TCPA Compliance Guide

Will this get me sued?
Here's the honest answer.

The FCC has confirmed that AI-generated voices fall under TCPA restrictions. We're not going to hide from that. This page explains exactly which use cases are legal, which require consent, and what we do — and what you must do — to stay on the right side of the law.

Bottom Line Up Front

B2B outbound calling is generally legal without prior consent. B2C consumer calling requires it.

If you're calling businesses (insurance agencies, real estate brokers, solar companies, etc.) during business hours, you are in the green zone under TCPA. If you're calling individual consumers on their cell phones for marketing purposes, you need prior express written consent first. Open Humana is built for B2B outbound — but we give you the tools to handle either scenario compliantly.

Use Cases & Legality

What's legal, what needs consent, what's off-limits

TCPA treats B2B and B2C calls differently. Know which zone your use case falls in before you launch a campaign.

Permitted
Generally Legal Without Prior Consent
  • B2B calls to businesses and their employees — calling a commercial entity, its employees, or their direct business line is not covered by TCPA's consumer consent requirements
  • Existing customer relationships — calling someone with whom you have an established business relationship (EBR) within the applicable window
  • Warm or opted-in leads — individuals who provided their number on a form, webinar, or inquiry where calling was a clear expectation
  • Informational and non-marketing calls — appointment reminders, transactional updates, and service notifications to consenting customers
Caution
Requires Prior Express Written Consent
  • B2C marketing calls to consumers on cell phones — any autodialed or prerecorded marketing call to a consumer mobile number requires prior express written consent
  • Voicemail drops to consumer lists — if your list includes consumer cell numbers that were not opted in for AI-generated voice contact, you need written consent first
  • Calling numbers on the National DNC Registry — even with consent, you must maintain and honor DNC registrations
  • Calling outside 8 AM – 9 PM in the recipient's local time — prohibited regardless of consent or list type
Prohibited
Do Not Do This
  • Calling numbers on your own internal DNC list — once someone opts out, all automated contact must stop permanently
  • Purchasing cold consumer lists and calling without consent — this is the #1 source of TCPA class action lawsuits. Don't do it.
  • Calling emergency lines, healthcare facilities, or government numbers — explicitly prohibited under TCPA
  • Misrepresenting caller ID or concealing your identity — required to transmit accurate caller ID on every call
Platform Safeguards

What Open Humana builds in to protect you

We can't make compliance decisions for you — but we've built the tooling so that doing it right is the easiest path.

DNC List Management

Upload and maintain your internal Do Not Call list. Any number on your DNC list is automatically excluded from every campaign — before dialing begins.

Time Zone Enforcement

Alex automatically detects the recipient's time zone and will not dial outside the 8 AM – 9 PM local window, regardless of when your campaign is running.

STIR/SHAKEN & Number Rotation

All outbound calls use STIR/SHAKEN attestation. Automatic number rotation prevents flagging and ensures your caller ID displays as a legitimate business line.

Instant Opt-Out Handling

When a contact says "stop calling" or requests removal, they are added to your DNC list immediately and excluded from all future campaigns automatically.

Full Call Audit Logs

Every call is logged with timestamp, number, outcome, AMD result, and duration. Your complete call history is always available to export for compliance documentation.

AMD — Machine-Only Voicemail

Answering Machine Detection (AMD) ensures voicemail drops only occur when an actual answering machine or voicemail is detected — never when a human picks up.

If Something Goes Wrong

You received a TCPA complaint. Here's what to do.

Complaints happen even to compliant operations. How you respond in the first 48 hours matters more than the complaint itself.

Open Humana's Response Protocol

We can't provide legal representation — but we can provide everything your attorney needs to defend you.

1
Contact us immediately at [email protected] with the complainant's phone number and the approximate date of the call. Do not wait.
2
Within 24 hours we will provide a full call log export showing every call made to that number from your account, including timestamps, AMD results, and campaign source.
3
Add the number to your DNC list immediately — this is required by law and also demonstrates good-faith compliance to any regulator or plaintiff's attorney.
4
Engage a telecommunications attorney. TCPA litigation moves fast. An attorney experienced in TCPA class actions can often resolve individual complaints quickly and cost-effectively if you have clean records — which you will.
By Industry

Specific guidance for high-scrutiny sectors

Insurance, real estate, and finance face extra regulatory attention. Here's how to set up your campaigns correctly in each.

Insurance

  • Call licensed agents and agency owners, not individual policyholders, unless you have written consent
  • B2B calls to insurance businesses are in the green zone
  • Use DNC scrubbing on every list — state insurance commissioners actively pursue TCPA complaints
  • Keep a 5-year consent record for any consumer calls

Real Estate

  • Calling real estate agents and brokers at their business lines is B2B and generally permitted
  • Calling homeowners (FSBO leads, expired listings) on cell phones requires documented consent
  • Use the Property DNC list where required by state law
  • Do not call numbers listed on the National DNC Registry without an EBR or consent

Finance & Solar

  • Calling business owners and commercial decision-makers is B2B — permitted without consent
  • Consumer financial marketing calls (debt, mortgages, loans) to cell phones require prior consent
  • The FCC's 2024 one-to-one consent rule applies — consent must be specific to your company, not generic lead form aggregators
  • Consult a telecom attorney before calling purchased consumer lead lists

Legal Disclaimer: This page provides general informational guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. TCPA compliance is your responsibility as the user of this platform. Open Humana is a technology provider — we cannot determine whether your specific use case or contact list meets legal requirements. Laws vary by state and change frequently. We strongly recommend consulting a qualified telecommunications attorney before launching any outbound calling campaign, particularly for consumer-facing use cases.

Questions about your specific setup?

Our team will review your use case and tell you exactly which tools to enable before you launch.

Email Compliance Team