Political robocalls and voice broadcasting

A political robocall is a phone call that plays a recorded message to a voter rather than connecting a live person, placed by a campaign, party, committee, or advocacy organization. Campaigns use them for turnout reminders, candidate and endorser messages, surveys, event invitations, and advocacy pushes that transfer the listener to a live office.

It depends on the number being called, who is calling, and the state. Federal rules treat prerecorded calls to wireless numbers differently from calls to residential landlines, and non-commercial political calls are treated differently from telemarketing. On top of that, states set their own rules, and several restrict political calls more tightly than federal law does. Every prerecorded message also has to identify who is responsible for it and provide a callback number. This is not legal advice: review your program with your own counsel before you dial.

Often, and the answer turns on the type of number. The consent rules for prerecorded calls to mobile phones are stricter than those for residential landlines, which is why we split landline from wireless on every list before a drop goes out. Prerecorded calls to a mobile number are treated the same way any call to that number would be. Keep your consent records, because the caller has to be able to show them, not the platform.

Federal rules set an outer window for calls of this kind, and a number of states set narrower ones, restrict weekends, or limit calls in the days immediately before an election. Per-state quiet hours and calling windows are applied automatically on every account and drops are scheduled per time zone, so a statewide universe is not dialed on the sender's clock.

Carriers and handset makers run analytics that score every call and label or block the ones they do not trust. The usual causes are an unregistered or unbranded caller ID, a number with a poor reputation from previous traffic, high volume from a new number, and complaint rates. We register and brand the caller ID, sign calls with STIR/SHAKEN, and monitor number reputation. We do not promise specific connect or answer rates, and no platform can guarantee how a carrier will treat a call.

A patch-through plays a short recording, offers to connect the listener to a live destination, and transfers the call when they accept. Advocacy campaigns use them to route supporters into a legislative office during a vote, and field programs use them to move interested voters to a phone bank. Transfers are counted and reported per destination.

Voice is the cheapest contact per voter of any channel we sell, and the rate moves with volume, call type, and how much of the work your team runs versus ours. Patch-through and tele-town halls price differently from a straight broadcast drop. Partners buy at wholesale and set their own client rate. Book a call and we will walk through the rate card against a race you are actually running.

Yes. Partners buy at wholesale, set their own client rate, and put their own logo on the dashboards, the reporting, and the invoice, with the caller ID registered to their client rather than to us. Each client gets a sub-account with roles, permissions, and spend caps. We do not contact your clients and we do not compete for them, and that commitment is in writing in the Partner Protection Guarantee.