Are Ringless Voicemail Drops Legal in Florida?

Ringless voicemail drops are the new darling of the telemarketing world, but may not be for long.

What Are Ringless Voicemail Drops?

Ringless voicemail
 uses servers to deliver voicemail directly to cell phone’s voice mailbox without causing the phone to ring prior to going to voicemail.

Are These Voicemail Messages Legal Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted to protect consumers from annoying telemarketing calls and faxes that were inundating American homes. The law prohibits the use of automatic dialers with pre-recorded or artificial voices unless the consumer has given prior written consent to the business, allowing the business to use such telemarketing tactics.

Telemarketers began using ringless voicemail drops as a means of getting around TCPA. Ringless voicemail does not actually go through cellular networks and no dialing of a phone number is needed because the technology uses software that works via computer servers. Telemarketers have basically said that it’s not a “call,” so it cannot be protected under the TCPA.

However, in TCPA cases that have gone to trial, determinations have been made that ringless voicemail is a violation of TCPA.

Will My Phone Emit An Alert When I Receive a Ringless Voicemail?

If you have programmed your phone to alert you when you receive a regular voicemail, then yes, you will receive an alert when you receive a ringless voicemail, too.

A federal judge in Michigan was the first to determine ringless voicemail messages were in violation of the TCPA because the recipient would need to play the message to know what the subject matter was and the phone would issue a voicemail alert. Because both of these impositions would exist if the business made an actual phone call, the judge decided ringless voicemail messages were in violation of the TCPA.

Are Ringless Voicemail Drops Legal in Florida?

Effective July 1, 2018, Florida outlawed ringless voicemail messages used for soliciting sales of consumer goods or services or for trying to convince the recipient to extend credit to purchase further goods or services. Accordig to AccountsRecover.net, the ringless voicemail law does not address ringless voicemails left for bill collection purposes.

Florida Governor Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 568 into law, which amends the state’s definition of “telephonic sales call” to include “voicemail transmissions.”

How Do Courts Decide What Telemarketing Maneuvers Violate TCPA?

The courts understand that ringless voicemail uses a delivery method different than that of traditional calls, but TCPA does not establish a difference between answered calls and those that go to voicemail. The courts appear to believe that an unwelcome intrusion can take time, money, battery life, cell phone data space and be a nuisance whether a ringing phone is answered or a consumer must listen to a voicemail later.

What Federal Agency Oversees TCPA?

The Federal Communications Commission develops and implements regulatory programs regarding electronic communication in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. As an independent agency overseen by Congress, the FCC is the top authority in the U.S. for communications law, regulation and technological advancements.

Join a Free Florida Spam “Ringless” Voicemail Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you live in Florida and received a ringless voicemail from a retailer you’ve never shopped with or never authorized to call you, legal help is available, but it is important that you DO NOT delete the message.

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