Does the TCPA apply to B2B cold calls?

The TCPA has no blanket exemption for business-to-business calls. For TCPA B2B cold calling, the rules that matter most cover autodialers and artificial or prerecorded voices, and they apply to every mobile number, business or personal. The do-not-call and calling-hours rules protect residential subscribers, so they mostly miss office lines but can reach a prospect’s mobile.

Which TCPA rules reach a B2B cold call

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) works through the FCC’s rule at 47 CFR 64.1200. Each part of that rule names the lines it protects. That, not whether you sell to businesses, decides whether it applies to a call. As of October 2026:

Rule in 47 CFR 64.1200	Lines it protects	Office landline	Mobile used for work
Autodialer or artificial or prerecorded voice needs consent, (a)(1)(iii) and (a)(2)	Any number assigned to a cellular service	Not covered	Covered, whoever pays the bill
Artificial or prerecorded voice telemarketing needs written consent, (a)(3)	Residential lines	Not covered	Covered by the row above
Calling hours, 8:00 AM–9:00 PM at the called party’s location, (c)(1)	Residential telephone subscribers	Not covered	Covered when the mobile counts as residential
National do-not-call registry, (c)(2)	Residential subscribers who registered	Not covered	Covered when the mobile counts as residential
Company-specific do-not-call list, (d)	Residential subscribers	Not covered	Covered when the mobile counts as residential

The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule is a separate federal rule, and it exempts most calls to businesses (16 CFR 310.6(b)(7)), apart from calls to sell nondurable office or cleaning supplies. For how the registry works with business lists, see do B2B sales calls need a National Do Not Call Registry check.

Autodialers, prerecorded messages and AI voices

The consent rule for mobile numbers turns on two things: the equipment that dials and the voice the person hears.

• Autodialers. The FCC’s rule defines an automatic telephone dialing system as equipment with the capacity to store or produce numbers using a random or sequential number generator, and to dial them (64.1200(f)(2)). In Facebook v. Duguid, decided on 1 Apr 2021, the Supreme Court held that a device must have that capacity to qualify. Whether your dialer qualifies is a question for your counsel, and state telemarketing laws can add their own rules.
• Prerecorded and artificial voices. Any call to a mobile number that uses one needs the called party’s prior express consent. If the call is telemarketing, it needs prior express written consent (64.1200(a)(2)).
• AI voices. In its declaratory ruling released on 8 Feb 2024 (FCC 24-17), the FCC said the TCPA’s “artificial or prerecorded voice” covers current AI technologies that generate human voices. An AI agent that pitches on a cold call is an artificial-voice call. Reps make cold calls; AI agents call people who agreed to it. See AI voice agent consent rules.

Prior express written consent is defined in 64.1200(f)(9). It is a written agreement, signed by the person (electronic signatures count), that authorizes the seller to deliver telemarketing calls using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice, and that names the phone number. It must clearly disclose that signing is not a condition of buying anything. A person can revoke consent by any reasonable method, and you must honor it within 10 business days (64.1200(a)(10)).

Why business mobiles need care

The do-not-call and calling-hours rules protect “residential telephone subscribers”. When the FCC opened the national registry to wireless numbers in its 2003 order (FCC 03-153, paragraph 36), it said it would presume that wireless subscribers who ask to be on the list are residential subscribers. A subscriber who complains may have to prove it. The same order (paragraph 37) says the national do-not-call rules will not prohibit calls to businesses.

In practice, a direct-dial number in a B2B contact database is often someone’s personal mobile, and that phone may be on the registry. You rarely know who pays the bill or how the person uses the phone.

The cost of guessing wrong is set in the statute (47 U.S.C. 227):

• Consent rules: a person can sue for their actual loss or US$500 per violation, whichever is greater (227(b)(3)).
• Do-not-call rules: a person who received more than one call in 12 months from the same entity can sue for up to US$500 per violation (227(c)(5)). It is a defense to show reasonable practices and procedures, set up with due care, to prevent these calls.
• Willful or knowing violations: a court may increase the award to up to 3 times.

Where the one-to-one consent rule stands in October 2026

In 2023 the FCC rewrote the definition of prior express written consent. The change, widely called the one-to-one consent rule, would have limited each consent to a single seller. The FCC postponed its effective date, and the Eleventh Circuit vacated it. The court’s mandate issued on 30 Apr 2025.

The FCC’s order, effective 29 Aug 2025 (Federal Register), restores the earlier definition and confirms the revised rule never went into effect. As of October 2026, the definition in 64.1200(f)(9) described above is the one that applies. Consent still has to be written, signed, and given to the seller that calls, for the number it calls.

A calling policy for B2B teams

1. Label every number as an office line, a mobile or unknown. Treat unknown numbers as mobiles.
2. Dial mobiles live. No prerecorded messages or AI voices to a mobile without prior express written consent on file.
3. Scrub mobiles and unknown numbers against the national registry, using a copy no more than 31 days old, unless you hold the person’s signed permission (64.1200(c)(2)).
4. Call mobiles between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM in the person’s local time. See legal calling hours by country.
5. Keep a company-specific do-not-call list with a written policy and trained reps. Honor each request within 10 business days and keep it for 5 years (64.1200(d)).
6. Identify the caller on every call: the rep’s name, your company’s name, and a phone number or address where you can be reached (64.1200(d)(4)).
7. Ask your counsel about state laws for the states you call.

How DialSavvy handles this

DialSavvy checks every call before it rings against calling hours in the contact’s time zone and your do-not-call list, using rule packs by country. A rep’s Do not call outcome adds the number to your list. National do-not-call registry checks, per-state US rules and AI-voice consent checks are coming. DialSavvy Agents, our AI voice agents, are in early access. See DialSavvy compliance.

Start with step 1: label your next list by line type before anyone dials it.