The Telemarketing & TCPA Compliance Glossary is an operational reference guide for outbound campaign managers, compliance officers, and sales operations teams. Use this directory to navigate statutory definitions, technical dialing standards, and regulatory frameworks under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
For campaign-level execution guidelines, review our TCPA compliance checklist for outbound campaigns (2026 update) or schedule an audit through our TCPA Compliance Consulting team.
- 10DLC Registration: The mandatory carrier framework requiring businesses sending application-to-person (A2P) SMS/MMS to register brand identity and campaign use cases with The Campaign Registry (TCR).
- 31-Day Scrub Cadence: The mandatory federal timeline requiring telemarketers to purge numbers from calling lists against the National Do Not Call Registry at least once every 31 days.
A
- Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS): Specialized dialing equipment legally defined by its capacity to store or produce telephone numbers using a random or sequential number generator.
E
- Established Business Relationship (EBR): A statutory exemption allowing live marketing outreach to previous customers (up to 18 months) or active inquirers (up to 90 days) regardless of National DNC registration.
I
- Internal DNC List: A mandatory, company-maintained suppression list of specific consumers who have directly requested that an organization cease contacting them.
L
- Litigator Suppression Scrub: An extra-statutory risk-mitigation data filter that identifies and suppresses known serial TCPA plaintiffs, class-action attorneys, and high-risk complainants prior to dialing.
O
- One-to-One Consent Ruling: The historical FCC regulatory rule targeting multi-partner lead generation. While vacated in federal court (IMC v. FCC), dedicated 1-to-1 consent remains the industry’s premier operational defense.
P
- Prior Express Written Consent (PEWC): A signed, written agreement with clear and conspicuous disclosures explicitly authorizing automated marketing calls or texts to a specific telephone number.
R
- Reassigned Numbers Database (RND): The official FCC database tracking disconnected and reassigned numbers to provide callers with safe harbor protection against calling new phone subscribers.
T
- Treble Damages: The court-authorized tripling of statutory TCPA damages from $500 up to $1,500 per unauthorized call or text upon finding a willful or knowing violation