If you use TrustedForm in some capacity, this blog post is to inform you about an upcoming data security enhancement and help you prepare for any changes needed to avoid any disruption to your business.

Why is this important?

Beginning July 5, 2023, new TrustedForm certificates will, by default, hide all form input data in session replays to protect against any possible unauthorized access of the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of consumers. Note: All TrustedForm Certificates created prior to this update will have no change. 

With this change, the full session replays (with form inputs) will only be viewable by users who have demonstrated that they already have access to the PII in the session replay. This enhancement ensures that consumer data cannot be accessed through the TrustedForm Certificate by any party who doesn’t already have access to the consumer data. This new data protection is achieved without compromising the current session replay functionality of TrustedForm.

Access to full TrustedForm Certificate session replays is provided in a number of ways:

1. Generate the Certificate using a verified domain. All Certificates created using your verified domains are visible to you by default. This is because you have proven that you have access to the website where the leads are being captured. However, any parties with whom you share a Certificate will still need to unlock the Certificate via one of the options below.
2. View the Certificate using the lead matching feature. Enter the email address or phone number submitted by the consumer for that Certificate to unlock it.
3. Use the TrustedForm API to programmatically unlock your Certificates by performing the lead matching process (referred to as lead fingerprinting) via the API call. If you are using TrustedForm within LeadConduit, LeadConduit does the lead matching process by default, so there is nothing you need to do.

In addition, if you sell leads in a ping post auction environment, the TrustedForm Ping URLs will no longer be needed after this change. This enhancement will allow lead providers who sell leads in ping-post auctions to safely pass the TrustedForm Certificate URL on the ping.

Why did we do this?

We are not aware of any unauthorized access to consumer data via TrustedForm Certificates. We did this as a precautionary measure and to simplify implementation by eliminating the need for ping URLs in ping post lead distribution. 

ActiveProspect is committed to protecting all the parties in the consent-based marketing ecosystem – the publishers generating the leads, the companies buying the leads, and most importantly, the consumers requesting to be contacted. This update benefits all of these groups involved in the lead acquisition process. Consumer’s data is protected against unauthorized access. Lead sellers can be confident that the leads they generate are not accessible by buyers until the leads have been purchased. Lead buyers are assured that exclusive leads remain as such.

Questions?

If you need help or have any questions, reach out to your Client Success Manager or contact the support team.

The post New data security enhancement limiting access to TrustedForm Certificate session replays appeared first on ActiveProspect.

Marketers who buy third-party leads need to be sure every person their company contacts actually requested information on a product or service. The leads you buy must have independent proof of consent to be contacted; this can help to protect you in the event of litigation. 

If you need a way to prove consent to be contacted so you can remain compliant with different rules and regulations, you can use ActiveProspect’s TrustedForm Consent product, which issues a TrustedForm Certificate. The certificate documents the user’s every interaction with the web form–every click, mouse movement, and typed information–and creates a Session Replay you can review anytime to see if and when a consumer agreed to be contacted. 

Because the ActiveProspect team is constantly innovating ways to make our products better, we now offer enhancements to Session Replay. If you are already using TrustedForm, it’s easier than ever to find the exact moments you need from the replay so you can save time and work more efficiently.

Let’s Review: How Does TrustedForm’s Session Replay Work?

Each TrustedForm Certificate includes detailed information about the lead generation event, including a time stamp, lead age, IP address, and more. The TrustedForm Consent product also includes a Session Replay, which is a recreation of the actions a user took while interacting with a web page using TrustedForm and allows you to see the event from the user’s point of view. All of this is stored in a TrustedForm Certificate, which can be accessed anytime to watch the Session Replay (no waiting for the replay to be created or having to wait for someone to send it to you). 

The Session Replay is a visual representation that can show you every keystroke the user made when they filled out information, like their name and phone number, and it can even show you mouse movements and mouse clicks, including when the user checked off the consent box and clicked the “submit” button. As a part of the TrustedForm Consent product, the certificate will have a section titled “Consent Language Detected,” which includes the text of any consent language scanned and discovered on the web page.

