August 24, 2010 Chairman Julius Genachowski Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street SW Room 8-B201 Washington, D.C. 20554 DcaI' Chairman Genachowski: We are writing regarding the Commission's Further oticc of Proposed Rulcmaking in dockct number 02-278. We are pleased that the Commission is working to harmonizc the FCC and FTC rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) governing auto-dialed and prerecorded commercial telcmarketing salcs calls. Tcchnology has advanced far bcyond what any of us could have anticipatcd when the TCPA was passed in 1991. However, thc intent was c1carly not to restrict such advancements, but rather give consumers grcater control and more information about the telemarkcting calls they receive. TCPA established policies to rightfully prcvent intrusive computer-gcnerated calls for which the callcd party has no means of'·escape." in which the consumer receivcs one-way communication without the ability to spcak with a live operator or customer scrvice reprcsentative. Sincc that time, tclemarketing technology has advanccd tremendously and these advancemcnts have madc customer intcraction bettcr and more cfficient. Call Assistant LLC, based in our home state of Utah, is a leading developer of technology to allow human-to-human interaction on each call, while utilizing operator-supervised prerecorded call segments to maximize tht' effect of the call. Call Assistant LLC submitted reply commcnts to FCC in June 2010, requesting the Commission clarify the applicability ofTCPA as appropriate to opcrator-superviscd calls using prerecorded call scgments. We echo their request. The new technology deployed by CallAssistant and others cnables calling agents to interact with the recipient ofa call using his or her own voice or by substituting appropriatc audio recording ofa response. I\t all times, even during the playing ofany recordcd segment, the agent retains the power to interrupt the recorded message and respond directly and personally to the consumer. Live agents hear every word spoken by the call recipient, and detcrmine what is said and are ablc to respond; further, a single agent always stays with a call from beginning to cnd. AugUSl 24, 2010 Page 2 We support efforts made to give consumers belter information and options to participate or opt out of telemarketing calls. We look forward to the Commission's timely clarification on this issue. Sincerely, ~,<~>--.,- Senator Robert F. Bennett United States Senate ~, Representative Rob Bishop United States House ofRepresentatives resentative Jim Matheson ited States House of Representatives R.FB: nc Senator Orrin G. Hatch United States Senate -~~ Representative Jason Chaffetz United States House of Representatives