Compliance and your responsibilities when calling with voice bots

You are. When your bots call people, you are the caller. VoiceOI provides tools and does not decide which people you may call, when, with what disclosure or from which number. Rules differ by country, state and industry, and they change, so ask your own counsel which rules apply to your calls.

The controls differ by how you place calls. With VICIdial®, VICIdial dials, decides who is called and when, and sends answered calls to the bots. With the built-in dialer, VoiceOI places the calls from your lead lists. With Twilio numbers, calls run on your own numbers and Twilio account. To find out which you have, see Which setup do I have? This page does not describe the other controls for calls on Twilio numbers. Ask the VoiceOI team which apply to your Twilio setup before you rely on them.

Only if you turn it on, and only on one path. An AI Voice Agent script has an optional disclosure line. When it is on, the line plays at the start of the AI conversation, before the greeting, on calls that run on the VoiceOI SIP bot servers, the path VICIdial® remote agents use. It is not played on calls placed by the built-in dialer or in the Simulator. Whether to disclose, and the exact words, are your decision. Ask the VoiceOI team which path your calls use.

1. 1

   Open the Safety tab

   You

   In the AI Voice Agent editor for the script, open the Safety tab. The AI disclosure switch reads Not disclosed until you turn it on, and Disclosed on every call when it is on. That label describes the setting, not what each caller heard. If the line cannot be generated or played, the call goes on to the greeting without it.

2. 2

   Write the wording

   You

   Enter the line in Disclosure wording. If that field is empty, nothing plays. It starts with sample wording that says the call is recorded and uses an AI conversational assistant. Edit it so every word is true for your calls. VoiceOI does not save recordings of calls on the VICIdial connection, so say the call is recorded only if your own VICIdial setup records it.

3. 3

   Check it on a real call

   You

   Before a campaign starts, call a phone you control on the path your campaign will use and listen to the opening. The Simulator cannot confirm it.

What the disclosure line does not do

• It is audio only. It does not ask for consent, record an answer or change what the bot does next.
• Pre-recorded bots have no built-in disclosure. To add one, record a disclosure line and play it from a Play Audio step at the start of the script.
• VoiceOI does not tell you whether a rule requires a disclosure or what it must say. The hint beside the switch is VoiceOI’s own note, not a legal conclusion. Read the FCC ruling itself (see Where the rules come from) and ask your counsel.

VoiceOI has two separate tools. Spoken phrases that you define in the DNC Keywords category end a call and log it as DNC. A DNC list page holds numbers for the built-in dialer to check. Ask the VoiceOI team to confirm it is active for your account before you rely on it. VoiceOI does not check national, state, litigator or reassigned-number lists, and a spoken opt-out is not added to any list.

Spoken do-not-call phrases

On the Immediate Hangups page (titled Automatic Call Rejection) you add rules. A rule in the DNC Keywords (Profanity/Abuse) category is a list of words or phrases. When what the bot hears from the caller contains one of them, the call ends and is logged with the DNC disposition. A rule left in the default Machines (Voicemail/Beeps) category logs AM instead. This works on VICIdial accounts and on built-in dialer accounts.

1. 1

   Open Immediate Hangups and add a rule

   You

   In the sidebar, open Immediate Hangups. Your existing rules are listed, each with a Status switch. Click Add Pattern, and in the Add New Rule window enter a Pattern Name.

2. 2

   Choose the category

   You

   Set Category to DNC Keywords (Profanity/Abuse). The label mentions profanity, but this is the category that logs DNC. Leave it on the default and a do-not-call rule logs AM.

3. 3

   Enter the phrases

   You

   In Keywords to Detect, type a phrase and press Enter, or paste a comma-separated list. Pattern Type has one choice, Phrase Detection (Text). Action on Match has one choice, Hang up immediately.

4. 4

   Save and test

   You

   Save the rule. Type one of the phrases in the Simulator, which ends the test and logs the match, then test on a real call to a phone you control. Export saves your rules as a JSON file, which is a way to keep a copy. Import asks whether to replace your existing rules or add to them. Replace deletes every rule you have now, so export a copy first and check the list after an import.

Limits of spoken phrases

• No phrases come by default. You write and maintain them.
• Matching works on the words that speech recognition writes down, which can mishear a word. It ignores capital letters and matches whole words, so a rule for “remove” does not match “removed”. Add the variants your callers use.
• A match on a phrase you set up ends the call, including on the caller’s first reply. An AI Voice Agent also has a Do not call outcome (disposition code DNC) on its Outcomes tab, which its model can choose from the conversation. That depends on how the model reads the call, and it is ignored on the caller’s first reply, so do not use it in place of phrases.
• A new or edited rule reaches your bots after a short delay, not instantly.
• If the phrase check itself cannot run, the call is not stopped.
• Pressing a key to opt out is not supported on bots connected to VICIdial.

What happens to the number afterward

The call ends and is logged with a DNC disposition. The number is not added to any list for you. On VICIdial, the DNC status is written back to the lead if your campaign has that status (VICIdial drops a status that is not on the campaign’s status list), and whether that stops VICIdial dialing the lead again depends on your VICIdial campaign and list settings. Add the number to your own list.

