What Is the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND)?

What is the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND)? If you use telephone outreach in your business, you need to know. The RND is a centralized resource established by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help businesses determine whether a telephone number has been permanently disconnected—and potentially reassigned—since the last time they obtained consent from its previous owner.

So, as you can tell, the RND is instrumental in keeping telephone database records up-to-date and compliant. It’s also a good way to protect your business reputation and use your resources wisely. 

Don’t waste time and resources. Don’t compromise your reputation. And don’t pay hefty Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) fines. Use the RND instead. Keep reading to learn more.

Why the RND Exists

As a business owner, you know that you need consumer consent to contact them, by phone or text message, for marketing purposes. Now, when a consumer gives consent but later changes numbers, and you call the owner it’s been reassigned to without their consent, then you could be in trouble. 

The FCC created the RND to tackle a growing compliance and privacy concern. When numbers are reassigned, businesses relying on prior consent may inadvertently contact the new subscriber—who never gave consent. This can lead to unwanted communications and expose organizations to legal liability under the TCPA. The RND enables businesses to avoid such unwanted calls and gain a safe harbor from TCPA penalties if they’ve followed proper protocol. In short, the RND exists to protect businesses like yours.

How It Works

First is data collection. Phone carriers report permanently disconnected U.S. geographic and toll-free numbers to the RND. In most cases, this happens monthly. 

Then, users (callers or caller agents) search, or query, the database for the information they need. Essentially, phone numbers are submitted along with the date consent was given.

The response will be “yes”, “no”, or “no data”. 

Yes means the number was permanently disconnected after the consent date. If reassigned, calling it risks liability. But you don’t want to spend time and resources reaching out to a disconnected number anyway, so there’s no need to retain the risky data.

No means the number has not been permanently disconnected since that date. It therefore qualifies for possible Safe Harbor status.

No Data means the RND lacks sufficient information. The number or consent date might predate the database or provider compliance. In this case, Safe Harbor does not apply.

What is the Reassigned Numbers Database Safe Harbor Protection?

The FCC built the RND so that businesses could avoid liability under the TCPA when they accidentally contact a reassigned number. This grace is extended to callers who take the appropriate steps in verifying phone data. 

If a caller queries the RND before making a call or sending a text, for instance, and the database returns a “no”, the caller is shielded from TCPA penalties—even if the number had actually been reassigned without showing up in the database yet. This protection is what’s called Safe Harbor.

Without Safe Harbor, a business could face penalties of $500 to $1,500 per call or text if they unknowingly contact the wrong person. The Safe Harbor rule reassures callers that if they’ve followed proper steps, they won’t be penalized for an honest error.

However, this protection only applies to the first call made after checking the database. So if the consumer doesn’t answer and you continue to use that number anyway, you could still be on the hook for a lawsuit. So, despite Safe Harbor, businesses must continuously monitor their contact lists.

What Is the Reassigned Numbers Database Benefit?

The RND offers practical benefits for businesses. First, it reduces compliance risk by helping avoid TCPA violations and costly litigation. It also improves contact accuracy. Scrubbing contact lists against the RND minimizes wasted effort on numbers no longer associated with original consent holders. 

RND contributes to cost savings and efficiency. Avoiding reassigned or disconnected numbers conserves resources. Remember that every RND query is cheaper than handling rejected calls or legal consequences. Finally, RND boosts consumer trust. Avoiding unwanted calls to consumers builds brand credibility and customer satisfaction.

How to Access the RND + Other Data Verification Tools

The database became operational for paid subscribers on November 1, 2021. Searchbug offers an API service that provides access to the FCC RND. You can estimate your cost by the number of records per month using this calculator. 

Kellie Bubeck, attorney specializing in telemarketing and data privacy law, recommends taking “a multi-layered approach to avoiding reassigned number claims.” Fortunately, there are a variety of tools designed to provide businesses with accurate, up-to-date, verified phone data.

Line Type Identification (LTI)/Carrier Lookup, for example, confirms if a number is mobile, landline, or VoIP. This is important because TCPA rules differ by line type like autodialer restrictions on wireless numbers.

Real-time phone validation APIs check whether a number is active and in service before placing a call or text. This service can also verify whether the number is reachable for SMS or if it’s a high-risk VoIP or disposable number.

The Do Not Call (DNC) registry check compares call lists against the National DNC Registry as well as state-specific registries. This ensures compliance with telemarketing rules beyond TCPA.

TCPA complainant databases identify numbers linked to known professional litigators or frequent TCPA plaintiffs. This helps businesses avoid “trap” numbers that invite lawsuits.

Ported Number Database, or Local Number Portability (LNP), checks if a number has been ported from landline to wireless (or vice versa). This is useful because a number’s status may have changed since consent was obtained which affects whether autodialed calls are permitted.

Businesses can and should maintain their own “do not call” or “opt-out” lists. Integrating these with dialing platforms prevents calling consumers who revoked consent.

Finally, some organizations validate multiple points of contact at once (phone, email, address) to ensure data accuracy across their CRM. This improves overall outreach effectiveness.

Conclusion

The RND offers a practical and essential tool for any organization that places outbound calls or texts. It ensures compliance with TCPA, safeguarding against unwanted contact and providing legal cover. As telecommunication regulations evolve, the RND is poised to become a standard practice for responsible outreach.

Most compliance-focused companies, though, layer multiple tools together. RND is for reassignment checks and Safe Harbor. DNC scrubbing is for regulatory compliance. Line type and real-time validation is for accuracy and SMS deliverability. Litigator databases are for lawsuit protection. And internal suppression lists are for honoring opt-outs.

Now that you know what is the reassigned numbers database, consider adding it to your tool box of data verification resources. Check out Searchbug’s RND and other phone number validation APIs today!