Fair Conduct in Telemarketing

The Telemarketing section of the ADMA Code of Practice applies to members making telemarketing calls to fixed line and mobile phones.

Courtesy and Procedures

Members must at all times be courteous and efficient during sales, marketing and service calls.

Members must avoid the use of high-pressure tactics that could be construed as harassment.

Members must always recognise the right of the other party to end the telephone conversation at any stage, and must accept any request to end the call promptly and courteously.

Members have the right to politely terminate a call at any time where, for example, the other party has become abusive or early termination of the call may avoid confrontation or confusion.

Identification Information

At the earliest possible opportunity in an outbound telemarketing call, members must ensure that the following information is provided to the consumer and repeated if the consumer at any time requests:

• The name of the person making the telephone call
• Where a service bureau is making the call, the name of the organization on whose behalf the call is being made, and
• The purpose of the telephone call

Member bureaux that carry out telemarketing on behalf of other organisations must inform the people they call of the telephone number of the organisation on whose behalf they are calling to enable those people to contact the organisation.
Members that make telemarketing calls on their own behalf or engage a bureau for that purpose, must ensure that its name, address and telephone number are listed in a telephone directory or, if a new listing, its telephone number is available through a directory assistance service.

a. Calling line identity
When making an outbound telemarketing call, members must not block the transmission of the calling line identity to any calling number display or any calling name display of a consumer who receives the telephone call.
Where technically feasible, members should ensure that when outbound calls are made from within the organisation, the number which is transmitted or displayed on receiver terminals is a telephone number which is suitable for return telephone contact by an individual.

b. Information to be provided on request
Members must ensure that the following information is provided to consumers who request such information:

• The name and contact details of the organisation on behalf of which the call is being made, including a telephone number and street address
• The name of the person who is responsible for handling consumer inquiries which the telemarketer receives
• Further details concerning the goods or services being offered

In relation to unsolicited telemarketing calls, members must provide, on request, details of the source from which it obtained the consumer’s personal information
Members must ensure that where the information cannot be provided at the time of the request, it will be provided to the consumer within a reasonable period after the request is made and in all instances within 30 days of the request.

Guise of Research

Where the purpose of the call is to sell a good or service, telemarketers must not represent that they are undertaking market research.

Collection of Personal Data

Where during the course of a telemarketing call Members collect personal information from or relating to an individual, the Member must comply with the requirements of Section G of this Code.

Acceptable Calling Conduct

If it appears that a consumer has been interrupted at an inconvenient time by a telephone call, the telemarketer must promptly offer to call the consumer back and inquire as to when would be a more convenient time to do so.

A telemarketer must provide the consumer with a clear opportunity to accept or decline the organisation’s offer.

Permitted Calling Times

Members making outbound telemarketing calls must:

• Comply with the permitted calling hours set out in applicable Federal or State legislation and
• In the absence of applicable Federal or State legislation, only make an outbound telephone call to contact a consumer between 9 am and 8 pm  Monday – Saturday.
• Calls should not be made on Sundays or the following public holidays:
  • New Years Day
  • Australia Day
  • Good Friday
  • Easter Monday
  • Anzac Day
  • Christmas Day
  • Boxing Day

If the consumer has previously agreed to receive a telemarketing call from the organisation outside of the hours set out here or on public holidays then the organisation may make such a call to that consumer.

Some states have further restrictions on calling hours. Members must consult the relevant regulation in the states into which they are calling.

Line Disconnection Times

Members making telemarketing calls must ensure that the consumer’s telephone line is released within five seconds of the consumer hanging up or otherwise indicating that he or she requires the telemarketer to release the telephone line.

Calling Frequency

Members making telemarketing calls must not contact a consumer more than once in any 30-day period for the same or similar campaign without that consumer’s prior consent.

