The FCC’s New One-to-One Consent Requirements and Their Impact on Robocalls

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Resource Center

Check out the following resources released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC):

• FCC fact sheet
• FCC announcement outlining new rules
• FCC report and order and further notice of proposed rulemaking

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It’s no secret automatic telephone dialing systems (ATDS) are strong marketing weapons when it comes to cold calls – and abused ones as well. Up until now, marketers have used ATDS systems to make thousands of calls daily, with some conversions and no less annoyance for consumers.

But this is all about to change on January 27, 2025.

The new FCC one-to-one consent rule, an update of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), requires obtaining prior express written consent from consumers before they can make robotic calls or send robotic messages. Likewise, one-to-one consent is required for any business offered on a lead generation form.

Read on to learn what the FCC update means for robocalls and how to adjust.

Stay FCC-compliant with Consent Branches, Phonexa’s proprietary solution for managing one-to-one consent on lead generation forms. Effortlessly integrate it with Smart Tree technology to streamline compliance and boost your lead generation efforts.

What Are Robocalls?

Robocalls are calls made automatically by ATDS systems – and these are not always unwanted or spammy. For example, emergency notifications and informational messages might be quite helpful and even life-saving under some circumstances. But those aren’t considered marketing messages, and they’re quite welcomed by consumders. 

However, most robocalls are of a marketing nature, and these cause the most annoyance from consumers. From telemarketing to political campaigns, robocalls are used to reach out to thousands of consumers daily only to convert a tiny share of them.

The idea behind the 2025 TCPA update is to make marketing calls solicited. Businesses are no longer able to buy lead lists and go through them without having individual TCPA consent – and that’s more a good thing than a bad thing. But then again, you still need to adapt.

How Do Robocalls Generate Leads?

To put the FCC update in context, let’s briefly review how robocalls generate leads:

1. The marketer collects or purchases a database of phone numbers and pre-loads these numbers into an ATDS system
2. The ATDS automatically dials each number in the database, making calls simultaneously and pre-queuing them to speed up the contacting process
3. When a caller picks up the phone, the ATDS uses pre-recorded or text-to-speech to communicate with the caller and drive them to a conversion or connect to a live operator.

 

Even before the FCC update, ATDS systems have to honor an opt-out requirement, allowing users to unsubscribe from receiving calls. Now, in addition to that, individual prior express written consent is also required to make robotic calls and text legally.

The New FCC Consent Requirements Under the Microscope

Prior express written consent	Consumers must be able to choose every business individually before the business is allowed to contact them. Shared consent – authorizing hundreds of companies to call with a single click – is no longer a thing.
Consent clarity	When asking for consent, businesses must provide their name, logotype, and how they are going to contact the consumer: SMS, phone calls, email, etc. Consumers should understand who is going to call them and why.
No third-party consent	Businesses must possess the consumer’s consent record before robocalling them. If the consent is obtained by a third party, they must transfer its record to the business that makes a marketing call.

The Impact of the FCC One-to-One Consent on Call-Reliant Businesses

Unsolicited robotic calls are no longer a legal business model, so all market players must now put quality over quantity, trying to generate high-intent leads that are truly interested in receiving marketing calls.

Here are some more nuanced adjustments to make:

• Refine your consent-gathering processes
• Make sure you store detailed consent records for every consumer
• Focus on retention strategies and maximizing the lifetime value of your customers

Without a doubt, the one-to-one consent update calls for new consent management strategies, and it’s likely that businesses that start early will come on top in 2025.

Explore Consent Branches, a Phonexa’s proprietary solution that turns lead generation forms FCC-compliant while connecting opted-in leads to a matching advertiser.

Phonexa’s Consent Branches to Generate Compliant Calls

The FCC update might be a challenge for unprepared marketers, but it also allows you to outmaneuver the competition by adopting FCC-compliant solutions like Consent Branches. Start generating FCC-compliant leads today, and you’ll get a head start in 2025.

Here’s how Consent Branches work:

Step 1. Lead Generators Send Non-PII Info to the System

First, a lead generator sends a non-PII ping to Phonexa, which means they provide some basic consumer information – for example, state-level location and income level – that should be enough for advertisers to identify whether they want to buy this lead and how much they are willing to pay for the lead. 

At this stage, however, the advertiser doesn’t get enough information to contact the lead, which, in fact, creates the market (otherwise, advertisers would contact leads outside the system).

Step 2. Phonexa Finds Matching Advertisers and Include them On a Lead Generation Form

After the bids are made, the system finds matching advertisers and puts them on a lead generation form displayed to a consumer. The form includes generic or custom consent language, with both options being FCC-compliant.

Step 3. The Brands That Received Consent Get the Full Consumer Info

After the consumer selects one or several brands to contact them, Phonexa sends the rest of the consumer details to these brands – for example, the consumer’s phone number or email – along with the record of the consumer’s consent (remember, keeping consent records is mandatory).

Custom vs. Generic Language on Lead Generation Forms

When the lead generation form is shown to the consumer, it can contain two types of consent language:

Custom Consent Language

Custom consent language is unique for every included brand. It makes sense when businesses use different marketing strategies: for example, company A asks for consent for email messages, whereas company B asks for phone calls. In this case, you obviously need custom language.

Here’s an example of custom consent language on a form:

Generic Consent Language

If all of the included brands use the same marketing strategies – for example, all of them want to obtain consent for marketing text messages, emails, and calls – you can use one generic consent language for all of them and even give the consumer an option to provide consent to all providers at once with a single click.

Here’s an example of generic consent language on a form:

Your Eight-in-One FCC-Compliant Performance Marketing Software Suite

What about having one uniform FCC-compliant performance marketing software suite that covers your business from top to bottom across different marketing avenues?

This is exactly what Phonexa offers: a comprehensive performance marketing ecosystem that tracks, distributes, and analyzes phone calls and web leads while helping you drive them to conversion. No hoop-jumping, no report-juggling – you get it all within a single dashboard.

Here are the eight proprietary solutions you get at a single price (online price calculator):

Ensure FCC-compliant lead generation for your business with Consent Branches – Phonexa’s proprietary one-to-one consent solution integrated into Phonexa’s Smart Tree technology.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the FCC update?

The FCC update is an update to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that closes a lead generation loophole by obliging businesses to receive one-to-one consent before contacting a consumer. The requirement covers phone calls and text messaging.

What is TCPA?

TCPA stands for Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the primary federal law governing marketing telephone calls. The TCPA is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Will businesses be able to make robocalls after the FCC update?

Yes, businesses can make robocalls after the FCC update if they’ve received prior express written consent from the consumer they’re calling.