Government & Industry Compliance
Requirements & Services

Intro to Compliance

Telephone Town Hall Meeting (TTHM) has always upheld the highest standards for mass-outreach. We operate on the leading edge of communications, and that means staying on the leading edge of ethical outreach.

Our team often exceeds the statutory requirements that govern telecommunications to ensure the highest standards for our clients. We believe that good outreach means prioritizing the regulations that protect consumers and separate us from the spammers, and the telecoms industry as a whole has enacted new protocols to make a clear distinction between good and bad phone network traffic.

This page will hopefully help our clients understand the need to be compliant with new industry-led measures to clean up mass-outreach by phone. If your vendor is not asking you to engage with these new protocols, your messages are now being restricted by carriers.

TTHM also trains staff on data security, participant privacy, TCPA and HIPPA protocols. Our goal each year is to get ahead of the security concerns of our clients, and to confidently navigate the increasingly perilous cybersecurity environment.

Please Contact Us with any questions or concerns you have about the information on this page, the forms we ask you to complete, or how these protocols of adhering to Government & Industry Compliance Requirements help to ensure that your outreach gets delivered.

TCPA Compliance

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was created in 1991 and has been updated with regularity since. This set of regulations governs automated text and call outreach. Telephone Town Hall Meeting and our partner platform Teletownhall maintain a compliant system under the TCPA.

The TCPA limits unsolicited phone outreach and stipulates how messaging sent by automated call and text must be conducted.
Download the current TCPA rules from FCC.gov

Beginning July 20th, 2023:

• An organization cannot make more than three (3) automated calls in a 30 day period to deliver pre-recorded messages to a landline phone without an opt-in.

• A keystroke opt-out option must be provided when dialing landline phones with an autodialer without an opt-in from the call recipient.

• The recorded prompt delivered to Live Answers must also include a toll-free phone number the call recipient can dial to opt-out of future calls, and the Voicemail prompt must include both a toll-free opt-out phone number and a Callback Number where the calling client can be reached.

• TTHM uses the Teletownhall dialing system, which already includes options to easily add the mandatory keystroke opt-out feature and a toll-free phone number for opting-out manually.

• These mandatory opt-out features will be added to all autodials to landline phones that have not opted-in for contact from the client.

What constitutes an opt-in for automated dialer phone contact?

An Opt-In for informational/non-telemarketing calls is constituted based on the “prior express consent” standard. That standard is satisfied if the called party voluntarily provided their telephone number to the organization calling them. No specific language or other disclosure is required, but you will need to have received the telephone number directly from the phone user. Calls to members of an organization or other instances where there IS prior consent DO NOT need to abide by the three calls in 30 days rule or the keystroke opt-out rule.

Regardless of opt-in status, all Voicemail prompts must contain a Caller ID/Callback Number where the calling client can be reached. Any outbound voicemail message delivered via Tele-Townhall, Robocall, IVR or Patchthrough prompts must include a Callback Number phone that leads to a functional voicemail inbox.

How are Do Not Contact phone numbers processed?

TTHM maintains a Do Not Contact list for each client within the Teletownhall system that includes opt-outs submitted through the toll-free number, key-press opt-outs, and any Do Not Contact requests made to TTHM Operators during Teletownhall forums. Clients should provide Telephone Town Hall Meeting with any existing Do Not Contact phone numbers in advance of campaigns orchestrated by TTHM. DNC phones are automatically scrubbed from future outreach campaigns orchestrated by Telephone Town Hall Meeting based on individual user accounts.

Clients are expected to check voicemails left on their Callback Number phone and process opt-out requests internally to ensure that those numbers are scrubbed from future outreach using other vendors. Clients should also report any and all new Do Not Contact phone numbers to Telephone Town Hall Meeting to ensure that they are added to our internal DNC scrub list for their account on the Teletownhall system. In most cases, opt-out requests will be processed automatically using the mechanisms described above, so clients should not be concerned about receiving too many opt-out requests on their Callback Number phone.

Compliance Services & Products

Telephone Town Hall Meeting offers voicemail inbox transcription and clearance services in English ($75/hour) and Spanish ($200/hour) to help clients satisfy requirements from the TCPA, CMS and other sources. Transcription and clearance services require that the client provide a Caller ID/Callback phone number where messages can be left by recipients of autodialed calls. TTHM Operators will also need to be granted access to the voicemail inbox for that phone number. Transcribed Do Not Contact requests are both delivered to the client and added to the client DNC list within the Teletownhall dialing system to be scrubbed from future campaigns.

Our Mobile Direct Dialing service for reaching automated phone calls allows us to dial mobile phones without an opt-in by having a live TTHM Operator welcome incoming Teletownhall forum participants instead of using a recorded message.

Our P2P Text Alert service utilizes peer-to-peer texting technology that falls outside of the TCPA and allows TTHM Operators to send SMS/MMS texts without requiring an opt-in from text recipients.

