Do Not Call Registry – PSA
The creation of the National Do Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov) has certainly benefited the public at large. Personally, I am darn glad that it was conceived and more importantly, implemented effectively. The FTC should be commended for the success of the program, in particular their user friendly telephone and web-based registration process. Recently there has been attention given to the 5-year expiration of telephone numbers registered during the inception of the database.
If you’re not sure when your registration expires there are two courses of action you can take. Either re-register extending your registration to expire 5 years from now, or perform a simple online inquiry of your expiration date. To find out your expiration date is simple. Click here to get to the Do Not Call Registry Verification Page, enter your telephone number and an email address where you want the results sent. In less than a minute, in most cases, you’ll receive an email that tells you when the number was first registered and the expiration date.
If you’d rather just re-register, use the same link above but choose ‘register’ from the navigation buttons along the left side. Here you will need to enter your email address twice (to minimize misspelling), and respond to the email by clicking the validation link within 72 hours. A little more effort than the inquiry, but you’ll be set for 5 years.
A big question is whether cell phone numbers should be registered. The FTC states that telemarketers are prohibited from contacting cell numbers using automated systems, but that seems to imply that live calls are not strictly off limits. Since you can enter up to three numbers during a single online registration procedure, including you cell phone number makes good sense.