What does the Telemarketing Sales Rule make you keep? Since 16 May 2024, 16 CFR 310.5 has required sellers and telemarketers to keep most of the listed records for 5 years, up from two, including a record of each telemarketing call (required from 15 October 2024) and a copy of each unique prerecorded message. When I read the FTC’s own compliance guide on 13 November 2026, its recordkeeping section still said “two years”.
My view: a policy built from that guide is three years short. The rule covers telemarketing, which 16 CFR 310.2(ii) defines as a plan, program or campaign to induce a purchase or a charitable contribution by telephone that “involves more than one interstate telephone call”. Most B2B calls are exempt (see below).
In my view, your call records are compliance records, not a lead source: 310.4(b)(2) limits a list kept to comply with 310.5 to compliance and preventing calls.
Key numbers
| Item | Number |
|---|---|
| Record retention under 16 CFR 310.5(a) (from the date the record is produced, unless the section says otherwise) | 5 years |
| Retention period before the 2024 amendments (still the figure in the FTC’s business guide) | Two years |
| Amendments effective (final rule published 16 April 2024) | 16 May 2024 |
| Call records under 310.5(a)(2) required from | 15 October 2024 |
| Fields listed for each call record (310.5(a)(2)(i) to (x)) | 10 |
| Kinds of records listed in 310.5(a) | 11 |
| Scripts, ads and each unique prerecorded message | 5 years after last use |
| Call delivery provider contracts | 5 years after the contract expires |
| Call time and duration format | To the closest second; time in UTC |
| Safe harbor for call record gaps (310.5(d)) (only if temporary and inadvertent, with documented procedures, training and monitoring) | Corrected within 30 days of discovery |
| Civil penalty in the FTC’s guide (registry section) (the amount 16 CFR 1.98(d) lists) | Up to $53,088 per violation |
Read on 13 November 2026 from 16 CFR 310.2, 310.3, 310.4, 310.5, 310.6 and 1.98 on eCFR, the FTC’s final rule at 89 FR 26760, and the FTC’s business guide to the rule.
What 16 CFR 310.5 makes you keep, and for how long
Section 310.5(a) lists 11 kinds of records. Unless the section says otherwise, each is kept “for a period of 5 years from the date the record is produced”. Two run longer, as the table shows.
| Record | Paragraph | Keep for |
|---|---|---|
| Substantially different ads, scripts and promotional material; each unique prerecorded message | 310.5(a)(1) | 5 years after last use |
| A record of each telemarketing call (10 listed fields) | 310.5(a)(2) | 5 years; required from 15 October 2024 |
| Prize recipients (prizes of $25.00 or more) and customers | 310.5(a)(3), (a)(4) | 5 years |
| Established business relationship claims and previous donors | 310.5(a)(5), (a)(6) | 5 years |
| Employees directly involved in telephone sales or solicitations | 310.5(a)(7) | 5 years |
| Consent, with a copy of the request as presented | 310.5(a)(8) | 5 years |
| Providers that delivered your outbound calls, with contracts | 310.5(a)(9) | 5 years after the contract expires |
| Requests not to be called on a seller’s or charity’s behalf | 310.5(a)(10) | 5 years |
| Which version of the national Do Not Call registry you used | 310.5(a)(11) | 5 years |
The call record lists 10 fields, including who placed or received it and for which seller, whether it went to a consumer or a business, whether it used a prerecorded message, the numbers, date, time, duration and script, the caller ID number and name with proof you may use them (see local presence dialing), and the disposition, including where a transferred call went. Time and duration must be kept “to the closest second”, and time in UTC. For a call an individual telemarketer makes by manually entering a single telephone number, the numbers, date, time, duration and disposition need not be kept. Under 310.5(c), failing to keep each record completely and accurately “is a violation of this part”. 310.5(d) shields you from liability for call record gaps only if you can demonstrate documented procedures, training and monitoring, and that the failure was “temporary, due to inadvertent error, and corrected within 30 days of discovery.” This is general information, not legal advice.
The FTC’s own guide still says two years
The FTC’s business guide, Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, says in its recordkeeping section: “The following records must be maintained for two years from the date that the record is produced”. None of its four edit notes, the latest dated September 2026, mentions the 2024 recordkeeping change. Its “Who Must Keep Records” section still splits records between seller and telemarketer when there is no written agreement, where the rule now says “both the telemarketer and the seller are responsible for complying with this section.” For registry violations, the guide cites civil penalties “of up to $53,088 for each violation”, the amount 16 CFR 1.98(d) lists. This is general information, not legal advice.
