Alabama telemarketing rules

Licensing with the Attorney General

Before doing business in Alabama, a commercial telephone seller must obtain a license from the Consumer Division of the Attorney General's office. The application lists each location and every telephone number the seller will use, names its managers and salespersons, includes any script, and comes with a bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit. Salespersons need their own licenses, and licenses are renewed annually. The Act exempts certain callers who do not complete the sales presentation on the call and complete it at a later face to face meeting, but not when the seller, directly after the call, sends someone to collect payment or deliver the purchase.

Calling hours, Sundays, and holidays

A Public Service Commission rule covers both live and automated solicitation calls to consumers in Alabama. It says no solicitation calls are allowed on Sundays or holidays, and on the days calls are allowed, none may be placed before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. The rule also bars calling numbers in sequential fashion. The federal rule separately bars telephone solicitations to residential subscribers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location.

The do not call register and the national registry

Alabama law bars any telephone solicitation to the line of a residential subscriber who has told the Public Service Commission they object to receiving telephone solicitations. The Commission says Alabama has adopted the National Do Not Call Registry and merged its register with the national list administered by the FTC. Its rule says it is a violation to knowingly call a number that appeared on an updated register that was in effect at least 60 days before the call. A caller has a defense if it established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to prevent telephone solicitations that violate the chapter.

Disclosures, caller ID, automated devices, and written contracts

Within the first 30 seconds of a call, a commercial telephone seller or salesperson must give their true name, the company they call for, and the consumer goods or services being sold. A caller may not knowingly block or circumvent a residential subscriber's caller ID. Anyone using automatic dialing and announcing devices for solicitation calls must register with the Public Service Commission, use a 10 second disconnect, and state the name and telephone number of the person or firm making or paying for the call within 20 seconds after the answer and again at the end. A purchase ordered through a commercial telephone solicitation is not final without a signed written contract, unless the sale gives a full refund or credit for undamaged goods returned, or services cancelled, within seven days of receipt.

Calls to businesses

The Telemarketing Act is built around consumer goods or services, defined as property normally used for personal, family, or household purposes and services related to that property. Its business to business exemption has conditions, such as a seller that has operated for at least three years under the same business name with at least 50 percent of its dollar volume from repeat sales to existing businesses. The Commission's rule says business telephone subscribers may not be included on the Do Not Call Register.

Recording calls

Alabama's criminal eavesdropping law defines eavesdropping as overhearing, recording, amplifying, or transmitting any part of the private communication of others without the consent of at least one of the persons engaged in the communication. Separately, the Public Service Commission rule on live and automated solicitation calls says that if the consumer's response is to be recorded, the consumer must be informed and permission must be granted.