Telemarketing Weekly Brief: June 17–23, 2025
This week in telemarketing, we saw some significant shifts that could impact how we all operate, from major legal developments to exciting new tech. There’s a lot to unpack, especially around compliance and how AI is continuing to weave itself into our daily work. So, let’s dive into the highlights and get you up to speed!
This Week’s Top Telemarketing Headlines
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FTC Bans Deceptive AI-Powered Business Scheme
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently took decisive action against Ascend Ecom and its owners, issuing an order that permanently bans them from marketing business opportunities. The FTC’s complaint alleged that this operation defrauded consumers of at least $25 million by falsely claiming their “cutting edge” AI-powered tools would help people quickly earn thousands in passive income from online storefronts. This case clearly signals the FTC’s heightened focus on how artificial intelligence is marketed and utilized in business ventures. It underscores that telemarketing companies, especially those promoting tech-driven solutions or business opportunities, will face increasing pressure to ensure their AI claims are fully substantiated and not misleading. This enforcement action reinforces the need for greater transparency and ethical use of AI across the industry.
Published: June 23, 2025
FTC Case Leads to Order Banning Ascend Ecom and Its Owners from Business Opportunity Marketing | Federal Trade Commission -
Payment Processor Settles FTC Charges Over Deceptive Tech-Support Schemes
In another notable regulatory development, UK-based payment processor Paddle.com has agreed to pay $5 million and will be permanently barred from processing payments for tech-support telemarketers. The FTC alleged that Paddle facilitated deceptive foreign tech-support schemes targeting U.S. consumers, including older adults, by misusing the U.S. credit card system and failing to clearly disclose automatically renewing subscriptions. This action highlights a growing trend where regulators are broadening their scope to hold all entities in the payment chain accountable for consumer protection, not just the direct telemarketers. For telemarketing businesses, this means that due diligence extends beyond your own practices to include the partners you choose, particularly payment gateways. Ensuring your payment processors are compliant and ethical is now a critical step in managing risk and maintaining consumer trust.
Published: June 20, 2025
Payment Proccessor to Pay Millions to Settle FTC Allegations of Unfair Payment-Processing Practices and Facilitation of Deceptive Tech-Support Schemes -
Supreme Court Ruling Impacts TCPA ‘Quiet Hour’ Litigation
A recent Supreme Court ruling in McKesson is set to significantly influence Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) “quiet hours” litigation, which has seen a substantial increase this year. The ruling effectively ends district court deference to FCC agency actions, potentially making courts more willing to challenge and even invalidate FCC-generated rules, such as the quiet hours provision that prohibits calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time. This development could be a game-changer for businesses frequently targeted by these specific types of lawsuits, offering a potential reduction in litigation risk in this area. It also suggests a shift in how regulatory interpretations are viewed, encouraging legal teams to re-evaluate defense strategies based on a deeper understanding of legislative intent rather than rigid adherence to every agency rule.
Published: June 23, 2025
WAVE OF LITIGATION ENDED?: Are the TCPA’s Quiet Hour Rules Dead After Friday’s Supreme Court Ruling? -
AI Continues to Reshape Enterprise Operations and CX
TechNet’s “AI in Action” report for June highlights the pervasive integration of Artificial Intelligence across various sectors, including how businesses are leveraging AI for content management and workflow automation. Particularly relevant to our field, AI-powered hyper-personalization is becoming widespread in customer experience, with tools using real-time data to anticipate customer needs and even inject empathy into interactions. This trend signifies AI’s increasing role in making operations more efficient and customer interactions more effective and human-like. It suggests that AI is evolving beyond basic automation to enhance the quality of customer engagement, empowering human agents to provide more relevant, timely, and emotionally intelligent responses, which can lead to higher customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Published: June 23, 2025
AI in Action | June 2025 – TechNet
Tools & Tips
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New Dialing Tech: Understanding Preview Dialers
If you’re looking to boost agent confidence and improve call quality, especially for those complex, high-value conversations, it’s worth getting familiar with preview dialers. Unlike predictive dialers that automatically dial multiple numbers in advance, a preview dialer shows your agents all the customer information before the call connects. This gives them crucial time to review details, prepare their approach, and then manually initiate the call when they’re ready. This approach leads to more personalized and effective interactions, as agents are better informed and more confident going into each conversation. This focus on quality over sheer call volume can be particularly beneficial for B2B sales, healthcare, or financial services, where understanding context is key. Furthermore, by allowing agents to review legal notes and scripts beforehand, preview dialers can also help ensure adherence to compliance regulations like TCPA, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS, linking agent preparation directly to reduced compliance risks.
What is Preview Dialer? Benefits, Use Case & How It Works -
Expanding Your Reach: Advertising on WhatsApp Status
Keep an eye on new channels for customer engagement! WhatsApp has recently added ads to its status screen, creating a fresh opportunity for businesses to connect with potential customers. This move could open up new avenues for telemarketing and digital outreach, allowing you to find new businesses and channels on a platform where many consumers are already highly engaged. This development highlights the blurring lines between traditional telemarketing and digital engagement, indicating that successful outreach in today’s landscape increasingly requires an omnichannel approach. As consumer privacy concerns and regulations like the TCPA’s one-to-one consent rules become stricter , businesses are incentivized to find new, more consent-driven ways to reach customers. WhatsApp ads could be a valuable channel for telemarketers to engage with a more receptive, opted-in audience, potentially reducing compliance risks and improving lead quality.
Artificial Intelligence and Digital Marketing News: June 17, 2025
Fun Fact
Did you know that the very first telemarketing firm, DialAmerica, began its operations way back in 1957? They started with just one inbound and one outbound calling station. Fast forward to today, and they’re still in business, operating with over 5,000 contact center agents across more than 20 U.S. call centers, making a staggering 200 million calls annually and logging an average of 100,000 hours of talk time each week. This remarkable longevity and scale demonstrate the enduring relevance and adaptability of telemarketing as a vital sales and communication channel. It’s a testament to how much the industry has grown and continuously adapted over the decades, proving that its core value proposition – direct human connection, increasingly augmented by technology – remains robust.
Crazy contact center facts you didn't know you needed in your life - VCC Live
We’d love to hear from you! Have you participated in any Telemarketing events or utilized new Telemarketing tools recently? Share your experiences or insights with us—we’re featuring selected community voices in next week’s edition.