What’s New in TrustedForm Session Replay Enhancements

If you are looking for a particular moment in a lead generation event, the TrustedForm Session Replay enhancements now allow you to find the specific information the consumer typed into a form, the consent language they agreed to, or the moment they submitted the form instead of having to watch the entire session. 

Use these tips to find exactly what you are looking for during the replay:

1. Hover over events in the timeline to see what happened.
2. Click on events or anywhere on the timeline to jump ahead to that moment.
3. Use the “Previous” and “Next” buttons to navigate through interactions. 
4. Enable “SKIP INACTIVITY” to move past inactive periods.
5. After you have watched the replay, you can start from the beginning and rewatch it.
6. Jump to a specific moment in the session replay from the Event Log.
7. Search the Event Log for exactly what you would like to see.

You can now save time by accessing the information you need more easily. 

Note that these features are only available with the latest version of TrustedForm. If you think you may be using an older version of the product (also known as “TrustedForm Claim”), contact your account manager at sales@activeprospect.com to begin the upgrade process. 

Interested in learning more about TrustedForm? Contact us today to schedule a demo!

The post Better Than Ever: Introducing TrustedForm’s Session Replay Enhancements  appeared first on ActiveProspect.

From the continued rise of SMS to the global health crisis to the “Great Resignation,” there’s a lot of change happening in the contact industry right now – which means that doing the bare minimum and keeping the status quo isn’t going to cut it anymore. 

In a recent panel discussion about the state of the contact industry Aaron Evans, CEO at Drips, Matt Conlin, CEO at Fluent, and Puja Amin, Corporate Counsel at loanDepot, discussed what businesses should be doing to keep up with these changes if they don’t want to fall behind.

Here are our top three takeaways from that discussion:

1. Automate with purpose.

Everyone has been struggling to hire enough licensed agents to meet demand right now because of the massive national employee shortage. You may have heard it referred to as the “Great Resignation,” and with good reason: Over 50% of Americans in the workforce say that they will look for new employment within the next year. 

With that in mind, many businesses in the contact industry have been looking to automation and AI to bridge the gap. These are good tools when leveraged with purpose, but you don’t want to invest in AI and chatbots to the point where you have no human agents.

Consider your different demographics. For example, a well-trained AI could carry out a productive conversation with a Gen Z consumer over text. That same AI would be at a loss to field the chat requests from an older consumer who sends paragraphs of text at a time. 

Having a human on standby to take over is mandatory. 

How do you reconcile this need for live agents and the employee shortage? A strong employee retention and recruitment program is key. There is no shortage of available job openings, so how can you make your business stand out? What are you doing for your employees that they can’t get elsewhere? 

2. Prioritize quality over quantity. 

How can you make half as many calls or send half as many messages but get twice as many solid, convertible leads?

The answer is data optimization. 

When you understand more about your prospective consumer, you can zero in on the right ones before you ever send that SMS or make that call. That means less money spent on leads that won’t convert and less of your agents’ valuable time spent on calls that go nowhere.

And the benefits of data optimization extend beyond the lead filtering process, too. Use the insights from your lead data to script for different consumer cohorts. Your consumers aren’t all the same, so the conversations you’re having with them shouldn’t be, either. 

Finally, make sure you’re investing in the proper team and tools to make the most of your valuable lead data. Tools like LeadConduit can enhance, filter, and reject leads in real time to ensure you’re only contacting your best leads while a tool like Drips will help your agents say the right thing to those leads, every time. 

3. Get Ahead of New Legislation.

The world of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliance is constantly evolving, as evidenced by the recent Florida “Mini TCPA” legislation. It is more likely than not that we will continue to see state-level legislation like the Florida law passed in other states in the coming years. 

The companies that are going to do well in this changing landscape are doing three things: 

1. Staying informed of legal changes through either in-house counsel or a trusted partner. 
2. Vetting new and existing lead sellers to make sure they’re actually TCPA compliant.
3. Practicing consent-based marketing rather than just doing the bare minimum for compliance.

