LEE, Mass.. Dec. 3, 2008 — @utoRevenue(TM), an industry leader in delivering a full suite of cost-effective customer contact solutions to auto dealerships across the country, and a division of Dominion Enterprises, announces that the company is compliant with all new FTC call regulations.
In an effort to provide seamless, hassle-free marketing efforts for dealerships, @utoRevenue ensures its compliance with all sectors of the legal system impacting their marketing services.
In August 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) set forth new regulations and deadlines regarding the management of pre-recorded calls. These requirements are enforceable regardless of the Existing Business Relationship Rule (EBR) that formerly exempted some calls from the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule.
@utoRevenue has acted quickly to meet these new requirements, ensuring that the company can continue to legally provide pre-recorded calls as a valuable marketing channel for its Clients. An overview of the regulations and the company’s actions follows:
Effective December 1, 2008, all sales-related, pre-recorded messages regardless of EBR status must provide an automated opt-out feature. Calls answered by a live voice must introduce the opt-out feature at the start of the call and enable consumers to press a key or opt-out by voice at any point during the communication. Calls reaching answering machines must provide a toll-free number connecting the recipient to an automated opt-out process.
Exemptions include health-related calls, fund-raising, appointment reminders, emergency notifications, debt collection, delivery notification, automotive recall notices, or non-telemarketing calls. In light of this requirement, @utoRevenue undertook a legal review of the scripts provided to its Clients to determine which ones meet the definition of “informational” calls and which ones would be defined as “outbound telemarketing.” The company also took steps to ensure that it is compliant with the opt-out mechanisms required in the ruling.
Based on these understandings, @utoRevenue has implemented the following changes to the @utoVoice Service that will be in place by December 1, 2008:
OPT-OUT REQUIREMENTS
1. Provision of a toll-free number to capture opt-out requests that will be used in accordance with all calls qualifying as outbound telemarketing efforts.
2. The ability to capture opt-out requests automatically when calls are answered by live voice.
SCRIPT COMPLIANCE
1. Certain calls that @utoRevenue offers are not considered to be outbound telemarketing efforts and therefore do not fall under the new FTC requirements. No additional action will be required to manage these calls.
2. There are some calls, however, that do meet the definition of outbound telemarketing efforts and therefore will be subject to the new FTC requirements. These calls will be appended with the new Opt-Out script at the outset of the call.
The next FTC requirement goes into effect in September 2009. This requirement involves obtaining Express Consent from a dealership’s customer to communicate via pre-recorded messages. @utoRevenue is currently developing several options for obtaining this consent going into 2009.
For more information about @utoRevenue, contact Katrina Slosek at katrina@autorevenue.com or 866.628.6245.
About @utoRevenue
@utoRevenue(TM) (http://www.autorevenue.com), a division of Dominion Enterprises, is based in Lee, Mass. As a first-mover in permission-based email marketing solutions for retail auto dealerships, @utoRevenue has evolved to offer a complete line of marketing services including email, email collection, online appointment scheduling, direct mail, voice messaging, and e-newsletters.
About Dominion Enterprises
Dominion Enterprises is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, enthusiast and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, and employment industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, Web site design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 45 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 16.7 million unique visitors, and more than 450 magazines that with a weekly circulation of 4.3 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 5,400 employees in more than 200 offices nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.DominionEnterprises.com
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