Wisconsin requires telephone solicitors to register with its consumer protection department, bars unsolicited sales calls to Wisconsin numbers on the national registry, limits consumer solicitations to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. without consent, and requires consent for prerecorded sales messages.
From official sources, checked September 26, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
A telephone solicitor may not require an employee or contractor to make a telephone solicitation to a person in Wisconsin unless it is registered with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Under the department's rule, registration is annual and expires November 30, and the form lists the telephone lines used for solicitations and each line's number, the number of callers, and the registrant's access number for the national do not call registry. DATCP says a business registering as a telemarketer in Wisconsin must register with both the Federal Trade Commission and the Wisconsin program.
Wisconsin's state do not call registry is the portion of the national do not call registry with Wisconsin area codes. A telephone solicitor may not make a telephone solicitation to a number on it, and registered solicitors must obtain and use a current copy from the national registry website at least once every 31 days. The statute excepts solicitations made in response to the recipient's request and those made to a current client of the seller.
A seller may not start a telephone solicitation to a consumer before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. without the consumer's prior consent, measured by local time where the consumer lives. A seller also may not call a consumer who said they do not want its solicitations, unless the repeat call was a good faith error by a seller with written procedures, trained personnel, and a recorded list of those requests.
A telephone solicitor, or its employee or contractor, may not use an electronically prerecorded message in a telephone solicitation without the consent of the person called. The department's rule adds a written agreement requirement for any telephone call that uses a prerecorded message to encourage a purchase, for covered and noncovered telephone customers alike, a group that reaches business lines. The agreement must contain the called customer's telephone number and signature. The rule exempts qualifying nonprofit sales calls and individuals calling only for themselves.
The written agreement for prerecorded sales calls must disclose in writing that the customer is not required to sign it as a condition of making a purchase and that, by signing, the customer authorizes telemarketing calls from that person. A note to the rule says the agreement and disclosures may be in electronic form as provided in section 137.15 of the statutes. DATCP tells consumers that a recorded sales message is illegal when they have not given the company permission to call.
Before asking any question or saying anything beyond a greeting, a seller making a telephone solicitation must disclose the principal seller's name, the caller's own name, that the seller is offering consumer goods or services, and what those goods or services are. Telephone solicitors may not block caller ID or knowingly send misleading or inaccurate caller ID, though they may display the seller's name and a customer service number that takes do not call requests during regular business hours.
The statute's definition of residential customer leaves out an individual who operates a business at home. A telephone solicitor may not solicit a nonresidential customer that has notified it by mail that it does not want telephone solicitations, and on request must give that customer a mailing address for the notice. The department's rule accepts notice by mail including email and requires the address within 10 days of the request. Wisconsin's direct marketing rules exclude an individual who buys in a business capacity or for resale from the definition of consumer.
Wisconsin's interception law makes it lawful for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, electronic, or oral communication when the person is a party to it or one of the parties has given prior consent, unless the purpose is a criminal or tortious act or another injurious act. Intentionally intercepting a communication outside the listed exceptions is a Class H felony.
Not by itself, according to DATCP. The department says a consumer is not a current client just because they bought something in the preceding 18 months, even though such a purchase can satisfy the federal established business relationship exception. A current client has a current agreement to receive goods or services of the type promoted by the call, and DATCP adds that there is no federal preemption of state do not call laws.
DATCP says the rule's definition of a telephone line includes wireless channels and digital lines. Digital lines that can make simultaneous calls, including SIP and VOIP lines, are registered by the number of outbound calls they can make to Wisconsin residents, so one channel that can call up to 24 residents counts as 24 lines.
A consumer transaction started by a telephone solicitation directed to that customer can be a consumer approval transaction if it also meets the statute's conditions on where it is completed and on credit or cash price. The customer may then cancel until midnight of the third business day after the merchant gives the required notice, with limited exceptions, and the direct marketing rule requires sellers to give that notice.
Checked September 26, 2026. Every fact on this page comes from these official sources. General information, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the cited statute or agency and with counsel.
Telgrow is an AI dialer and carrier layer designed with operators who run outbound setting floors, with abandon rate caps enforced in the dialer. Join early access, or book a call about building or fixing your floor.
Get early accessBook a consulting call