SEATTLE, WA — (Marketwired) — 10/15/13 — , the leading provider of contact information for people and businesses in the U.S., today introduced WhitePages PRO-s Phone Lite, aimed at helping business comply with the regulations outlined in the upcoming Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), set to go into effect Oct. 16. The TCPA, created by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will update the rules and regulations regarding marketing phone calls, giving individuals the right to file lawsuits and collect damages for receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls, faxes, prerecorded or autodialed calls. Businesses across multiple industries can protect themselves from negative consequences and expensive fines for violations by utilizing WhitePages PRO-s Phone Lite, which was built on PRO-s recently released , to identify and validate customers in their contact databases, further enriching their records with this crucial customer intelligence.
The new TCPA rules will require businesses to obtain prior unambiguous, written consent from consumers in order to use auto-dialers to call wireless phone numbers. Phone Lite provides access to the industry-s most comprehensive database of consumer contact information, enabling businesses to immediately identify phone number details on sales lists, including phone type (landline, cell, non-fixed VOIP), helping to ensure that businesses are not calling restricted numbers.
In addition, WhitePages PRO has suggested the following best practices for businesses in preparation for the new TCPA guidelines:
Obtain prior unambiguous, written consent for all mobile numbers, even when dialing manually
Capture and store calling evidence for four years
Treat non-fixed VoIP numbers as mobile numbers
Scrub call lists every 15 days
“Even unintentional calling mistakes can be high profile, costly, and reputation damaging for businesses, making it imperative that companies understand and adhere to new guidelines,” said Barry Chu, Director of Product Management for WhitePages PRO. “By understanding the customers on your call list, marketers can avoid the fate suffered by corporations such as Google, Jiffy Lube, and Papa John-s, all of whom were recently hit with multi-million dollar settlements for failing to comply with TCPA regulations.”
Industries such as call centers, utility and energy companies, insurance, banking, financial services, credit and collections agencies will be affected by TCPA. Any company currently using autodialing or prerecorded calls as part of its sales and marketing strategy is at risk for potential costly liability.
More information on the WhitePages PRO platform and Phone Lite can be found .
WhitePages PRO [] gives businesses access to WhitePages- contact data, providing a 360 degree view of customers. This intelligence helps to validate online purchasers to identify both fraudulent and legitimate transactions, drive greater efficiency from call centers, and enrich contact records to strengthen customer interactions. Early customers include Vizio, Oakley, and Ann Taylor.
WhitePages is the leading provider of contact information for people and businesses in the U.S. With over 50 million unique monthly users and powering over 2 billion searches per year across sites that include WhitePages.com and 411.com, WhitePages offers consumers one-click access to more than 200 million adults and also provides them with the ability to edit and control their own listings. The company-s suite of mobile products includes a top-50 mobile website and popular Android and iPhone apps with over 15 million active monthly users.
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