Do Not Call Registry – 139M numbers have spoken

Have you registered your home number with the US Federal Government’s “Do Not Call” Registry? A good many of you have, as the registry database contains over 139 million home and cell numbers listed. I’d say that 139M phone numbers registered is a clear indication of how people feel about cold calls!

Of course, being registered doesn’t stop all telemarketers from calling you at dinner time or early weekend mornings. Non-profits, government agencies and companies you’ve given your permission to contact you can still telemarket to you. That’s where caller-id comes in handy at my house – when the phone rings and the handset says it’s a private number, it’s not answered. People/companies I’ve given my number to identify themselves when they call.

Did you know that the do-not-call registration is only good for 5 years? So 5 years after you registered your home number on the site, telemarketers can start calling you again. You may want to revisit the do-not-call site soon to see when you should re-register your home number.

I find it ironic to have registered my own home number when I’m a salesperson who’s livelihood depends in part on my ability to successfully cold call. What does it say that even as my employers expect me to cold call into businesses, I don’t want others to cold call to me? I wonder if the government will consider a do-not-call-business registry? Then the only people who could call you at work are non-profits, the government and companies you’ve given your permission to contact you.