Can skip traced numbers go into an autodialer? Often, but the dialer isn’t the only rule.
Since 2021 many list dialers may fall outside the federal definition of an autodialer. Consent for recorded voices, Do Not Call, calling hours and state laws apply either way. Each rule below is cited to its text and dated.
01The short answer
The dialer matters less than how you call.
Short answer
Often, yes. Under federal law, after the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in Facebook v. Duguid, equipment is an autodialer only if it can use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce the numbers it calls. A dialer that only calls a list you upload may not be one, but that turns on what the equipment can do, so ask your lawyer.
Whatever the dialer: no prerecorded or artificial-voice telemarketing without prior express written consent, and the Do Not Call rules, calling hours and abandoned-call limits still apply. State laws can be stricter.
02What counts as an autodialer
A random or sequential number generator is the test.
The TCPA calls it an “automatic telephone dialing system”. Most of its autodialer rules hang on that definition.
The statute defines it as equipment with the capacity to store or produce numbers to be called “using a random or sequential number generator”, and to dial them (47 U.S.C. §227(a)(1)). The FCC’s rule uses the same definition (47 CFR 64.1200(f)(2)).
An autodialer must have “the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator” to store or produce the numbers to be called.
In that case, Facebook’s login alerts went to numbers linked to specific accounts. Its system neither stored nor produced numbers using such a generator, so the Court held “it is not an autodialer” (Duguid). A skip traced list is also a list of specific people’s numbers. But the definition is about what the equipment can do, not where the numbers came from, so whether your dialer qualifies is a question for your lawyer and your dialer vendor, not this guide.
Sources, checked Oct 14, 2026: 47 U.S.C. §227; 47 CFR 64.1200; Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021).
03What applies whatever the dialer
Consent, Do Not Call, hours and abandoned calls.
The Supreme Court’s ruling narrowed one definition. These rules don’t depend on it. They apply to telephone solicitations and telemarketing (47 CFR 64.1200(f)(13), (f)(15)); whether your calls fit is a question for your lawyer.
Recorded voices
Prerecorded telemarketing needs written consent
The TCPA restricts calls made with an artificial or prerecorded voice to cell phones (47 U.S.C. §227(b)(1)(A)(iii)) and to home lines (§227(b)(1)(B)). The Supreme Court said of that prohibition: “Our decision does not affect that prohibition.” (Duguid). For a telemarketing call, the FCC’s rule asks for the called party’s prior express written consent (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)), which it defines as “an agreement, in writing, bearing the signature of the person called” that names the number ((f)(9)). The FTC’s rule asks for an express written agreement before prerecorded sales calls too (16 CFR 310.4(b)(1)(v)).
Do Not Call
The registry and your own list
No telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber on the national registry (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(2)), and no telemarketing call to a residential subscriber without procedures for your own do-not-call list, starting with a written policy (64.1200(d)). The FTC’s rule bars calls to someone who asked the seller not to call, and to registered numbers unless the seller has the person’s written agreement or an established business relationship (16 CFR 310.4(b)(1)(iii)). None of it depends on the dialer.
Calling hours
8 a.m. to 9 p.m. federally, their time
No telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time where the person you’re calling is (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1)). The FTC’s rule sets the same hours for outbound telemarketing calls to a person’s residence (16 CFR 310.4(c)). A state can be stricter (see below).
Abandoned calls
Predictive dialers: three percent at most
The FCC’s rule bars abandoning more than three percent of telemarketing calls answered live by a person, measured over 30 days for a campaign. A call is abandoned if it isn’t connected to a live sales representative within two seconds of the person’s completed greeting (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(7)). The FTC’s rule treats abandoned calls as abusive (16 CFR 310.4(b)(1)(iv)); its safe harbor asks, among other things, for technology that keeps abandonment to three percent or less, ringing for at least 15 seconds or four rings, and a recorded message with the seller’s name and phone number (310.4(b)(4)).
The registry’s page for telemarketers is where you open an account to get the registry’s numbers (telemarketing.donotcall.gov). For more on hours, the registry and your own list, see Is skip tracing legal?
Sources, checked Oct 14, 2026: 47 U.S.C. §227; Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021); 47 CFR 64.1200; 16 CFR 310.4; telemarketing.donotcall.gov.
04Texts
Texts to cell phones count for Do Not Call and hours.
The FCC’s calling-hours and do-not-call rules ((c) and (d)) apply to “telemarketing calls or text messages to wireless telephone numbers”, to the extent the FCC’s 2003 order describes (47 CFR 64.1200(e)). In Duguid, the Supreme Court assumed, without deciding, that the TCPA’s autodialer rule extends to texts, since neither side disputed it (Duguid, footnote 2). This guide doesn’t cover the consent rules for texting.
Tracer sends no texts, and our done-for-you service calls the list; it doesn’t text it.
Sources, checked Oct 14, 2026: 47 CFR 64.1200; Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021).
05State laws
A state can be stricter than the federal rules.
The federal law doesn’t preempt state laws with more restrictive intrastate requirements on autodialers, prerecorded messages or telephone solicitations, or that prohibit them (47 U.S.C. §227(f)(1)). So a dialer that falls outside the federal definition can still be covered by a state’s own law.
Florida, for one, has its own Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (section 501.059, Florida Statutes). Its text didn’t open for us on Oct 14, 2026, so this guide doesn’t summarize it, or any other state’s law. Read the law of each state you call before you load a dialer. Our sister site, LeadsUp Call Center, keeps a cold calling laws by state table.
Sources, checked Oct 14, 2026: 47 U.S.C. §227; section 501.059, Florida Statutes.