Where AI voice calls fit
The FTC’s final rule, published 16 April 2024, does not use the words “artificial intelligence”. Its explanation says the term “prerecorded message” includes calls made using “digital soundboard”, to cover “any digital or sound technologies that sellers or telemarketers use to convey a verbal message to a consumer in telemarketing.” It says some digital soundboard technologies can “mimic or clone the voice of a specific individual” and that calls using them “would be subject to this provision of the TSR to the extent that the mimic or cloning creates a prerecorded message that is used in telemarketing.” It also says the provider records under 310.5(a)(9) include providers used to “mimic or clone the voice of an individual to deliver live and prerecorded outbound telemarketing calls.” In the FTC documents I read, nothing addresses a voice agent that composes each sentence live.
My view: until the FTC says otherwise, treat an AI sales call to a consumer as a prerecorded message call. Get the express written agreement 310.4(b)(1)(v) requires, naming a specific seller (the FTC says by its legal entity name), and keep each call’s recording and transcript with the prompt and voice version, since live speech can vary from call to call. Recording is my suggestion, not a 310.5 field; check recording consent rules first. Keep the voice platform contract 5 years after it ends. This is general information, not legal advice.
Keep whatever log the dialer keeps by default, and pull numbers from your 310.5 call records into the next campaign’s dial list (illustrative).
310.4(b)(2) bars using any list established to comply with 310.5 for any purpose except compliance or preventing calls to those numbers.
My suggestion: every call record kept 5 years, in UTC to the second, used only for compliance, with recordings and transcripts where recording consent allows.
310.5(a) and (b): 5 years from the date the record is produced; time and duration to the closest second; time in UTC. Recordings are not a 310.5 field.
B2B calls: mostly exempt, but not from the misrepresentation bans
Section 310.6(b)(7) exempts “Telephone calls between a telemarketer and any business to induce the purchase of goods or services or a charitable contribution by the business”, but not from 310.3(a)(2) and (a)(4). Those bar misrepresenting material information, such as total costs, and “Making a false or misleading statement to induce any person to pay for goods or services or to induce a charitable contribution.” Those two reached B2B calls in the 2024 amendments. Calls to induce the retail sale of nondurable office or cleaning supplies stay under the rule, but 310.5 and the national registry provision, 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B), “shall not apply to sellers or telemarketers of nondurable office or cleaning supplies.” So, on my reading, a team whose calls all fall within 310.6(b)(7) has no TSR recordkeeping duty for those calls. Check with your lawyer, since 310.5(a)(2)(iv) contemplates call records for a “business consumer”. Outsourcing? See B2B telemarketing services cost. This is general information, not legal advice.
Four things to change this week
My suggestion: set every retention clock to at least 5 years
Check the retention setting on your dialer, your AI voice platform, your call recordings and your consent capture. Count 5 years from the record’s date, from last use for scripts and messages, and from contract expiry for call delivery providers. Still choosing a platform? See our best AI voice agents roundup and AI answering service for HVAC picks.
Log in UTC, to the second
310.5(b) wants time in Coordinated Universal Time, call time and duration to the closest second, domestic numbers in North American Numbering Plan format and international numbers in ITU-T E.164 format.
My suggestion: put recordkeeping in your telemarketer contract
Under 310.5(e), the seller and the telemarketer calling for it may allocate recordkeeping by written agreement. If the telemarketer takes it on, the seller must establish and implement practices and procedures to ensure compliance, including retaining access to the records. With no agreement, or an unclear one, both are responsible.
Keep the log out of marketing
310.4(b)(2) makes it a violation to sell, rent, lease, purchase or use a list established to comply with 310.5 for any purpose except compliance or preventing calls to the numbers on it. My suggestion: archive call records where your sales team cannot query them.
My team’s record: 500+ projects delivered across 30 countries. Our pages on AI calling built around TCPA consent and AI calling for home services describe what we build; retention beyond the rule’s 5 years, and whether your calls are covered, is for you and your lawyer.
The bottom line
Since 16 May 2024 the Telemarketing Sales Rule requires most records to be kept 5 years, not two. In my view, treat an AI sales call to a consumer as a prerecorded message call until the FTC says otherwise. This is general information, not legal advice.