Organizations are required to comply with the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission's amended Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR Part 310, or the Federal Communications Commission's Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, 47 CFR Section 64.1200.

So what does this mean for your business? If you make sales calls to customers, it can mean plenty. And, it can directly affect your bottom line in a severe manner each and every time you mistakenly call the phone number of someone who has registered their number with the FTC.

There is good news though! Businesses can download the phone numbers from the National Do Not Call Registry and compare their own call lists against the numbers that have been registered. This process can do more than just help them avoid calling people who do not want to be solicited. Developing a structured, documented procedure to scrub call lists may help a business to fall under the Do Not Call Safe Harbor clause of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. As always, an attorney specializing in this area of law should be consulted for legal advice.