Dialing in on how robocall regulations affect insurers
Mark McKinney, VP of market intelligence at Gryphon.ai, discusses the impact of recent robocall laws in the U.S.
If you’ve ever answered a phone call only to hear a recorded message — rather than another human being — on the other end of the line, you’ve experienced a robocall. According to the FCC, U.S. consumers receive around 4 billion robocalls each month, and advancements in technology have made sending these calls out en masse much easier for those who are looking to scam unsuspecting people.
The FCC has taken several actions to combat robocalls, including issuing cease-and-desists, requiring the implementation of caller ID authentication, creating a robocall mitigation database and issuing major fines to operations violating telecom laws.
While FCC regulations aim to decrease the number of scam and unwanted sales calls consumers receive, they can also affect how insurance professionals do business with their customers.
To discuss the effect FCC robocall regulations will have on insurance agents, we were joined on this week’s Insurance Speak podcast by Mark McKinney, vice president of market intelligence at Gryphon.ai.
“On February 8, the FCC passed a law making it illegal to place calls using AI-generated voices, which are common techniques in robocalling scams,” McKinney said. “So what we see here are bad actors that are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited calls to extort vulnerable family members, imitate celebrities, and misinform voters… In late January the FCC passed another law designed to close the lead generation loophole… What that means is it’s ensuring a one-to-one consent is obtained for each seller, which is a significant shift from previous practices.”
“The intent of both of these laws are to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls, robotexts and promote transparency and how consent is obtained in use,” he explained.
You can listen to our full discussion with McKinney above, or subscribe to Insurance Speak on Spotify, Apple Music or Libsyn.