Have you been receiving countless Ringless Voicemail marketing calls? Do you know these are illegal? . Read this review for more details on the Ringless Voicemail class action.
What is The Ringless Voicemail Class Action
Ringless Voicemail (“RVM”) technology provides companies the ability to reach a massive amount of people with low cost by avoiding typical telephony charges. Consumers have been complaining that they are receiving prerecorded voice messages from retailers they’ve never done business with and in most cases, their phone never even rang. Critics argue that the practice is potentially more intrusive by filling up voicemail inboxes, particularly if RVM technology gains more widespread use.
Ringless voicemail systems send mass prerecorded messages to cellphone voicemail boxes. The technology is similar to the technology used to send text messages to cellphone users.
Different states have their own laws regarding ringless voicemail. When people google ringless voicemail law 2018, they usually find information relating to the Florida ringless voicemail law. On 1 July 2018, The Governor of Florida signed into law the Senate Bill 568, which sweeps ringless voicemail technology within the state’s law. This new law made it clear that unsolicited ringless voicemails were forbidden in the state of Florida. The Senate Bill 568 also amended the definition of “telephonic sales call” to include “voicemail transmissions”, which are defined as “technologies that deliver a voice message directly to a voicemail application, service, or device”.
Attorney General Maura Healey from Massachusetts, along with a number of others, are joining the fight against ringless voicemail. Companies have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an exemption to the robocall rules saying that their voice messages shouldn’t be considered calls. Healey and other Attorneys General said the exemption would give companies a free pass to spam phones.
What is the Lawsuit All about
In July 2018, a federal judge in Michigan was the first to declare in a published dispositive opinion that a ringless voicemail message (RVM) is a “call” regulated by the TCPA. In the telephone consumer protection act lawsuit Saunders v. Dyck O’Neal, U.S. District Judge Gordon J. Quist of the U.S. District Court, Western District, Michigan, noted Congress’ broad descriptor “any” in prohibiting “any call,” and noted that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Supreme Court have generally construed the TCPA broadly in ruling that new and emerging telephone technologies are governed by the TCPA, including voicemail messages, text messages and email-initiated text messages.
Hyundai Motor America is also facing a class action lawsuit that was filed in a California federal court in April 2020. It was filed by a man that claimed that he received at least two pre-recorded ringless voicemails from Hyundai on his cell phone even though he has his phone number listed on the National Do Not Call list
In June 2021, a governor’s election campaign in Illinois agreed to pay $1 million to resolve claims surrounding ringless voicemails and phone calls allegedly placed by Bruce Rauner’s campaign from 2014 to 2021.
Oasis Energy settled a ringless voicemail lawsuit for $7 million in 2020, this brought an end to claims that the energy company made ringless voicemails in violation of the TCPA.
How to know if you are in the settlement class
You may be included in the Settlement Class if a voicemail was left on your cell phone from a business or retailer you have never done business with or they were never authorized to call you, it is important that you do not delete the message.
The provisions of the Settlement
In June 2021, a governor’s election campaign in Illinois agreed to pay $1 million to resolve claims surrounding ringless voicemails and phone calls allegedly placed by Bruce Rauner’s campaign from 2014 to 2021.
Oasis Energy settled a ringless voicemail lawsuit for $7 million in 2020, this brought an end to claims that the energy company made ringless voicemails in violation of the TCPA.
Conclusion
If you run a call center or business that uses any ringless voicemail, you should closely check through your calling practices and technologies to know whether you are operating within or outside of the law.
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