What is the TCPA?
The US law that restricts automated and prerecorded calls and texts to mobile numbers without prior consent.
TCPA — The TCPA is the United States law restricting calls and text messages made with automated dialers or prerecorded and artificial voices. It requires prior express consent for most marketing contact to mobile numbers. AI-generated voices count as artificial under the FCC's 2024 ruling.
Why it matters
The TCPA restricts how businesses can call and text mobile numbers using automated technology. It covers calls placed with an automatic telephone dialing system, prerecorded or artificial voice messages, and text messages sent the same way. It generally requires prior express consent from the recipient before that kind of marketing contact is made. The rule follows the number, not the industry. A sales team calling B2B contacts is still subject to it whenever the number reached is a mobile line.
One detail has grown more relevant with AI voice tools. The FCC's 2024 ruling clarified that AI-generated voices are treated as artificial voices under the TCPA. Calls placed by an AI voice agent are governed by the same consent requirements as a traditional prerecorded message. Many sales teams assume the TCPA is a consumer-only concern and that B2B contacts are exempt. The statute's restrictions attach to the number being called. A large share of business contacts today use mobile numbers as their primary line, which brings them inside the rule whatever the business context.
What the TCPA requires before automated contact
- 1
Identify the contact method
Determine whether the call or text uses an autodialer, prerecorded voice, or artificial voice.
- 2
Check the number type
Confirm whether the number being reached is a mobile line.
- 3
Confirm prior express consent
Establish that the recipient consented to this kind of automated contact before it happens.
- 4
Apply the same standard to AI voice
Treat AI-generated voice calls the same as prerecorded messages under the 2024 FCC ruling.
- 5
Honour revocation immediately
Stop contact as soon as the recipient withdraws consent.
The mistake to watch for
Questions
- How is the TCPA different from the National Do Not Call Registry?
- The TCPA is a federal statute restricting automated and prerecorded calls and texts and requiring consent. The National Do Not Call Registry is a specific list of numbers that live telemarketing calls must avoid. Both address unwanted contact, through different mechanisms.
- Does the TCPA apply to AI voice agents?
- Under the FCC's 2024 ruling, AI-generated voices are treated as artificial voices. Calls placed by an AI voice agent fall under the same TCPA consent requirements as a traditional prerecorded call.
- Does the TCPA apply to business contacts?
- The restrictions generally attach to the number being called rather than the industry. A business contact reached on a mobile number can fall under the same rules as a consumer number. This is not legal advice.