At the end of the day, your main focus should be serving happy, informed consumers. If you’re doing the above, you should be able to lead with the value your solutions provide rather than worry about jumping through compliance hoops. 

The contact industry is going to continue changing as technologies and legislation evolve. As marketers, it’s our job to stay ahead of the curve. Implementing the above techniques within your consent-based marketing strategy will give you the best chance at successfully navigating this ever-changing industry. 

The post The 2021 State of the Contact Industry: Data Optimization, Automation, and TCPA Legislation appeared first on ActiveProspect.

Getting smart about call flagging and call blocking

For any call center making outbound calls, there’s one thing we know for certain:  It’s getting harder to reach potential customers.

This growing challenge isn’t new to outbound call center managers. Agents are trying to reach leads dropped into a dialer. And it’s aggravating when these leads you paid good money for are not even reachable because your caller IDs have been flagged, or worse, blocked. No wonder contact rates are down!

So, what’s this 2021 “trend” about combatting call blocking and call flagging?

Simply put, sales and lead generations teams that want to stay competitive will be:

• Educating themselves about WHY outbound calls are flagged and blocked
• Avoiding dialing practices that will result in being flagged as a spam risk
• Getting smart about call center management strategies that improve contact rates
• Managing their caller ID reputation for outbound dialing

Why are your legitimate calls being flagged or blocked?

In response to the proliferation of spam calls and robocalls–something we’ve all experienced over the years–consumers and carriers took action to clamp down on the practice. We have legislation, including the TCPA and the TRACED Act, and a host of rules aimed at protecting the consumer (e.g., STIR/SHAKEN). Many call centers make great efforts to work with compliant data and to use dialing practices in compliance with laws.

Unfortunately, despite these efforts, even legitimate calls may not reach the respective caller.

Stuart Discount, CEO of SMD Contact Center Consulting and former CEO of PACE, described the dilemma: “Outbound dialing has decreased almost every year since Do-Not-Call (DNC) back in 2003, but it’s really getting bad now because legitimate outbound callers are being dwarfed by robo callers – their calls aren’t getting through. In some cases, they’re getting blocked by the carriers because they’re being labeled as spam when they are not spam.”

In our video chat with Jesse Daniels, VP of Sales at One Health Direct, he mentioned how devastating it is to have calls flagged as a spam risk, especially for a legitimate nationwide business dependent on reaching consumers. They make over a million outbound calls a day.

Understanding factors that contribute to call blocking or flagging

There are various factors in the telecom ecosystem that can cause your calls to be flagged as a spam risk or blocked.

• Telco Carriers are taking matters into their own hands and will flag calls, or in many cases, block calls from ever getting to the consumer. Their actions are based on algorithms they use to identify what they perceive to be a “bad” caller.
• Consumers can download 3rd party apps to block calls such as Robokiller, Nomorobo, Hiya: Spam Phone Call Blocker, Truecaller, YouMail Voicemail & Spam Block and more.
• Consumers can simply report specific numbers as spam or scam through their smartphones and block these numbers.
• New regulations and rules, such as STIR/SHAKEN, will present additional challenges for outbound call centers to connect with consumers.

How can you figure out if busy signal dispositions from data source are actually blocked calls?  Sales and lead gen call center expert Heather Griffin offers this free work around tip.

What can your call center do about blocked and flagged calls?

There is no single solution to avoiding flagged or blocked calls. But there are a few steps sales and lead gen teams can and should take to minimize the blow to contact rates. The trend for outbound call centers in 2021 is to employ the right strategies to reduce the risks that your calls will be blocked or tagged as spam.

Smarter Outreach Strategies 

Gone are the old school ways of hammering away at leads till you reach a good prospect. That tactic will result in your calls being blocked or labeled as spam.

To understand the smarter strategies used by next gen call centers, begin by assessing the quality of the leads you’re dialing.  

If you have low intent leads, be cautious how aggressively you set up your agents to call them. Instead, plan your campaigns to rest the numbers that don’t reach anyone by scheduling a cadence spaced over time. Sophisticated dialer software can support responsible dialing, with tools that automatically rest lists/leads based on the intent levels and prior dispositions, and employing a smart redial/recycle logic for optimal lead management.

