Also known as: Telephone Consumer Protection Act
The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) is a U.S. federal law that restricts telemarketing calls, the use of automatic telephone dialing systems, prerecorded and artificial-voice (robo) calls, and unsolicited text messages. It sets rules for when and how businesses may call or text consumers — including consent requirements for automated dialing and texting, honoring do-not-call requests, and time-of-day limits. It is enforced by the FCC and through private lawsuits, with statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per violation.
The TCPA primarily regulates the channel and method of contact, not the message. It restricts calls made with an autodialer or a prerecorded/artificial voice, requires prior express consent for many automated calls and texts to mobile numbers, mandates that callers honor do-not-call and opt-out requests, and limits telemarketing calls to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone. Text messages sent through automated systems are treated like calls under the law, which is why mass SMS campaigns carry real TCPA exposure.
The TCPA's heaviest restrictions target automated and prerecorded contact to mobile phones. Manually-dialed calls to a published business line are generally lower risk than autodialed calls or texts to cell phones, but the safest path for any cold-calling or cold-texting program is to scrub against the national and internal do-not-call lists, avoid prerecorded messages without consent, get express consent before automated texting, and keep records of consent and opt-outs. This is general information, not legal advice — TCPA case law shifts, so high-volume callers should confirm their setup with counsel.
Phone and SMS are powerful outbound channels, but the TCPA is one of the most-litigated consumer protection statutes in the country, and per-violation damages add up fast across a campaign. Knowing where the lines are lets a team use calling and texting aggressively without inviting a class action.
It can. The TCPA's autodialer, prerecorded-call, and texting rules are not limited to consumers, so calling or texting business mobile numbers with automated systems carries exposure. Manually-dialed calls to published business lines are lower risk, but do-not-call and opt-out rules still apply.
Cold texting is not automatically illegal, but sending texts through an automated system without prior express consent can violate the TCPA, and recipients must be able to opt out. The risk rises sharply with volume and automation, which is why consent and suppression records matter.
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