The Power of the Fax
In July 2005, another curious law went into effect. This one,
called the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 (JFPA) has several
surprises for business owners in terms of sending routine faxes
to their customers. This new law just doesn't impact the sending
of what we would think of as "junk" faxes. It addresses several
other areas that will impact how you do business via fax.
What is a Junk Fax? Understandably, we would think of a junk fax
as an unsolicited fax. However, under JFPA, unsolicited is
defined as "any material advertising the commercial availability
or quality of any property, goods or services which is
transmitted to any person without that person's prior express
invitation or permission, in writing or otherwise."
So, if you were sending out an announcement, via fax, regarding
a new product or service to your customers, it could be
considered a junk fax under JFPA.
Importance of an EBR But wait, the new law complicates things
even more. Your "established business relationship" (EBR) is now
extremely important in terms of marketing your business using
the fax.
You are still allowed to send unsolicited faxes to anyone with
whom you maintain an EBR. An EBR is defined as "a prior or
existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way
communication between a person or entity and a residential
subscriber with or without an exchange of consideration, on the
basis of an inquiry, application, purchase or transaction by the
residential subscriber regarding products or services offered by
such person or entity, which relationship has not been
previously terminated by either party."
Right to "Opt-Out" You also have to provide an "opt-out" option
on all faxes. Fax cover sheets are now to include "opt-out"
information, regardless if your business has an EBR or not, the
first page of every fax solicitation has to tell the receiver
how they can "opt-out" of receiving future faxes from your
company.
And, we aren't talking about a simple "opt-out" check box. JFPA
has kindly provided an extensive guideline for the "opt-out"
notice. An "opt-out" needs: