mCallz: Are Auto Dialers Legal? Calling Rules by Country, With Sources

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission writes the rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, published as 47 CFR 64.1200. Auto dialing is not banned, but consent requirements depend on the kind of call. A call to a mobile number made with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice needs the called person's prior express consent, and when that call is telemarketing it needs prior express written consent.

The FCC rule text defines an autodialer as equipment able to store or produce numbers using a random or sequential number generator and to dial them. Whether a particular app meets that definition is a legal question for a US lawyer, so the safer course for sales calls to mobiles is to hold written consent regardless.

Other rules apply to telemarketing whatever dialer you use. Calls to residential subscribers are allowed only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the called person's local time. Numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry are off limits without an exemption, and those registrations never lapse unless cancelled. Every telemarketer also keeps its own do-not-call list with a written policy and trained staff, and must honour a request within 10 business days. Callers have to give their own name, the business they call for and a contact number or address.

For dialing behaviour, the same section says not to hang up an unanswered telemarketing call before 15 seconds or four rings, and to keep abandoned calls at or below 3% of those answered by a live person over each 30-day campaign. A call counts as abandoned when no live agent is on the line within two seconds of the greeting.

Canada runs the National Do Not Call List, where people can register home, mobile, fax or VoIP numbers for free. Telemarketers have 31 days from a registration to stop calling that number. Calls from registered charities, political parties and candidates, survey firms and newspapers seeking subscriptions are exempt, as are calls to people with an existing business relationship: a purchase or contract in the last 18 months, or an enquiry in the last 6 months. Express consent, written or as recorded verbal agreement, also allows a call, and business-to-business calls fall outside the list entirely.

In Australia, ACMA operates the Do Not Call Register. A registered number may be called only with consent or if the list was washed against the register within the previous 30 days and the number was not on it. Express consent given without a set period lapses after three months. Telemarketing calls are limited to 9am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, with no calls on Sundays or national public holidays unless the person agreed. Caller ID must be switched on, the number shown must accept return calls for 30 days, and the call must end as soon as the person asks.

mCallz was designed for teams calling their own enquiries and customers, and a few design choices line up with the rules above. Its dialer places a single call, waits for the agent to finish talking, and only then moves on, so an answered call always reaches a human. It cannot play recorded messages, and it has no predictive mode that rings extra lines.

Some settings help you follow local rules, provided you set them. The ring limit decides how long an unanswered attempt rings; teams calling US numbers should keep it above the 15-second or four-ring floor. The pause between dialled numbers can be fixed by an admin. Team leads can create an opt-out status of their own and keep those leads out of the filter that feeds each session, while excluded numbers are skipped by backup and by every automation.

What mCallz does not do is just as important. It does not check numbers against any national do-not-call register, it does not register you as a telemarketer anywhere, and it cannot tell you whether your use counts as an autodialer under a given law. Those checks stay with the business. For the dialer's own settings, see the auto dialer app page.