QCS Compliance Consulting Pro Recommends the CECP Program

The PACE Customer Engagement Compliance Professional Program helped prepare me for my compliance consulting role.

By Rich Hamilton, Director of Implementation

At the end of September, I had the opportunity to participate in the first official Customer Engagement Compliance Professional (CECP) certification class created by the Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE). This certification is important to both me and Quality Contact Solutions. As a company, compliance consulting is an integral part of ensuring our outsourced telemarketing solutions are meeting and exceeding all telemarketing compliance requirements. It is vital as a company that we stay current. I believe this certification definitely accomplished that.

The Program

PACE created the program to help create leaders and specialists in the compliance community. The program is 100% focused on knowing the regulatory compliance rules and best practices surrounding customer engagement. This certification covered the Regulatory Environment, both past and present, the Role of a Compliance Officer and of course the laws and regulations pertaining to the different methods of customer engagement.   The course breaks down the majority of the compliance topics into 5 knowledge tenets:

1. Knowledge of Regulations
2. Policies and Procedures to Consider
3. Training
4. Monitoring and Enforcement Considerations
5. Record Keeping
   
   

Preparation

To get the most out of the course, I opted to take advantage of three study methods and one online resource offered by PACE.

1. CECP Webinar Training Series. The Series is a set of recorded presentations that dove into each compliance topic with a lot of detail. The presentations go fairly quickly and you have the ability to download the slide deck so that notes can be taken as you go through the presentation. Part of the Webinar Series was a Quiz after each section. This was a good way to ensure that the information being presented was understood.
   
   
2. CECP Workbook. When signing up for the course, a CECP Workbook was mailed to me. I read through and highlighted many parts of the book prior to the 2-Day live course.
   
   
3. 2-Day Live CECP Training Course. The 2-Day Live CECP Training Course was the best part. PACE had scheduled subject matter experts from leading telemarketing law firms for each topic to come speak to us and allow us to ask questions. There is a lot of material to cover so being able to have someone in person that knows the topic so well was great in order to clarify any confusion that came up from the Webinar Series or Workbook.
   
   
4. PACE USA DNC Regulatory Guide. Since 2003, The PACE Regulatory Guide has been an essential resource to the teleservices industry. The guide is updated in real time, providing state and federal rules that must be followed to use the telephone to communicate with customers.  One of the best features of the PACE USA DNC Regulatory Guide is the eAlerts sent by the authors every time the guide is updated.  This keeps you informed of important regulatory information governing the industry.
   
   

Topics

We were told that the exam would cover any part from the workbook. Because there was so much information to absorb and because I normally deal with just one aspect of the CECP coursework, Telemarketing Compliance, I spent a few nights rereading the material, taking practice exams, and learning from my peers. Here is a list of some of the topics that we learned about:

• • Telephone Laws
    • Types of Calls
    • Calls to Wireless Numbers (TCPA)
    • Established Business Relationship (EBR)
    • Federal and State Disclosures
    • Registration Requirements
      
  • (SMS) Text Messages
  • Fax Laws
  • Email
  • Social Media
  • Do Not Track
  • Dot Com Disclosures
  • Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA)
  • Canadian Laws
    
    

Test day!

The exam itself was made up primarily of multiple choice and true/false questions. At the end of the exam there were some questions related to a scenario that was presented. Since the exam covered so much information it was very difficult. I definitely walked away from the experience with an increase in knowledge and understanding of the different laws and regulations. And of course, I passed the exam and am now CECP certified!