Calling Rules
What every call and text is checked against before it reaches somebody, and what RubyDoo Phone does about each rule for you. For reading, not changing.
A best-effort reading of federal and state law, checked
Sep 16, 2026. It has not been reviewed by a
lawyer and is not legal advice. Each entry lists its sources and how
confident the reading is.
What RubyDoo Phone handles for you
- Opt-outs by text, immediately. STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL or UNSUBSCRIBE — or saying it plainly, like “stop texting me” — stops texts to that number the moment it arrives, not within 10 business days, and sends the single confirmation the rules allow. START turns texts back on, and is confirmed too.
- Every AI call says who is calling. It opens by naming your business and saying it is an AI assistant on a recorded line, before anything your assistant wrote.
- Opt-outs on a call. Anyone rung by an AI call can say they do not want to be called again, and the agent adds them to your do-not-call list. No line places an AI call without that switched on.
- AI sales calls need written consent. An AI voice call that sells must say the person agreed in writing and where that is recorded. Somebody who only asked, or bought before, can be texted but not called by the AI. A sales call also tells them how to opt out, right after saying who is calling.
- Your do-not-call list. Every call and text is checked against it before it goes, and adding a number cancels anything already queued for it. Numbers are added from your account page, by your assistants, or by the voice agent when someone asks not to be called.
- Calling hours. Every call and text is held to the federal and state hours in the recipient's local time — see Calling hours.
Checked automatically. A sales call or text with no exemption below is scrubbed against the National Do Not Call Registry before it goes, using data no more than 31 days old, and a registered number is refused rather than dialled. Your account needs its own subscription account number and a current subscription for that area code — without either, the send is refused rather than allowed through unchecked.
National Do Not Call Registry
highAbout 258.5 million active registrations (FY2025 Data Book). Applies to telephone solicitations and telemarketing only.
| Who runs it | Federal Trade Commission (registry) and FCC (TCPA rules) |
|---|---|
| How it is obtained | Downloads only, through telemarketing.donotcall.gov: per area code, a full list or a change list since the last download, as flat text or XML. A SOAP download service automates the files; there is no per-number lookup API. An interactive search checks up to 10 numbers in one area code. |
| Cost | First 5 area codes free per subscription. Through 2026-09-30: $82 per area code per year ($41 if added in the second half of the subscription year), $22,626 for every area code. From 2026-10-01: $85 ($43), $23,425. |
| How fresh it must be | At least every 31 days — the safe harbor requires a version of the registry obtained no more than 31 days before the call. |
| After an inquiry | 3 months. An inquiry or application about the seller's products or services creates an established business relationship for the three months after it. |
| After a purchase | 18 months. A purchase or transaction creates an established business relationship for the eighteen months after it. Either relationship ends as soon as the person asks that seller not to call. |
| Written agreement | A signed written agreement (electronic signatures count) in which the person agrees to be contacted by THIS seller, including the number to be called. No federal expiry; ends when revoked. |
| Text messages | Covered |