What Do US Businesses Need to Know About the TCPA Before Making AI Calls?

Short answer: in 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count as "artificial" voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). That means the rules for artificial or prerecorded voice calls apply to AI voice agents: marketing calls need the called person's prior express written consent, telemarketing must respect the National Do Not Call Registry, and telephone solicitations may only be made between 8am and 9pm in the called person's local time. You are responsible for following these rules on every call you make.

This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on your facts; talk to a lawyer who handles TCPA matters before you run outbound AI calls.

Why the TCPA matters for AI calls

The TCPA is the main US federal law on telemarketing and automated calls, enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In February 2024 the FCC issued a declaratory ruling confirming that its restrictions on calls using an "artificial or prerecorded voice" cover calls made with AI-generated voices, including cloned voices. An AI voice agent that dials your customers is therefore inside the rules written for robocalls, even though it holds a real conversation.

The main rules, at a high level

1. Consent for marketing calls. A call that advertises or sells something, made with an artificial voice, needs the person's prior express written consent: a signed agreement, which can be electronic, that clearly authorizes you to make such calls to that number.
2. Consent for other calls to mobiles. Informational calls with an artificial voice, such as a reminder, generally still need the person's prior express consent when they go to a mobile number.
3. The National Do Not Call Registry. Telemarketing calls to numbers on the registry are restricted, with limited exceptions such as an established business relationship or the person's written permission. You are expected to check your lists against it.
4. Your own do-not-call list. When someone asks you to stop calling, you must record it and honor it.
5. Calling hours. Telephone solicitations may only be made between 8am and 9pm in the called person's local time.
6. Identify yourself. A call with an artificial voice must say at the start who is calling. Write that into your agent's greeting; the agent says what you write.

Several states have their own telemarketing laws, some with narrower calling hours or extra consent rules, and some states require every party's consent before a call is recorded. Check the states you call into.

What the product does for you

• Calling hours you set. You choose each campaign's calling hours, read on the called person's local time, and calls and callbacks wait for them. Set them inside 8am–9pm; you can also skip weekends and holidays. The platform imposes no window of its own.
• A do-not-contact list you keep. Anyone on it is never called again by any campaign.
• Smart retry that respects a no. Someone who declines a call is never re-dialed.
• Callbacks inside your hours. "Call me tomorrow afternoon" becomes a scheduled callback inside your calling hours.
• A record of every call. Each call has a transcript and an outcome. Recording is a per-agent switch, off by default.

What the product does not do

• It does not collect or check consent. Only upload people you have the right consent to call.
• It does not check the National Do Not Call Registry. Check your list against it before you upload it.
• It does not announce that the caller is an AI on its own. Say so in the greeting you write.

Inbound calls are different

The TCPA rules above are about calls you place. An AI receptionist answering calls that customers make to you is a different situation; see answering calls after hours.

What you need to start

Consent records for the people you plan to call, a list checked against the Do Not Call Registry, your own number imported from Twilio, Telnyx or Plivo, and advice from your counsel. The US page covers how the product works for American businesses, and voice campaigns covers outbound calling.