Sales call compliance checklist for human and AI callers

A sales call compliance checklist helps you ask the right questions before anyone, human or AI, dials a number. This one is general information, not legal advice. Rules on calling differ by country, state and type of call, and they change, so confirm the current requirements where your contacts live and take advice for your own situation.

The structure is the same whether a person or an AI voice agent makes the call. Where AI is involved, a few items matter more, and they are marked.

1. Who you are calling

• You know which countries and states your contacts are in.
• You know whether each call is to a consumer or a business, since rules often differ.
• You have checked what the local rules say about automated, prerecorded or artificial-voice calls.
• You have recorded where each contact came from (web form, event, purchased list, existing customer).

For specifics, see the blog guides on whether AI cold calling is legal, TCPA and AI voice calls and PECR and Ofcom rules for AI calls in the UK.

2. Consent and lawful basis

• For each contact, you can state why you are calling and the basis you rely on (consent, existing relationship, legitimate interest where it applies).
• Consent, where needed, is specific enough to cover phone contact and, if applicable, automated calls.
• You can show when and how consent was given.
• You do not rely on a purchased list without checking how the data was collected.
• Your campaign tool asks you to confirm consent before starting, and your team knows what that confirmation means.

3. Do-not-call and suppression

• The list has been checked against the relevant national registers where they apply.
• Your own internal suppression list is applied to every file.
• People who have asked to stop are never added back.
• Lists are re-checked before each campaign, since registers update.

More on this in do not call lists and dialer hygiene.

4. Calling hours

Check	Action
Permitted hours	Look up the legal window for each location
Time zones	Use the contact's local time, not yours
Weekends and holidays	Check whether extra limits apply
Margin	Stay well inside the window, not on its edges

• Hours are set in the campaign settings so they apply automatically.
• Retry times also fall within permitted hours.

5. Identification and disclosure

• The call states who is calling and on whose behalf.
• A way to reach the business is available if asked.
• Caller ID shows a number that can be called back.
• AI: the agent says it is an AI, or you have checked that disclosure is not required and decided how to handle the question "are you a robot?". See disclosing AI on calls.
• AI: the agent answers truthfully when asked if it is an automated system.

6. Recording and data protection

• You know whether the places you call require notice or consent to record.
• A recording notice is given where needed.
• Transcripts and recordings are stored securely with limited access.
• A retention period is set and deleted data is actually deleted.
• Your privacy notice explains how call data is used.
• Contacts can ask for access to or deletion of their data and you know how to respond.

See GDPR and call recording for the principles.

7. Opt-outs and complaints

• The agent or caller stops immediately on a request to stop.
• The contact is added to your suppression list the same day.
• You have a named person responsible for complaints.
• You log complaints and what you changed because of them.
• A way to pause every campaign quickly is understood by the team.

8. Content of the call

• No false or misleading claims about price, results or availability.
• The agent is told to say "I'll check" when it does not know, and not to invent facts.
• No pressure tactics, and a firm no ends the call.
• The agent does not give legal, medical or financial advice.
• Industry-specific rules (finance, insurance, health) have been reviewed.

9. Records you should keep

• Source and consent record per contact.
• Campaign settings and calling hours used.
• Prompt and knowledge base versions in use at the time.
• Transcripts and summaries for the retention period you chose.
• Opt-out and suppression logs.

A quick pre-flight table

Question	Yes / No / Check
Do I know the rules for every region on this list?
Can I show consent or lawful basis?
Has the list been scrubbed?
Are hours correct for each time zone?
Is AI disclosure handled?
Is recording handled?
Do opt-outs work immediately?

Any "No" or "Check" means stop and resolve it first. The outbound campaign checklist covers the practical setup in order.

Try it

Purple Voice campaigns include calling hours, retry rules and a consent confirmation step, and every call produces a transcript and summary for your records. You still need to check the rules for your own situation. The Free plan includes one agent and 100 minutes a month, with no card. Start at voice.purplerocket.co.