In the U.S., the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) Safe Harbor establishes a 3% Call Abandonment Rate as a safe harbor for telemarketers. Under the TSR, it is illegal for telemarketers to “abandon” any outbound call initiated using an autodialer.
Per the rule, an “abandoned call” is one that does not connect the consumer to a sales representative within two seconds of the consumer answering the phone.
The TSR also creates a safe harbor for predictive dialers if the telemarketer:
- (1) uses technology that ensures abandonment of no more than 3% of all calls answered by a live person, measured over the duration of a single calling campaign, if less than 30 days, or separately over each successive 30-day period or portion thereof that the campaign continues,
- (2) allows the telephone to ring for 15 seconds or four rings before disconnecting an unanswered call, or
- (3) plays a recorded message stating the name and telephone number of the seller on whose behalf the call was placed whenever a live sales representative is unavailable within two seconds of a live person answering the call.
You can read more about Safe Harbor at the FCC website.