DMA to End Telephone Preference Service Phase out for Consumer Registrations in Most States

July 6, 2006 – The Direct Marketing Association announced today that it will begin a timed phase out of its Telephone Preference Service (TPS) as it currently exists.

As of November 1, 2006, DMA will no longer accept new consumer registrations for the service. Because consumer names remain on the TPS for five years, DMA members will honor consumers’ requests not to be called by scrubbing their prospecting lists against the TPS file until December 31, 2011. Until that time, DMA will continue to remove disconnected numbers, update area code splits and changes on the TPS file, and eliminate the names of consumers who have been on TPS for five years.

“We began the Telephone Preference Service in 1985 as a way to help consumers who wanted to reduce the number of marketing calls they receive. But with the widespread use of the federal government’s National Do Not Call Registry, our efforts have become confusing and duplicative for consumers and are creating an additional and unnecessary expense for our members,” said Patricia Kachura, DMA’s Senior Vice President for Ethics and Consumer Affairs.

DMA will continue to maintain the TPS registry and accept new registrations for residents of Maine, Pennsylvania and Wyoming – states for which the TPS is, by law, the official state registry. The phase out of TPS will not affect other DMA customer preference services, such as the Deceased Do Not Contact List, the Mail Preference Service or the E-mail Preference Service.

DMA members and other organizations should change Web sites, documents and forms that are currently used to direct consumers to the Telephone Preference Service. They should also take care to retrain customer service representatives not to refer consumers to DMA for TPS registration. Consumers should be directed instead to the National Do Not Call Registry online at www.donotcall.gov or via phone at 1-888-382-1222.

DMA’s consumer Web site, www.dmaconsumers.org will provide information to assist consumers during the phase out period. Marketers will find complete information and instructions about the phase out at http://preference.the-dma.org/products/tpssubscription.shtml.

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