CallFire

Let me highlight a hidden feature of CallFire: Sound Files Conversion!

CallFire supports many sound files. You can upload MP3 and varying formats of WAV. The preferred format is still WAV at 16bit 8khz mono. But if you send us an MP3 or a different format of WAV, we’ll convert it automatically.

When you are at the sound page, simply upload your file and we’ll process it for you. We hope this is another valuable feature that makes your campaign faster!

Customers often call our support line asking:  “How do I prepare an Excel spreadsheet to be uploaded to CallFire?”.    Here’s an easy receipe to get rid of bad records that could cause upload problems:

1. Copy your phone numbers into Column-A, using Excel.   Example
2. Sort your list in Excel, by Column-A.   Example
3. Visually scan Column-A for bad numbers that have less than 10 digits, more than 10 digits, odd characters & so forth.  Delete the row entirely by right-clicking on the row number, and selecting ‘delete.’   (Many records with bad numbers are at the very top and bottom of the sorted list.  Ex: “1111111111″ or “9999999999″.)
4. Lastly, go to FILE > SAVE AS and Save a copy in *.CSV format.   Always rename your final CSV file to prevent mixups!

Good luck!  ~DR

Perhaps the most frequently asked question about traditional voice broadcast campaigns, i.e., excluding VoiceXML, is with regards to answering machine detection (AMD). AMD is somewhat fuzzy because detection is heavily reliant on the response on the other end of the line. This is mainly because once the copper ends it is tough to predict the nature of the conversation, whether it is a live person or a machine. Answering machine detection then becomes an exercise in predicting human behavior. For example, a typical person answers “Hello?” and waits for the other party to respond. On the other hand an answering machine usually has a run-on message “Hi this is Jane Doe, I’m not in, please leave your name , number and message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible“. Our detection algorithms take this and more into consideration when detecting answering machines and typically manage close to 90% accuracy (better than the 80% industry average) . Common reasons for 10% errors:

1. Call is answered by a live person, but person does not say “Hello”
2. Call is answered by a live person, but there’s either too much background noise or the receiver has bad noise canceling.
3. Call is answered by answering machine, but the message has long silences or is too short.
4. Number is a PBX with multiple levels of voice mail prompts.

Hopefully this answers most questions about answering machine detection. As always, please drop us a line if you have any questions.

CallFire staff is working this weekend with our emergency notification clients to get the word out about evaluations in New Orleans and its surrounding parishes. While CallFire provides services for many domains, it is times like these when we truly feel like we’re providing something of value to communities. All of us hope and pray that this hurricane has minimal damage in a community barely limping back to normalcy from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

Well, it’s not really a new feature as it’s been around for a couple of weeks now, but here’s the informal announcement:

CallFire is happy to announce CallFire Bonus dollars for our long standing customers. Select customers will see bonus dollars appear against specific amounts in their “Add Funds” page.

For example, in this picture, choosing the $300 level means you get 10% additional minutes free! One of the many ways we at CallFire would like to thank you for your patronage.

Our customers must have noticed for a while now the quick add feature.

Think of it as an early detection system for low funds so that your campaign keeps running for as long as you intend. Anytime, you are running low in funds, you will see low funds notification. Clicking on the “Add Funds” link will allow you to add the same amount you deposited last time to your CallFire account. Of course, you will be given options to change the amount, the credit card, as well as completely ignore this notification all together.

Another way we’re trying to make your CallFire experience a little bit simpler. As always, we’d love to hear from you!

In order to use CallFire legally, some customers (specifically, opt-in telemarketers) may need to obtain a SAN (Subscription Account Number) from the Federal Trade Commission. Here’s how.

TO REGISTER FOR A SUBSCRIPTION ACCOUNT NUMBER (SAN):

1. Click here:  https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/profile/create.aspx
2. Complete all information with RED asterisks *.
3. Click – Organization Function- must check TM/SP (TM/telemarketer) with Independent Access
4. Click on “Submit” box at bottom of page.
5. Click on “Create Profile” box at bottom of page.
6. Click on “Certify” box at bottom of page.
7. PRINT THIS PAGE OF I.D.’s AND PASSWORDS FOR YOUR RECORDS.
8. Click on “Subscribe and Pay” box (you only need to pay if you select more than 5 area codes to prospect in)
9. Enter your 5 free selected area codes in which you will be prospecting
10. PRINT THIS PAGE OF SAN AND AREA CODES!

