 | This month Sytel‘s tip is all about getting to grips with DMA compliance. |
Many readers will be aware of the gradual move by Direct Marketing Associations in all countries to release codes of conduct for predictive dialers.
We are sometimes asked by end-users and also other vendors whether these guidelines should be taken seriously, in the belief, sometimes, that the bad old days of unrestrained nuisance calls may be allowed to continue.
We don’t see any chance of that, but we do think it may take a little while before compliance with DMA rules becomes a way of life among responsible corporates and industry vendors.
When that happens, expect that companies outsourcing their lists will demand that the dialer(s) being used are DMA compliant.
It won’t be enough that the service bureaux who get the business agree to abide by DMA rules; out-sourcers will look for evidence that the dialer(s) being used are themselves compliant.
If you are a bureau about to invest big bucks in a new dialer, then it makes good sense to go for a dialer that either is, or is quickly going to be compliant. Think of it as future-proofing.
Vendor compliance is not currently required in the lead outbound country, the USA, but now that Sytel has committed to it, we expect that other vendors will want to follow our lead in due course.
For further information, see our Resources page, or get a copy of the guidelines direct from the US DMA.