Ringless Voicemail

Overview

Ringless Voicemail (RVM) is a feature that delivers a recorded message directly to voicemail systems without placing a call to the phone. This provides for mass delivery of messages direct to most cell phone carriers voicemail boxes. We have integrated with Stratics Networks to provide this feature.

Legal Update 2021

The Ringless Voicemail service is not currently available due to new federal legal regulations.

Legal Update 2020

Legality of ringless voicemails is not well defined. Courts appear to be deciding they should be considered "calls" and should fall under TCPA restrictions. Florida created its own law for ringless Voicemails in regards to sales calls but does not include political calls in its definitions.

Anyone using the Ringless Voicemail feature should make sure to understand the laws regarding its usage and use appropriately.


Setup

To use ringless voicemail, you must have a call project set up. For more info on how to get that started, see our Phone Bank Overview or view the Phone Bank Admin video.

  1. Starting from the new menu, select "Project Administration" under Phones. If coming from the old menu, select "Phone Banking" under Action lists.
  2. Next to the project that you would like to send ringless voicemails to, select "Call" and then "Send RVM" in the drop down menu. It will run until it has sent RVMs to all available voicemail boxes, and continue to attempt delivery to any new numbers that are added to the project until you stop the RVM from running for that project. To stop sending the ringless voicemails, you can select "Call" and then Stop RVM in the drop down.



Issues with Ringless Voicemail

  • Only phone numbers that have voicemail systems can be delivered the message.
  • Even with numbers that are capable of receiving the number, delivery is usually closer to 60% due to various technical issues such as the voicemail being full, not setup, or not available at the time of delivery attempt.  Delivery rates can be increased by resubmitting failed deliveries.
  • Sometimes the delivered audio will start mid-message for a split second before restarting at the beginning of the message. This is a technical issue we hope Stratics Networks can improve.
  • It is still possible to have a split second tap on the line (a blip or split second ring noise) with some carriers which will look like a quickly hung up phone call. This is a "line tap" and is NOT a call. There is never an active voice channel open and no one could ever answer this live since the blip is a product of signalling and NOT a phone call or robocall. There is never an active call being processed by a phone switch.
  • Since this blip oftem appears as a missed call, you will receive many returned calls to the Caller ID number being used on the Call Project. You should be available to answer returned calls on this number during this time.
  • Stratics Networks Ringless Voicemail Drops have been endorsed by over 20 telecommunication attorneys and compliance firms and have thoroughly vetted their product.

Stratics provided legal documents below (UPDATE 2020 - legal rulings show these arguments may not hold up in court regarding TCPA):

Top Telecom Attorneys Endorse Ringless Voicemail Drops

Ringless Voicemail Drops Compliance


Last updated by Doug Homan, created March 6, 2017