For high intent leads, leverage an omnichannel approach that includes SMS texting and email, with strategic call cadences and features like smart voicemail drops to reach out to those consumers in the best way possible.

Dial smarter, not harder

Another critical management strategy for outbound call centers is to monitor list performance in real time. Data analytics show you insights about what’s really going on with your lists – are they making money or not? If your agents are dialing a list that’s getting a low contact rate, and you can find that out as it’s happening, you can change course and stop using that list for a period.

Powerful reporting tools are one your most important assets for managing productivity and driving profitability.

In the webinar The Next Generation Call Center, Nima Hakimi (Co-founder & CEO of Convoso) talked about analyzing the performance of your lists as part of your dialing strategy to handle call blocking.

“Calls are being blocked. If you don’t have a good sound strategy in place around your high intent versus low intent leads, your caller IDs are likely to get flagged. You’re going to get calls blocked without you even knowing about it. Which is why it’s really important to look at the performance of your list:  How many times are you calling it, what is the revenue like by rep, by hour, by list – really going to that micro level, to see when there’s a dip. And be able to make those decisions in real time. I believe that’s one of the biggest problems that call centers have is that they don’t have the ability to look at information at a granular level…For example, if you’re dialing through a list and there’s no revenue being generated at a specific hour, then turn that list off.”

Managing caller IDs based on call volume and geography

In 2021, outbound sales and lead gen teams need to proactively manage the reputation of their Caller ID numbers (DIDs). Call centers that dial a lead in excess will wind up with their caller ID labeled as spam.

Your dialer should have the capability to analyze call patterns and call volume, and then use that data to recommend how many caller ID numbers you should use, specifically indicating how many to use in each area code to minimize the chances of your caller ID being flagged as a scam.

Learn what outbound call centers need to know about TCPA Compliance Trends for 2021

Proactive steps to show your identity is legitimate

A strong caller ID reputation goes a long way to identify you as a legitimate caller in the eyes of the major carriers. Legitimate callers are more likely to avoid becoming victims to blocked or flagged calls. Consider these additional tactics to establish your legitimacy:

• Register your DIDs through the analytics companies that report data to the major carriers.
• Incorporate new tools like Verified Calls by Google which will show Android users the call is legitimate by displaying logo, brand name, and purpose of the call.
• Be ready for the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN, which means your dialer provider needs to be sure that calls are signed and receiving an A-level rating. Otherwise, your calls will run the risk of not getting through.

The post Guest Post: Trends to Combat Call Blocking & Flagging in 2021 appeared first on ActiveProspect.

We’re proud to announce that LeadConduit now offers real-time ping post bidding!

Ping post is a common process used to buy and sell leads in a variety of industries. In the ping post model, lead sellers send lead data to numerous lead buyers. The buyers then respond with a bid, and the seller sends the lead to the highest bidder. 

Real-time bidding lets LeadConduit users engage in auction-based lead purchasing directly within the LeadConduit platform. This method of lead buying helps you maximize ROI by getting the leads you want – at the price you want.

The post LeadConduit Now Offers Real-time Ping Post Bidding appeared first on ActiveProspect.

Attendees of the summit will experience a fast-paced, fun-filled experience that’s about building and strengthening a strong customer base. Top experts in lending, innovation, and customer-centric industries will inspire with unique technology (like ourselves) and trending research to give you jump on success in 2017. Some of the keynote speakers include the Senior VP and Chief Economist of Fannie Mae, and the CEO and Founder of a company built entirely upon the customer experience, called Zaarly.

Our friends at SoftVu put on an incredible event, which is why we’re sponsoring again this year. If you’re in the mortgage industry and have never attended, we highly recommend securing a seat at this year’s Summit.

Did we mention it’s in Kansas City? That means we’ll be in the area the first week of June, and, even if you’re not attending, we’d still love to connect – reach out to us to schedule time to meet.

