Earlier this month, the FCC issued a ruling allowing federal government entities and legislators—and their service providers—to dial mobile phones without prior express consent for official business purposes, including driving registration to Telephone Town Halls.

On Tuesday 7/26, the CHA issued a statement confirming this ruling and advising that Members may now begin conduct, or employ a contractor to conduct automated calls to mobile devices.

Here’s what you need to know:

1.  Franking rules still apply.

Automated calls to mobile numbers are still subject to blackout dates and cannot exceed 500 in total quantity within 90 days of an election where the Member appears on the ballot.

2.  No more scrubbing mobile numbers.

When building call lists for upcoming telephone town halls, you are no longer required to scrub out mobile numbers.  If you choose to continue to scrub mobile numbers and call landlines only, our team will see to it that it happens.

3.  Nearly half of all American households are mobile-only.

That includes 67% of young people (18-29), 59% of low-income adults and 56% of Latinos.  This ruling puts those demographics groups back within reach when holding your telephone town halls.

4.  Mobile numbers are still off-limits to campaigns.

As before, government entities and legislators are prohibited from calling citizens on their mobile phones for campaign or ballot-related purposes without the citizen's prior express consent.

5.  Offer an opt-out option at the beginning of calls

When you start including mobile numbers in your call lists, set up a keypad prompt at the beginning of each call that allows constituents to opt out of future calls.

 

To read the full FCC ruling, click here.  Contact us today with any questions or to schedule your next Telephone Town Hall event.