Ringless Voicemails May Become the New Robocalls

May 30, 2017

Federal regulators are working on various methods to block robocalls, both to landlines and to mobile phones, with varying degrees of success. As those technologies make their way into the marketplace, some companies now are looking for clearance from the FCC to deliver their messages directly to customers’ voicemails without ringing their phones.

The commission is considering a petition from a company called All About the Message to “declare that the delivery of a voice message directly to a voicemail box does not constitute a call that is subject to the prohibitions on the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (‘ATDS’) or an artificial or prerecorded voice”. If the FCC approves the petition, it would mean that companies such as AATM would have the legal ability to push commercial or political messages to phone subscribers...