How do new DNC laws affect my CallFire campaigns?

August 25th, 2009

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What is changing on September 1st, 2009?

See detailed information on FTC website

Beginning September 1st, 2009 FTC enforcement policy regarding pre-recorded voice calls utilizing autodialers will change.  The FTC will begin its ban on pre-recorded telephone calls for solicitation purposes unless the solicitor has received a prior, written and signed agreement from the call recipient.  Some exceptions for pure information (non-solicitation) calls are permitted.

What does this mean for CallFire ?

ALL CALLFIRE USERS MUST ENSURE THAT FOR ANY TELEMARKETING CALLS THAT SOLICIT BUSINESS OR SERVICES OR NEW DONORS, THAT THE USERS HAVE PRIOR, EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT TO RECEIVE PRE-RECORDED VOICE CALLS FROM THE PROPOSED RECIPIENT.  Detailed information can be found on the FTC website.

a) No changes for Call Tracking (inbound) & Cloud Call Center (live voice) customers.

b) No change for Businesses who use CallFire to notify current, written opt-in for pre-recorded voice customers.

c) No change for Customers using Voice Broadcast for opt-in business notification (non-solicitation calls).

d) Customers using CallFire’s Voice Broadcast for solicitation/outbound lead gen MUST ENSURE data lists are Opt-In to receive pre-recorded voice from the particular company in the form of written consent, including the person’s phone number and signature.   The written consent must be specific to agreeing to receive pre-recorded voice calls from the particular company.  Written consent obtained in compliance with E–SIGN will satisfy the requirements of the law.  For example, agreements obtained via an email or website form, telephone keypress, or voice recording.  Any agreement obtained pursuant to E–SIGN must be sufficient to show that the consumer: (1) received clear and conspicuous disclosure of the consequences of providing the requested consent — i.e., that the consumer will receive future calls that deliver prerecorded messages—and (2) having received this information, agrees unambiguously to receive such calls at a telephone number the consumer designates.

What can I use as an alternative?

The Cloud Call Center with Power Dialer is the perfect alternative to using Voice Broadcast for your lead generation.  CallFire’s Power Dialer will connect your sales agents to live people, while sending pre-recorded messages only to answering machines that promptly disclose at the outset a toll-free number that a consumer can call to assert an opt-out request.  This is consistent with the FTC’s stated policies.

Remember to use the CallFire Do-Not-Call list

Companies are also required to keep their own Company-Specific do-not-call list.  This allows consumers to opt out of future calls made by the organization.  The CallFire system allows you to add numbers to the internal DNC list, and then scrub against them before running future campaigns.

Who is required to access the DNC Registry?

Any company engaged in telemarketing to the public is required to maintain its own SAN number to gain access to the DNC registry and to update the scrub list every thirty-one days  The few exceptions are non-profits, a pure market research survey company, political organizations, or companies with an existing business relationship or written agreement to call.  Exempt Organizations that still wish to access may access it for free.

More Information

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ALL INCLUSIVE OR PROVIDE LEGAL ADVICE.  YOU SHOULD CHECK WITH YOUR OWN ATTORNEY PRIOR TO ENGAGING IN TELEMARKETING UTILIZING PRE-RECORDED VOICE OR ENGAGING IN ANY TELEMARKETING CAMPAIGN.

Please visit: https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/

CallFire to attend IT Expo West Sept 1-3

August 25th, 2009

The CallFire team will be manning booth # 319 at IT Expo West next Tuesday Sept 1 – Thursday Sept 3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Come by, talk to us, learn about our products, and get to know the team.  We will also have give-aways, so come by and see what we have!

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8×8 Inks Trunking Deal With CallFire to Deliver Cloud Telephony Services to Small Businesses

August 6th, 2009

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 6, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 8×8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT), provider of Internet Protocol (IP) communications solutions for business and residential users, today announced it is providing voice trunking services to cloud telephony solution provider CallFire. CallFire began offering its hosted power-dialing services to small business, call center and enterprise customers over 8×8’s established VoIP network last week.

The agreement between the two companies links 8×8’s enterprise-class SIP trunking service together with CallFire’s cloud telephony platform, currently in use by over 14,000 businesses.

“CallFire and 8×8 are collaborating in order to stay at the forefront of innovation in cloud telephony services,” said CallFire CEO & Co-founder Dinesh Ravishanker. “8×8 has become a critical component of our relentless commitment to increasing voice quality for our customers. We are pleased to say that 8×8’s service quality has been exceptional. Our solutions are not only complementary, but together create a best-of-class service for SMBs and the enterprise.”

Initially a customer of CallFire, 8×8 noted that CallFire’s voice quality could benefit from 8×8’s superior VoIP network. By powering a substantial portion of CallFire’s underlying VoIP network, 8×8 was able to combine its enterprise quality VoIP with CallFire’s innovative Hosted Power Dialing platform, and now uses CallFire’s broadcast services exclusively in its call centers.

“We experienced the features and benefits of the CallFire solution firsthand in our own outbound call center and can attest to the simplicity, affordability and effectiveness of this valuable sales, marketing and customer service tool,” said 8×8 Chairman & CEO Bryan Martin. “8×8 is very pleased to bring a better business voice network to CallFire to provide reliable, high quality digital voice service for CallFire’s cloud telephony solutions. In addition to being a valuable partner, CallFire is also now a valuable customer.”

About 8×8, Inc.

8×8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT) offers voice, video and mobile communications solutions for business and residential customers. These solutions leverage existing broadband Internet connections and cellular networks to deliver advanced features and digital quality phone service at a fraction of the cost of legacy, copper wire alternatives. Businesses of any size, configuration or geographic location can benefit from the cost, performance and operational advantages of VoIP technology. All 8×8 communications solutions carry little or no upfront investment, no maintenance or upgrade fees and no change in user behavior. For additional information, visit www.8×8.com.

About CallFire:

CallFire is an industry leader in cloud telephony services that makes using VoIP simple. CallFire specializes in providing high-availability systems, beautiful user interfaces, furious developer support, and unparalleled customer care. Our products include hosted power dialing for agents, voice broadcast, toll free numbers, call tracking analytics and voice APIs. Our tools help developers, carriers & publishers build useful telephony applications. CallFire is located in Downtown Los Angeles and is comprised of a friendly group of intellectuals with aspirations to revolutionize how companies do business.

CONTACT: 8x8, Inc.
         Joan Citelli
         (408) 687-4320
         jcitelli@8x8.com

         CallFire.com
         Rebecca Siegel
         (213) 221-2218
         becky@callfire.com
[originally published by globenewswire.com]

Agent Session Statistics report details

August 4th, 2009
This is a guide for those weeding your way through the agent session statistics report.  The following descriptions will allow you to understand what the different columns mean on your output report.

callfire_agent_statistics

  • ID : A unique Agent ID code given at the time of an individual Agent’s login

  • Campaign ID : A unique six-digit number assigned to the campaign

  • Phone Number: The agent’s phone number that they use when they log-in the CallFire system.

  • User ID : A name or email address of the Agent that logged in

  • Logged In : The time that the Agent logged into the campaign

  • Logged Out : The time that the agent logged out of the campaign

  • Calls : The number of calls that the Agent dialed

  • Duration : The total time in seconds that the Agent logged in

  • Calls (Sec) : The total time that the agent was on a connected call (in seconds)

  • Avg Call (Sec) : The average  duration of each call (in seconds)

  • Resp. Time : The total time that the Agent spent on response entry

  • % Response : The percentage of time that the Agent spent on response entry

  • % Talk : The percentage of time that the Agent was connected on a call