It may soon be illegal for telemarketers to leave ringless voicemails, in which a pre-recorded audio message is placed directly into a cellphone’s inbox without the device ringing.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel this week proposed new robocall protections that would curb unwanted voicemail drops.
If adopted, the action would require callers to obtain a consumer’s consent before delivering a ringless voicemail. It essentially extends the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which already prohibits the use of automated systems to make non-emergency calls to your mobile phone without authorization.
“Ringless voicemail can be annoying, invasive, and can lead to fraud like other robocalls—so it should face the same consumer protection rules,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “No one wants to wade through voicemail spam, or miss important messages because their mailbox is full.”
Marketing firm All About the Message in 2017 filed a petition seeking to exempt ringless voicemails from robocall rules, claiming that since they don’t buzz your phone, they’re not actual calls. The petition was later withdrawn.
There’s no word on when the full commission plans to vote on Rosenworcel’s proposal; ringless voicemails are not currently listed on the FCC’s tentative agenda for its next meeting on Feb. 18. It’s hard to know whether the commission, which last year began tracking voice providers’ robocall reduction efforts, will unanimously vote to pass the motion
Since stepping into the top FCC role in 2021, Rosenworcel has fought hard against spammers and telemarketers; she is also a consistent advocate for restoring net-neutrality regulations passed in 2015, then scrapped by predecessor Ajit Pai in 2017.