Answering Machines

Where, as a result of a telemarketing call, a Member leaves a message on an consumer’s answering machine, the message must include:

• The name and contact details of the organisation on behalf of which the call is being made,
• A fixed line telephone number, that is not charged at more than standard national rate, through which the individual can during normal business hours speak to a live operator

Members should endeavour not to leave messages on mobile phones or other answering services where it is known there is a charge for retrieval.

Random and Sequential Dialing Equipment

Members must not use random or sequential dialing equipment to generate telemarketing calls

Automated Dialing Equipment

For the purposes of this Code:

• A "connected call" is a call where an operator is connected to a live individual.
• A “live call” is a call that has been answered by a live individual but not connected to a live operator
• An "abandoned call" is any call where the dialing equipment releases the line after the call has been answered by a live individual. A call that terminates due to a network error is not, for the purposes of this Code, considered an abandoned call

Members must ensure their dialing equipment is adjusted to ensure a minimum ring time of 15 seconds before the call is discontinued as unanswered.

If a live operator is unavailable to take a connected call, the equipment should abandon the call and release the line as quickly as possible and within a maximum of 2 seconds from when the line is picked up.

The dialing equipment must at all times be adjusted to ensure that the rate of calls abandoned is no more than 5% of connected calls on each individual campaign over any given 24 hour period.

Where a number has received an abandoned call, any further calls to that number within the next 72-hour period must be handled by a dedicated operator.

For each individual campaign, Members must maintain an up to date archive of dialer statistics, which clearly demonstrate compliance with Sections D28 to D32 of this Code. This must include a daily summary of:

• The number of calls attempted;
• The number of live calls
• The number of connected calls;
• The number of calls passed to a live operator;
• The number of live calls abandoned by the dialing equipment.

Records of dialer statistics must be retained for a minimum of 12 months and must be available for inspection on reasonable notice from ADMA and other appropriate authorities.

Programmed Voice Calling Systems

Members intending to initiate outbound marketing calls involving the use of an programmed voice calling system (ie: a system which, when activated, operates to make calls without human intervention leaving a recorded message for the recipient) must have obtained the prior express or inferred consent of the person being called, whether they are a consumer, individual or another business.

Call Recording

Members must ensure that they comply with the relevant Federal and State legislation when recording a telephone marketing or sales call.

Where a call recording:

• Is likely to include personal information relating to the individual, or
• Is intended to be relied upon for contractual or other evidential purposes

Members must take all necessary steps to ensure the individual is informed the call is to be recorded prior to the recording taking place.

Members must ensure that call recordings containing personal information relating to the individual are used, maintained and stored in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 including the National Privacy Principles (NPPs)

Members should be aware that some market sectors are subject to federal legislation that imposes obligations on organisations conducting telephone marketing and some states have legislation that places obligations on organisations that supply or offer to supply goods or services via outbound telephone marketing. When undertaking an outbound telephone marketing campaign members should contact ADMA to ensure compliance with federal and state laws. In the event that the legislation imposes more rigorous obligations than the Code, the legislation provisions shall prevail

Best Practice for Telemarketing

To assist telemarketers promote high standards of business practice, ADMA has produced a set of Call & Contact Centre Guidelines covering the marketing aspects of contact centres, including inbound and outbound activities.
For call and contact centres, they establish a framework against which to benchmark their service offerings and differentiate them in the marketplace. For clients, the guidelines deal with a variety of issues that should be considered when choosing a contact centre and serves as a useful tool in comparing and evaluating prospective suppliers.

Download the Call and Contact Centre Guidelines

Status

Members should be aware that:

• Some market sectors are subject to Federal legislation that imposes obligations on organizations that conduct telephone marketing; and
• Some states have legislation that places obligations on organizations that supply or offer to supply goods and services via outbound telephone marketing

When undertaking an outbound telephone marketing campaign, members should contact ADMA to ensure compliance with the Federal and State laws. In the event that the legislation imposes more rigorous obligations than the Code, the legislation provisions shall prevail.