Anthony Manna
BIS/220
Steven Goldstein
Advancements in Information Technologies
The business world has gone through large changes in recent years. There have been advancements in Information Technologies that allow companies to communicate through greater medians and further track everything happening to bring greater success to their work. These advancements allow the business world to track and retrieve data of different forms to allow them to work much more efficiently. Unfortunately, with all change there are negative affects to these companies’ clients and business partners. Because of the negative affect of some of these advancements, the government has placed legislation in place to combat the changes and protect the people the advancements affect.
Telemarketing firms have benefited from advancements like caller ID to capture consumer’s phone numbers to use for solicitation. With the further development of the Internet, there are unlimited directories of phone numbers that companies can use to access consumers contact information. “The platform enables individuals to connect, compute, communicate, collaborate, and compete everywhere and anywhere, anytime and all the time; to access limitless amounts of information, services, and entertainment; to exchange knowledge; and to produce and sell goods and services” (Rainer Jr, Cegielski, 2011, Chapter 1). The creation of automated dialers that can call consumers and send a recorded message is another advancement that greatly has increased telemarketers ability to reach consumers. Automated dialers can also be used to send out large numbers of phone calls and if a consumer answers, then a live person will pick up the call and attempt to solicit a product or service.
One of the first examples of legislation put in place to regulate telemarketers and help protect consumers was the, “Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 1991.” This act was established to both help consumers and also the companies that were attempting to market their products and services. “Its purpose is to strike a balance between protecting the rights of consumers and allowing businesses to use telemarketing effectively” (American Teleservices Association, 2012, Para 1). The Act created guidelines for telemarketers to follow like calling hour restrictions. It also required that telemarketers properly identify themselves when calling consumers. Companies were also required to keep and maintain a list of customers who do not want to receive any further calls. All employee’s involved in telemarketing are required to be trained in this process.
In 2003 there was an act passed by the government to reduce the number of unsolicited sales calls people receive. The government passed the, “Do Not Call Implementation Act, 2003,” to combat these calls. This law puts a stop to companies calling registered phone numbers. These companies are required to remove phone numbers from consumers that so not want to receive their calls. The law also made it mandatory that there is a way to opt out of