If you’re a small business owner, you likely have a lot on your plate; and the last thing you want to deal with is legal trouble. So, TextP2P is here to help you. In this blog post, we dive into our newest feature: contact scrubs! These help ensure that your text message contacts are safe from problems. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Learn the Terms
TextP2P scrubbing clears your contacts of those on the TCPA Litigator and DNC lists. But what exactly are these?
TCPA stands for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It was signed into U.S. law in 1991, and it regulates business texts and calls. Under it, businesses must have express consent when contacting customers, and thus, they must include an opt-out clause to allow customers to retract their consent as they so please.
TCPA litigators are those known to file lawsuits under the TCPA. These “litigator sharks” or “professional plaintiffs” target businesses for TCPA violations, even if they are minor or unintentional.
DNC stands for “do not call.” The National Do Not Call Registry is a list of phone numbers that consumers can opt into. Telemarketers are not allowed to contact these numbers, but political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors are exempt from this rule. Additionally, if consent is given and an “established business relationship” is made, businesses can contact those on the DNC list.
In general, keeping away from people on TCPA and DNC lists is both basic courtesy and helps your business avoid legal trouble. Let’s dive deeper into the benefits!
Benefits of Scrubbing
A regular scrub for TCPA and DNC numbers is good for a number of reasons:
- Strengthens your compliance posture — Proactive TCPA and DNC management shows that you are committed to doing things the right way. Regular contact scrubs keep you consistently avoiding those who should be avoided.
- Prevents disputed opt-ins — Consent is important, and it must be upheld. There can, however, be some confusion, so preemptively scrubbing your contacts can help reduce claims of revoked / invalid consent.
- Reduces legal expenses — Between settlements, attorney fees, and more, it’s no secret that legal trouble is costly. In fact, an unintentional violation of the TCPA can cost as much as $500 per call, with no cap on the total amount you can be liable for.
- Protects your brand reputation — Legal problems have more than financial burdens. They can also lead to bad PR and a decrease in customer trust. TCPA and DNC management allows you to avoid making mistakes that could cost you.
Scrubbing your contacts has clear benefits, so now let’s continue on to actually using this new feature!
How it Works
- On the Desktop app, navigate to the Lists page using the left sidebar.
- Click on the green Action button in the top right.
- Click on the TCPA/DNC Scrub option.
- On the left side, use the dropdown to select a contact list that you want to scrub.
- Also on the left, choose whether or not you want to also scrub for DNC numbers. If Enable DNC Scrub is on, TextP2P will remove numbers that are on the TCPA Litigator List and those that are on the DNC Registry. If this is disabled, TextP2P will only remove the former.
- Click Submit.
- In the pop up window, ensure that the amount to be charged is correct. Note that the minimum charge for a scrub is $5.00; otherwise, it is 1¢ per number checked (ie. number in your list). Then, click Continue.
And that’s it! The scrub will begin, and you will receive an email once it’s completed!
Here’s how to look at the results:
On the right side of the screen will be all the contacts that were found either on the TCPA Litigator List or on the DNC Registry.
Navigate to the Contacts page using the left sidebar, and the results will be apparent there too. If someone was found to be on the TCPA list, their phone type will be marked as BAD_TCPA. And if someone was on the DNC list, their phone type will be DNC. Both types of contacts will be unsubscribed from text messages and ringless voicemails — this is shown under status — and TCPA contacts will also be unsubscribed from emails.
And that’s it! That’s all there is to TCPA and DNC scrubbing!
Conclusion
In summary, TCPA / DNC scrubbing is important for ensuring that your business stays out of legal trouble and promotes itself in a kind and respectful way. TextP2P’s newest feature helps you do that! To learn more, check out this help page, which also includes this video walkthrough. If you have any questions, reach out to us via our contact page or click the teal icon in the bottom right of your screen. Thanks for reading!