For help selecting appropriate area codes to dial, please refer to: http://www.nanpa.com.
Happy dialing!  ~DR

Most CallFire.com users are not required to access the National Do Not Call Registry, and thus may access CallFire.com as an Exempt Organization, if one or more of the following is true:

1. Your organization is not subject to either the FTC’s or the FCC’s jurisdiction. For example, a non-profit charitable organization may be an Exempt Organization, assuming, of course, that it is truly a non-profit. Entities that have been granted tax exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code are not necessarily Exempt Organizations for purposes of the National Do Not Call Registry. See, e.g., FTC v. National Consumer Council, Inc., and FTC v. Debt Management Foundation Services, Inc. There, the FTC successfully challenged the status of a purported nonprofit organization whose role in fact was simply to generate leads for other firms which then charged consumers thousands of dollars in fees for their services.
2. Your organization does not engage in any “telemarketing” or “telephone solicitation” activities, as defined by the FTC and FCC, respectively. For example, survey calls and political polling calls are not covered by the definition of “telemarketing” or “telephone solicitations.” An organization that places ONLY these types of calls may be an Exempt Organization.
3. Your organization qualifies for one or more of the specific exemptions contained in the FTC’s and FCC’s rules, such as:
   a. you only call to solicit charitable contributions; or
   b. you only call consumers with whom you have an established business relationship; or
   c. you only call consumers from whom you have received written permission to call; or
   d. you only make business-to-business calls.

If you are a for-profit telemarketer, you are NOT an Exempt Organization.

Whether your organization is exempt is a decision that requires an understanding of the FTC’s and FCC’s requirements, as well as your specific business practices. Therefore, whether you should subscribe as an Exempt Organization is a decision you must make. In making this decision, you may wish to consult with an attorney.

You may wish to consider the following materials when deciding whether to subscribe to the National Do Not Call Registry as an Exempt Organization:

• The FTC Act at 15 U.S.C. §§ 41-58 and related case law.
• The Communications Act at 47 U.S.C. §§ 151-757 and related case law.
• The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) at 47 USC §227 and related case law.
• The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud Abuse Prevention Act at 15 U.S.C. §§ 6101-6108.
• The Do Not Call Implementation Act at P.L.108-10, 117 Stat. 557, and related case law.
• The Telemarketing Sales Rule at 16 C.F.R. § 310 and related Agency statements and case law.
• The FCC’s rules implementing the TCPA at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 and related Agency statements.

CallFire.com has released a new feature that allows you to limit the amount of simultaneous call transfers that your agents receive.  You asked for it, and now it’s here.  Once your agents are busy, CallFire will stop sending out new broadcasts until one or more of your agents are off the phone.

The request:
“My office has 5 agents and we’re sending our a broadcast to our business associates… but when a lot of people transfer at the same time, my agents get overloaded!   How can I make sure that my agents don’t get too many transfers at once?”

The solution:
Step 1: Create your campaign. After doing so, check the checkbox to the left of the Campaign that you’d like to modify. Select “Edit Campaign Settings” from the My Campaign’s page. Click Go!

Step 2: Move the slider until you have your agent count.
(This numeric represents the total number of simultaneous transfers allowed for that campaign.)

Enjoy, DR

This is a great addition to our Terms of Service.  I urge all CallFire.com users to read it.  Our legal team recently updated the CallFire Responsible Use policy and here’s what our faithful users need to know.  ~DR

RESPONSIBLE USE POLICY:

Customer agrees to familiarize him or herself with the legalities of any campaigns run through the CallFire system, by visiting the following websites:
a)  Federal Trade Commission, LINK: http://www.ftc.gov
b)  Federal Communications Commission, LINK: http://www.fcc.gov
c)  DoNotCall Registry Info, LINK: http://www.donotcall.gov
Customer agrees to familiarize themselves with any additional International, Federal, State, or local laws governing your dialing.
Customer agrees to place *ANY* individual requesting DNC status, on Customer’s accounts DNC list, immediately.
Customer agrees to provide legal contact information in any outbound campaign within the initial greeting message.
Customer agrees to provide own sound files for all outbound campaigns.
Customer agrees to provide all data and agrees to responsibly dial each campaign with courtesy to it’s recipients.
Customer agrees to schedule campaigns responsibly and with courtesy to it’s recipients.
Customer agrees not to send any calls to life-line services, such as hospitals, fire, police, 911, or utility related telephone numbers.
Customer agrees to not send any sales outbound broadcasts to recipients that have not consented to receiving such a broadcast.
Customer agrees to use all DNC / opt-out features made available to you via CallFire.
Customer agrees to consult with an attorney before dialing any data for which customer is unfamiliar, or if the legalities of dialing such data is unclear to Customer.