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Whitepages Pro, an industry leader in identity and lead verification solutions, is pleased to announce their strategic integration partnership with ActiveProspect.   This partnership empowers users of ActiveProspect’s LeadConduit to leverage Whitepages Pro data in real-time, appending valuable data to incoming leads before passing them on to sales.   The Whitepages Pro data can be used to verify identity, physical address, phone numbers, phone spam and fraud activities.

“We are excited to partner with ActiveProspect, a leading innovator in online marketing and lead buying solutions.   With Whitepages Pro integrated into the LeadConduit platform, customers have simplified access to the most robust and comprehensive data solutions available for Phone Intelligence and Caller Identification.  It’s a win-win for both companies and ActiveProspect’s customers”, said Randy Bourgeois, Director of Marketing Services for Whitepages Pro.

The latest version of LeadConduit has drag and drop integration with a host of excellent data enhancement, verification and validation offerings.  These offerings allow marketers to choose best-of-breed data solutions and integrate them directly into their custom lead flows.  Using integrations from the marketplace, LeadConduit customers can create shorter forms for higher conversion and enhance leads with data from Whitepages Pro to ensure incoming leads have valid and accurate contact information.

“Whitepages Pro is a great addition to the ActiveProspect Marketplace. They offer 100% phone coverage, DNC and TCPA compliance data, fidelity into seven unique phone line types, and several proprietary elements that provide greater confidence in lead quality and customer insights.” said Colin Suttles, Director of Business Development for ActiveProspect.

About ActiveProspect, Inc.
Founded in 2004 and located in Austin, Texas, ActiveProspect is a marketing SaaS platform that instantly qualifies internet leads. The platform is designed to reside between web forms and lead conversion applications, such as CRM or ESP systems. We help internet marketers automate their unique processes for acquiring qualified sales leads or opt-in email subscribers. Additionally, our TrustedForm lead certification service provides superior transparency for legal compliance. Unlike standalone data enhancement services, ActiveProspect enables users to combine unlimited services in a single integration and create complex rules-based lead flows. ActiveProspect clients include innovators in B2C marketing, including ADT, Dell, and Meredith.

About Whitepages Pro
Whitepages Pro is a leading provider of global identity solutions focused on mobile phone numbers and contact information. We improve customer engagement and risk mitigation processes with the largest and most up-to-date data in the industry.  Providing the best insights and coverage to identify and validate customers who impact your business.  As part of the Whitepages family we leverage our 18 years of data buying knowledge, our proprietary consumer generated data from our Caller ID mobile app, and the 55+ million unique monthly visitors searching our website properties to deliver the most sophisticated, accurate, and highest quality approach to sourcing, aggregating, and providing real-time data for businesses.
 

Download the datasheet to learn more.

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Ellie Mae had a special guest which was their T-Rex monster with the TILA-RESPA play on words. Our booth was lucky enough to have repeated visits from the compliance focused beast. Speaking of TILA-RESPA, there were also a variety of sessions on compliance, with a particular focus on getting integrated disclosures ready for the August 1st deadline.

The keynotes were delivered by David Pogue, host of NOVA Science Now and of Yahoo Tech Columnist and the Honorable Thomas J Ridge, first Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security and former Pennsylvania Governor.

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Alex was a driving force at companies such as Return Path, Demand Media and Pluck prior to joining us at ActiveProspect. “Alex will play a huge part in pushing forward our strategic goals for the company. We are excited to have him join our team and make a great product suite even better for our customers,” Steve Rafferty, CEO. He also has great taste in hair styles.

He is highly involved in the Austin tech community where he was one of the initial ring leaders in Refresh Austin, establishing the group as one of the largest and most active professional communities in town. Refresh continues to grow eight years later under a new leadership team, with Alex serving as an advisor.

The post Introducing Alex Jones, our Director of Product Management appeared first on ActiveProspect.

We closed out the meetings with an afternoon of fun in the sun on a Lake Austin party cruise complete with a “Geeks who Drink” trivia contest on the upper deck. There were some definite trivia masters on board and we all learned a lot more about space and the songlist of American Idol want-to-be William Hung.

After the time on the lake we had dinner at The Hula Hut.

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