1. 1

   Find and export the calls

   You

   Open Call Logs (titled Interaction Logs), set the Status filter to DNC, and use Export to download a CSV file with the phone numbers. Only Admin and SubManager logins can open this page, and only an Admin login can export. Dialer Dispositions shows the count by code.

2. 2

   Add them to your own list

   You

   On VICIdial, add the numbers to the do-not-call lists you keep in VICIdial, which you manage there. They apply only if your campaign is set to use them, so check your campaign’s do-not-call setting in VICIdial, and check in VICIdial’s own documentation how numbers must be entered to match. On the built-in dialer, add them to the DNC list page, in the same digit format as your lead list.

The DNC list page (built-in dialer only)

On a built-in dialer account, Dialer > DNC (titled DNC (Do Not Call) List) holds numbers you add by pasting them or uploading a file. When the list is active for your account, the built-in dialer is designed to check it before it calls a lead and, on a match, to skip the lead and mark it dnc_skipped. Calls that VICIdial places never reach this list.

• The match is exact. The page keeps only the digits you enter and accepts entries of 10 digits or more. An entry of 5551234567 does not block a lead stored as 15551234567, so enter numbers in the same format as your lead list, and both formats if your lists use both. If your lead import maps a Country/Area Code column, each lead is stored as that code followed by the number. If you are unsure how your leads are stored, ask the VoiceOI team.
• Do not assume timing. A number you add or upload may not block at once, and removing a number may not take effect.
• The list holds only the numbers you put in it. It is not a registry.

You do. On the built-in dialer, VoiceOI does not set or enforce calling hours. On VICIdial, hours come from VICIdial.

The Primary Timezone under Settings > General decides how the dashboard counts days in reports. It is not a calling-hours setting. Ask your counsel which hours apply.

On the built-in dialer, once. After a lead is dialed, it is not queued again unless you recycle the list. Do not rely on the Max Attempts field on a mission as a retry rule. On VICIdial, VICIdial decides when a lead is dialed again, for example through its lead recycling and list settings.

To queue leads again on the built-in dialer, choose Recycle Leads on Dialer > Lead Lists. It puts processed leads on that list back in the queue, but it skips leads still marked as dialing, which unanswered, busy, carrier-failed, machine and transferred calls can leave.

Recordings and transcripts

Transcripts and the call timeline (Conversation History and Full Interaction Log) are text that speech recognition writes during the call, so they exist even where no audio recording is saved. They can contain mistakes and may not show everything the caller said. Some places may treat transcribing or monitoring a call like recording it, so ask your counsel whether your notices and consent must cover them.

Live Monitor

Live Monitor lets your organization’s Admin listen to a call in progress. It is listen-only: you hear both sides in one channel, about a second behind, and you cannot speak to the caller or change the call. The listening audio is relayed to your browser, and this feature does not save it. For how to use the page, see Monitoring and reports.

• Who (Live Monitor): only Admin logins of your organization. Other roles do not see the page, and each organization sees only its own calls.
• Which calls: listening works on bots connected to VICIdial as remote agents, once your bot servers carry the latest update. It does not work for calls from the built-in dialer.
• Logging: each listening session is logged: who listened, to which call and for how long. No dashboard screen shows you this log.
• Go Live in Call Logs: separate from Live Monitor. Admin and SubManager logins can press Go Live there to read the bot’s and the caller’s words turn by turn while calls run, with no audio and outside the listening log. See What do Go Live and Export do?
• VoiceOI staff: in Live Monitor, staff can listen only when logged in as your organization, and only super admin or DevOps staff can. That is logged separately.
• No notice: Live Monitor does not tell the caller that anyone is listening, plays no notice and has no consent setting.

When the bot ends a call it reached on a machine, it logs it as AM. On the built-in dialer, a machine that Asterisk ends before the bot speaks may not be logged. VoiceOI bots do not leave voicemail messages.

• The built-in dialer uses Asterisk’s machine detection, with timing settings you can tune on Dialer > AMD Tuning (titled AMD Engine Tuning), plus checks in the script.
• An AM Detect step in a script also ends the call, and a long first answer is treated as a machine. Rules in the Machines (Voicemail/Beeps) category on Immediate Hangups do the same for phrases you define.
• Detection is not perfect. A person can be cut off, and a machine can be treated as a person. Review calls logged as AM and tune against your own lists.
• If your VICIdial campaign uses VICIdial’s own machine detection, that is a VICIdial setting that VoiceOI does not control.

Whether and how you may leave a message on a machine is a rule you check with your counsel. VoiceOI has no voicemail drop.

The number a person sees comes from your carrier and dialplan, not from a VoiceOI setting. On VICIdial it comes from your VICIdial and carrier setup. For the built-in dialer, carriers are on Dialer > Carriers, covered in Integrations and carriers.

Use only numbers you own or are authorized to use. VoiceOI does not verify that you own a number, does not sign calls, and does not offer spoofing or number rotation.

