Is voice broadcast and cold calling legal?

Before attempting to start voice broadcast or cold calling campaign, make sure what you are doing is perfectly legal. Otherwise you may face a hefty fine or even go to jail. Some time ago an American company "The Broadcast Team" (TBT) was fined an unprecedented sum of 1 million dollars by the Federal Trade Commission. They were found guilty in violating Telemarketing Sales Rules. What they did was undertaking a voice broadcast campaign involving contacting more than 60 million people and playing pre-recorded messages to them.

Voice broadcast's golden rules.

• Even if you are sure that voice broadcast is permissible to use to convey your message, you still have to check the database of numbers against "Do Not Call" lists.
  
  
  There might be different "DNC" lists - Federal lists, State lists, Country lists and other custom lists depending on what country/county/state are you based in.
• Unless your customers are opted in to receive your voice broadcasts, you may not play a pre-recorded message to them. Calls answered by persons should be transferred to a live sales rep within just 2 seconds. However, you may play your pre-recorded voice message to answering machines.
• If you live/work in Great Britain, be sure you visit The Telephone Preference Serviceto discuss the way you can access the British "Do Not Call List". You must never contact listed customers with neither live cold call nor a pre-recorded voice broadcast. You can also get more information from the Ofcom website.
• If you live/work in USA, be sure you visit Federal Trade Commission and explore the site for rules and regulations.
• It is legal to make phone calls to individuals providing these phone calls are made by a live sales representative and the particular individual is not listed within any "Do Not Call" list.
• It is illegal to fax individuals (never ever attempt to fax individuals unless you have a permission to do so) and it is illegal to send spam via e-mail and sms. Doing so can involve fines or even prosecution.
• Non-profit, charity organizations and political campaigners are usually allowed to use pre-recorded voice broadcast messages but there are countries where even these activities are limited.

Therefore, the final advice is - check and double check. Verifying the status of telemarketing regulations with your local chambers of commerce or government bodies is so easy and this information is usually given away free. Always remember that if you run your voice broadcast campaign illegally you may be fined!