06Checklist
Before you load a dialer, and where Tracer helps.
The main points above as a list (not every rule), and the parts of it a trace takes care of. The rest is yours.
Before you load a dialer
- Ask what your dialer can doWhether it can use a random or sequential number generator is the federal test. Ask your vendor and your lawyer.
- No recorded voice without written consentPrerecorded or artificial-voice telemarketing to cell phones and home lines needs prior express written consent.
- Check the National Do Not Call RegistryBefore telephone solicitations, whatever the dialer, and keep a record of when you checked.
- Keep your own do-not-call listWith a written policy, and honor every request not to be called within 10 business days at most.
- Call within the hours8 a.m. to 9 p.m. federally, the owner’s local time; a state can be stricter.
- Watch the abandon rateThree percent or less of answered telemarketing calls per campaign, over 30 days.
- Read the state’s lawBefore you load numbers from that state into any dialer.
- Keep recordsRegistry checks, opt-out requests and any signed consent.
- Talk to a lawyerAbout your calls, your dialer and the states you call.
Where Tracer helps
- Phone 1 is DNC-flaggedThe best number (Phone 1) is flagged against your do-not-call list and ours. It isn’t checked against the National Do Not Call Registry: you still check that.
- Phone 1’s line typeMobile or landline, so you know whether the best number is a cell phone before it goes into a dialer.
- Tracer sends no textsAnd if you’d rather not dial, our done-for-you service calls the list for you; it doesn’t text it.
Is skip tracing legal? · Done-for-you calling · Acceptable use policy
07Sources
Every source, with the day we read it.
| Source | What it is | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| 47 U.S.C. §227 | Telephone Consumer Protection Act | Read Oct 14, 2026 |
| Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021) | The Supreme Court on what counts as an autodialer (slip opinion, No. 19-511) | Read Oct 14, 2026 |
| 47 CFR 64.1200 | The FCC's rules implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act | Read Oct 14, 2026 |
| 16 CFR 310.4 | The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 CFR Part 310): its section on abusive telemarketing acts | Read Oct 14, 2026 |
| telemarketing.donotcall.gov | The FTC's National Do Not Call Registry page for telemarketers | Read Oct 14, 2026 |
| section 501.059, Florida Statutes | Florida Telephone Solicitation Act | Tried Oct 14, 2026: the site didn’t open, so it’s linked, not summarized |
Can skip traced numbers be entered into an autodialer?
This is not legal advice. Often they can, but the dialer is only part of the question. Since the Supreme Court's ruling in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021), equipment is an autodialer under federal law only if it has the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce the numbers it calls (47 U.S.C. §227(a)(1)). Whether your dialer qualifies depends on what the equipment can do, so ask your lawyer. Whatever the dialer, a prerecorded or artificial-voice telemarketing call to a cell phone or a home line needs the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)), and the Do Not Call, calling-hours and abandoned-call rules still apply.
Is a predictive or power dialer an autodialer?
Not because of its name. The test the Supreme Court applied is what the equipment can do: an autodialer must have the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers (Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395). A dialer that only calls a list you upload may fall outside that, but the answer turns on the equipment, so check with your lawyer and your dialer vendor. Either way, the FCC's rule bars abandoning more than three percent of answered telemarketing calls in a campaign, measured over 30 days (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(7)), and the FTC's rule treats abandoned calls as abusive, with a safe harbor that includes the same three percent (16 CFR 310.4(b)(1)(iv) and (b)(4)).
Can I use a recorded voice or a prerecorded message?
Not for telemarketing without consent. The TCPA restricts calls made with an artificial or prerecorded voice to cell phones and to home lines (47 U.S.C. §227(b)(1)(A)(iii) and (b)(1)(B)), and the Supreme Court said its autodialer ruling doesn't affect that. For telemarketing, the FCC's rule asks for the called party's prior express written consent (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2)-(3)): a written agreement signed by the person called that names the number (47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9)).
If my dialer isn't an autodialer, do I still have to check the Do Not Call Registry?
Yes, for telephone solicitations, whatever the dialer. The FCC's rule bars them to residential subscribers on the national registry (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(2)) and asks for your own do-not-call list and written policy before telemarketing calls to residential subscribers (47 CFR 64.1200(d)). The FTC's rule bars sales calls to registered numbers unless the seller has the person's written agreement or an established business relationship (16 CFR 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B)). Tracer flags Phone 1 against your do-not-call list and ours; it doesn't check the National registry, so that part is yours.
Are texts treated like calls?
For the FCC's do-not-call and calling-hours rules, yes: they reach telemarketing calls and texts to wireless numbers, to the extent the FCC's 2003 order describes (47 CFR 64.1200(e)). In Duguid, the Supreme Court assumed, without deciding, that the TCPA's autodialer rule extends to texts, since neither side disputed it. This guide doesn't cover the consent rules for texting. Tracer sends no texts.
Do state laws change the answer?
They can. The federal law doesn't preempt state laws with more restrictive intrastate requirements on autodialers, prerecorded messages or telephone solicitations, or that prohibit them (47 U.S.C. §227(f)(1)). Florida, for one, has its own Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (section 501.059, Florida Statutes). Its text didn't open for us on Oct 14, 2026, so this guide doesn't summarize it, or any other state's law. Read the law of each state you call before you load a dialer.
Section 501.059, Florida Statutes
Trace the list. Then dial it by the rules.
Tracer returns each owner’s best number (Phone 1) with its line type and a DNC flag against your list and ours. The National registry check, consent and the dialer stay with you.