Voice cloning is not a screen in your dashboard. The VoiceOI team enables it for an organization. A request to create a cloned voice must include the speaker’s name and your relationship to the speaker. VoiceOI stores what is provided. It does not check that the speaker exists, agreed, or is the person named, and it does not collect the speaker’s authorization for you.

Many places require a person’s permission before their voice is cloned or used, and the rules vary, so ask your counsel what you need. Get the speaker’s authorization and keep a copy. If a speaker withdraws authorization, tell the VoiceOI team and stop using that voice. The FCC’s February 2024 ruling covers calls to consumers that use AI-generated voices, including cloned ones (see Where the rules come from), but does not itself set rules for authorization from the person whose voice is cloned.

Logins and roles

Login passwords are hashed. You add team members under Settings > Teams. The table uses the role names the dashboard shows.

Retention and deletion

• There is no retention setting in your dashboard, and VoiceOI does not delete recordings on a schedule. Decide how long you need recordings, transcripts and logs, and ask for deletion when that time is up.
• Your dashboard login cannot delete call logs. VoiceOI staff handle deletion of call logs and account data on request. See How do I report a concern or ask for deletion?
• Deleting an organization does not by itself remove its call recordings. If you want recordings removed, name them in your request and ask the team to confirm they were removed.
• Recordings you make in your own VICIdial are outside VoiceOI. You delete those.
• This page does not describe where call audio, transcripts or lead data are processed or stored. Ask the VoiceOI team if you need that information.

This is a list of topics to work through with your own counsel. It is not legal advice and it may not cover everything your situation needs.

• Consent records. Decide what consent each kind of call needs, how you collect it and where you keep the proof. VoiceOI does not collect or check consent.
• Registry scrubbing. Scrub your lists against the registries that apply to you before you load them, and again on the schedule your counsel sets.
• Your own do-not-call list. Keep one master list. Add every opt-out to it, including numbers from calls logged as DNC, and load it where your dialer reads it.
• Calling hours. Work out with your counsel which hours apply where each person is. Set them in VICIdial (Local Call Time), or on the built-in dialer by when you start and pause missions.
• Disclosure. Decide with counsel whether your calls disclose an AI voice and what the line says. Hear it on a real call.
• Recording and monitoring notices. Decide whether you record or monitor, what notice you give and where you give it.
• Retention. Decide how long you keep recordings, transcripts and logs, and who asks for deletion.
• Caller ID. Use only numbers you are authorized to use, and keep a list.
• Complaints and opt-out requests. Decide who receives them and how fast you act. To find a call, search Call Logs by phone number and note the time with its time zone. On VICIdial accounts VoiceOI saves no recording, and a transcript can miss or mishear words, so it may not settle what a caller said. Keep any audio your own VICIdial records.
• Staff training and testing. Train the people who write scripts, set phrases, manage lists and listen to calls. Test your phrases in the Simulator and on a real call, and check that numbers on your list are not dialed.

• VoiceOI does not check national, state, litigator or reassigned-number lists, collect or check consent from the people you call, or set or enforce calling hours on the built-in dialer.
• VoiceOI does not add a spoken opt-out to any list. A keypad opt-out is not supported on bots connected to VICIdial.
• VoiceOI does not measure or limit abandoned calls. On a built-in dialer mission, do not rely on Max Drop Rate (%), Max Attempts, Dialing Mode (including Adaptive) or the DNC switch in the mission’s Compliance box as a compliance control. VoiceOI checks no national or state registry whether that DNC switch is on or off.
• VoiceOI does not play the AI disclosure line on calls placed by the built-in dialer or in the Simulator.
• VoiceOI does not verify caller ID ownership, does not sign calls, and does not offer spoofing or number rotation.
• VoiceOI does not save recordings of calls on the VICIdial connection, and does not leave voicemail messages.
• VoiceOI does not tell the caller that someone is listening through Live Monitor.
• VoiceOI does not decide whether a rule applies to your calls, and it gives no legal advice.
• Nothing on this page is a certification or attestation. Do not treat it as one.

Contact the VoiceOI team through Contact. Do not send passwords.

• A concern about a call or a bot: send the time of the call with its time zone, the phone number called, the campaign, what you heard or saw, and what the screen showed.
• A deletion request: send the organization name, which data you want removed (call logs, transcripts, recordings, account data) and who is asking.

For roles, the balance and other ways to reach the team, see Team, balance and support.

This page describes rules only in general terms, and they change. These are sources for US federal rules and guidance:

• 47 CFR 64.1200, the FCC rule that implements the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for calls to consumers, as published by the Cornell Legal Information Institute.
• Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Federal Trade Commission’s guidance for businesses.
• FCC 24-17, the FCC’s February 2024 declaratory ruling that current AI technologies that generate human voices are an “artificial or prerecorded voice” under the TCPA, so calls that use them need the called party’s prior express consent unless an emergency purpose or exemption applies. It also says that the rules requiring such messages to identify the business, individual or other entity responsible for initiating the call apply and, for advertisements and telemarketing, the opt-out rules. Ask your counsel how that applies to your calls.

Other countries and US states have their own rules. Ask your counsel which ones apply to the people you call. For the product pages on these controls, see TCPA controls and DNC controls.