What is prior express written consent?
Prior express written consent is the strongest form of consent under the TCPA: a signed written agreement, electronic signatures included, in which a person authorizes a specific seller to call or text their number with marketing using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice. It is required for telemarketing calls of that kind to mobile numbers and for prerecorded telemarketing calls to landlines.
The FCC's definition has a few parts that trip teams up. The agreement must name the seller, include the phone number to be called, and clearly disclose that the person is authorizing these calls and is not required to agree as a condition of buying anything. Consent can be revoked in any reasonable way, and the FCC now requires callers to honor a revocation within ten business days.
Because the FCC ruled in 2024 that AI-generated voices are artificial voices, marketing calls placed by AI voice agents fall under this rule. Keep the consent record (form text, timestamp, IP or source, and the number) linked to each lead so you can produce it if a call is challenged.