Requirements for Third Party Verification Calls

(1) Appropriate Verification Data. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 93, § 109(c)(2)(i), the TPV agent must confirm appropriate verification data. Appropriate verification data shall include: (a) the last four digits of the customer's social security number; (b) the customer's date of birth; (c) the customer's mother's maiden name; or (d) any other independently verifiable personal information. Customers who do not wish to provide any of the verification data in 207 CMR 13.03(1)(a) through (d) may authorize a carrier change through a LOA. (2) Authority to Authorize a Change in Carrier. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 93, § 109(c)(2)(ii), to authorize a change in carrier or service, the person to whom the TPV agent spoke must be 18 years of age or older unless the IXC or LEC that initiated the change can demonstrate to the Department that a minor is authorized. For a residence, the customer of record is presumed to have this authority if the customer meets the minimum age requirement. For a business, the person designated as the contact for local or long distance telecommunications company, or an officer or the owner of the business is presumed to have this authority. The TPV agent must ask whether the person spoken to is the customer of record. If the person responds in the negative, the TPV agent must then ask whether the person is authorized to change a primary IXC or LEC. If the person responds in the affirmative, the verification may continue. (3) Identification of the TPV Agent and Company. Unless the TPV call is automated, in addition to stating the purpose of the TPV call, the TPV agent must state his or her full name. (4) Written Confirmation of the Carrier Change. Unless a letter of agency is obtained from the customer, the billing entity must comply with requirements contained in 47 CFR § 64.2401(a) concerning notification of any change to a customer's primary IXC or LEC. (5) Failure to Maintain Audio Recordings. Unless the carrier that initiated the change obtained a letter of agency from the customer or received from the Department a waiver of the recording requirement, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 93, § 109(c)(5), the failure to maintain audio recordings shall be evidence that, if unrebutted, would establish that consent from the customer was not obtained. (6) Minimum Standards to Receive a Waiver of the Tape Recording Requirement. (a) In order to receive a waiver, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 93, § 109(c)(5), of the requirement that TPV calls be tape recorded, the Department requires a requesting carrier to demonstrate, at a minimum, that its verification system complies with the following: 1. captures in written or electronic form the information required to be tape recorded under M.G.L. c. 93, § 109(c)(2); 2. maintains, or causes to be maintained, the record described in 207 CMR 13.03(6)(a)1. for at least 12 months, making such record available at no cost and upon request to the Department, the Attorney General, or the customer; 3. prohibits the TPV company from using the information gathered in 207 CMR 13.03(6)(a)1. for any marketing purpose; 4. requires the TPV employee to read from a script, to be provided to the Department at the time it makes its waiver request, that elicits the information required in M.G.L. c. 93, § 109(c)(2) and prohibits the TPV employee from deviating from the script; 5. prohibits the TPV employee from modifying, or otherwise altering, the billing telephone number (BTN) and information regarding the service to be changed; 6. prohibits a verification from occurring if a discrepancy arises between the BTN or service information provided to the TPV employee by the carrier's agent or employee and that information given by the customer; and 7. monitors, and causes monitoring of, the TPV employees for quality assurance. (b) At the time of filing its request for a waiver, the carrier shall provide the Department with its slamming history in every jurisdiction in which it operates. This slamming history shall cover the 12-month period immediately preceding the date of its waiver request and shall contain sufficient information to enable the Department to determine the number of complaints of unauthorized changes attributed to that carrier by the state authority in each jurisdiction of operation. The Department shall consider the carrier's slamming history as a factor in deciding whether to grant the waiver request. 13.03: continued (c) The Department may rescind a carrier's waiver of the tape recording requirement at any time.