Voice Compliance

Compliance applicable to voice calls and voice messages

The CST specifies regulations for curbing SPAM calls - including Robocalls, which include automated calls to deliver a pre-recorded voice message. We will thus refer to robocalls here as voice messages.

Call Types

Voice message types, or call types, are categorised in the same manner as SMS Messages:

Call TypeDescription
Warning Callsare high-priority voice calls or messages that contain alerts to warn of an imminent or occurred event, sent to people in the danger zone, by government authorities
Awareness Callsinclude guidance or informative content sent to all users by government agencies, banks, universities, schools and more
Service Callsinclude service content sent to specific users for the purpose of providing or requesting information related to the delivery of that service. These are typically personalized to the user and could include OTP authentication, appointment confirmations, and more
Personal Callsare sent from a specific personal number to another personal number without involving any organisation or business system in between
Promotional (Marketing) Messagesare of a commercial nature, sent to advertise or promote goods, services or business opportunities, including the promotion or collection of donations even for charitable organizations

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IMPORTANT NOTICE

The CST specifies which industries may send which calls or messages types to recipients in KSA as follows:

  1. Government Agencies: May send Awareness, Service and Warning calls or messages.
  2. Private Agencies: May send Promotional, Awareness and Service calls or messages.
  3. Individuals: May send Personal calls or messages.
  4. Parties outside of KSA: May only send Service or Personal calls or messages.

 

Timing and Frequency

CST
Awareness and promotional voice calls or messages may only be sent between 9 am and 10 pm (KSA Time) - any day of the week.
No timing rules are specified for warning or service messages.
In the month of Ramadan, awareness and promotional voice calls or messages may only be sent between 12 pm and 1 am (KSA Time).
Coordination with any relevant regulators should be done before sending an awareness call or message

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HOW UNIFONIC HELPS

The Voice Campaigns application includes a feature which automatically stops a Voice Campaign at 9pm (KSA) and then allows it to resume at 9:30am (KSA).

This is only associated with marketing (promotional) traffic and is only available for our campaigns application, and KSA traffic for the time being.

While the TDRA doesn't specify any specific Please be aware if you are using APIs, or sending messages in the UAE, to remain within the time limits, in order to avoid being reported to the CST or TDRA.

 

Consent Management

CST
The caller or sender of a promotional voice call or voice message must:
Give the recipient of the call the choice to agree to receive promotional calls or not, at any time and through traditional and electronic channels.
Stop making promotional calls, or sending promotional voice messages, at the most within 24 hours after receiving the unsubscribe request.
Submit a notification to the recipient confirming the unsubscription or subscription to receiving promotional voice calls and voice messages.
Provide proof of consent, which does not include consent contained in privacy policies and contracts.

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HOW UNIFONIC HELPS

Unifonic Voice Campaigns allows you to include a call to action in a voice message. Opt-ins and opt-outs can thus be collected in a streamlined manner. For example, your voice message can include an option such as "Please press 1 to continue receiving similar messages."

 

Content

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IMPORTANT NOTICE

Please be aware that voice calls or voice message content should not break any local government laws. No religious, political or patriotic content is allowed, and any promotional messages related to Non-Muslim religious events, etc. should also be avoided.

CST
The caller or sender of the promotional voice call or message needs to clearly state at the beginning of the call:
The reason for the call
The Agency or organization represented
Provide the option to continue listening to the call or not

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HOW UNIFONIC HELPS

Pre-recorded audio files can be uploaded to our audio library for easy selection when creating a Voice Campaign.

Our text-to-speech feature, allows you to generate an audio file in multiple languages including, English, Arabic, Malayalam, Filipino, Tamil and Hindi.

Each audio file that is uploaded is approved by the Unifonic team to ensure compliance.