to notice. Set the target below the legal line so normal swings in answer rates do not push a campaign over it. Confirm that the dialer slows its pacing automatically as a campaign nears its limit, plays the required message when no setter is free, and lets unanswered calls ring long enough.

Remember what the safe harbor does not cover. It addresses abandoned calls only. It does not replace do not call scrubbing, calling hour limits, or the consent rules that apply to autodialed and prerecorded calls, and it is no substitute for advice from counsel who knows your campaigns. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

If you want a dialer where abandon rate caps are enforced by the dialer itself, Telgrow's page for call center owners is where early access is opening to a limited number of floors.

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