Why Scrub Cell Phones?
When calling off a voter file, the FCC prohibits any automated dialing system from calling cell phones without permission from the person being called. A fine of up to $16,000 for each cell dialed makes not removing cell phones a very pricey mistake.
At Stones’ Phones, we go above and beyond to scrub cell phone numbers to ensure your lists are squeaky-clean.
Up To Our Standards
Data providers like Voter List Online, Catalist, TargetSmart, L2, and NGP-VAN deliver lists that have been run through a cell scrubbing process, such as Neustar or Telco. However we go the extra mile to make sure you’re not at risk.
Once we receive a voter list, we do an additional cell phone scrub. We utilize Marketing Solutions, Inc.’s “Wireless Block Identifier” and the “Ported Number” lists to ensure we remove all cell phones.
The Wireless Block Identifier list recognizes over 700,000 blocks of numbers that are or will be assigned to wireless carriers active within the United States and Canada.
Scrubbing for “ported numbers” means isolating phone numbers that have been transferred from a landline to a cell phone, or vice versa. We believe it’s safest to not call a number that has ever been used by a cell phone.
Stones’ Phones puts in the extra effort to ensure every voter file list you call on a dialer is free of cell phone numbers—keeping you compliant with federal law, and your wallet happy.
Can I Ever Call Cell Phones?
The FCC allows organizations, non-profits, and unions to call cell phone numbers that have been provided by their members or supporters, however we are always happy to remove cell phones if requested.
The FCC’s ruling bars campaigns from calling cell phones when using a dialer, unless they have explicit permission from the voter. The new rule makes it clear that the hardware that is used to make the calls cannot be able to complete predictive dialer calls without human intervention (how this helps the consumer, we just don’t know).
The ruling does allow campaigns to call cell phones if they are hand dialed. This hand dialing takes longer for our operators, and is therefore more expensive (generally three times more), but it is an option when you need to call cell numbers.
I Need To Call Cells, But It’s Too Expensive!
If you need to contact cell-only individuals but cost is a concern, you should consider manual texting. It’s about one-eighth the cost of doing hand-dialed live calls, and we can work with you to script your message within 160 characters.