HIPAA & Data Security

At TTHM we prioritize data security and the privacy of both clients and live event participants. TTHM Operators are trained for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA).

Our Event Operators and Setup Specialists are required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement related to their work with TTHM, and pass a test of their knowledge to work our live events. Our Data Managers and Reporting Specialists are similarly trained in HIPAA protocols, and all TTHM staff must comply with our strict internal Security & Privacy policy.

TTHM protocols are not limited to just our healthcare clients. We extend these security, privacy and accountability practices to all of our forums to go above and beyond client security expectations.

Our current Security & Privacy Policy was updated in 2023, and developed in tandem with Teletownhall to ensure that the system we use for producing outreach campaigns and events is also secure. TTHM takes client data security and privacy extremely seriously, and we work each year to extend our protections on those fronts.

STIR/SHAKEN
Mass-Dialing Registration

STIR/SHAKEN telecoms protocols were implemented on June 30, 2021 – what we are calling Authentication Day. These protocols were a long time coming, and they help legitimate mass-communications stand out from a crowded field of scammers and spammers.

The FCC worked with Voice Service Providers and Mobile/Landline Phone Carriers to develop and implement STIR/SHAKEN. TTHM uses STIR/SHAKEN to pre-register your Caller ID phone number prior to large-scale dialouts. This allows carriers to clear legitimate phone traffic to targeted recipients, even at high volumes.

We view this new regulation as another chance to prove that compliance and caution is what sets TTHM apart from fly-by-night telecommunication vendors. If your phone outreach vendors have not asked you to register your Caller ID through STIR/SHAKEN, your delivery rate has likely plummeted. This protocol has become universal for major US carriers.

Note that carriers are leading this charge, and they are extremely serious about using STIR/SHAKEN to legitimize phone outreach and 10DLC to register text outreach. Avoiding compliance with these new protocols will mean that you are paying for messaging that never gets delivered.

Download STIR/SHAKEN Setup Form

Learn more about how we stay ahead of the compliance curve.

10 Digit Long Code (10DLC)
Mass-Texting Registration

Note that 10DLC Texting Registration takes 10-14 to process, so reach out to TTHM at least two weeks in advance of your planned Text Alert campaign.

What is 10DLC?

10DLC stands for “10-Digit Long Code” and references a virtual phone number used to authenticate large-scale SMS and MMS text campaigns for carriers delivering messages sent by TTHM. This authentication process will require TTHM to register all clients through The Campaign Registry (TCR) before beginning new Text Alert campaigns.

This industry-led effort to sanction legitimate text campaigns clears A2P (Application-to-Person) or P2P (Peer-to-Peer) messaging to intended recipients. 10DLC now plays an important role in the authentication process for A2P/P2P text messages sent across all major mobile networks. TTHM SMS/MMS Text Alerts are universally affected by 10DLC.

Why is 10DLC necessary?

Using 10DLC will allow businesses, organizations, cities, counties, school districts, political campaigns and elected officials to send a high volume of SMS/MMS text messages from a single local number. Our 10DLC Registration Form will help TTHM to clear client messaging through mobile carriers prior to sending Text Alerts. Non-compliant P2P & A2P text campaigns will be fined, slowed or blocked by mobile carriers. Severe cases will result in a campaign audit.

10DLC is one more way to separate legitimate A2P and P2P text outreach from scams and spam. We are excited that mobile carriers have worked in concert to elevate genuine Peer-to-Peer/App-to-Peer text messaging. This protocol also allows us to ensure that each of your text messages originates from the same local phone number.

How does registration work?

The Campaign Registry (TCR) now requires that the information below be submitted prior to sending texts through mobile networks. Successful submission of this form will result in a Verification Token unique to each client and the vendor sending their texts. This verification process can take up to a week, but typically takes less.

10DLC must be initiated through TTHM and then registration must be maintained annually for your organization to remain compliant. Telephone Town Hall Meeting will maintain your Annual 10DLC Registration based on the fees charged by TCR and mobile networks. Each Campaign Verification Token is specific to the text vendor that submitted the form on behalf of their client and cannot be shared between text vendors.

How much does 10DLC cost?

Political Campaigns need to register with both The Campaign Registry (TCR) and Campaign Verify once per cycle in addition to paying the Annual Registration Cost. Registration must be specific to a single candidate or issue campaign.

Non-Political client types only need to register with The Campaign Registry once, then must pay the Annual Registration to maintain their ongoing 10DLC registration.

2023 Political Client Annual 10DLC + Campaign Verify Cost $275

2023 Non-Political Client Annual 10DLC Cost $250

Telephone Town Hall Meeting (TTHM) has created an annual cost for each client type to first set up and then maintain registration with The Campaign Registry. This annual cost is subject to change based on the fees charged by TCR and mobile networks. Registering your text campaign early in the year will help avoid any fees added as 10DLC develops.

Download the 10DLC Registration form and/or the 10DLC Campaign Verify form below.

Learn how to avoid a 10DLC Audit by downloading the 10DLC Fact Sheet below.