Pay per call glossary

24 terms you'll see in pay-per-call offers, insertion orders and TCPA compliance discussions.

'Spam Likely' label: A warning that carriers and phone apps show on calls from numbers their analytics flag as likely spam or scam.
Autodialer (ATDS): Under the TCPA, equipment that can store or produce phone numbers using a random or sequential number generator and dial them.
Branded caller ID: Showing a verified business name (and sometimes a logo and call reason) on the recipient's phone instead of just a number.
Call buffer (minimum call duration): The minimum number of seconds a call must last before the buyer pays for it, for example 90 or 120 seconds.
Call cap: A limit on how many calls a buyer will accept, per hour, day, week or month, or in total concurrent calls.
Duplicate call (dedupe window): A repeat call from the same caller ID within a set period, often 30 days, that the buyer won't pay for again.
Dynamic number insertion (DNI): A script that swaps the phone number on a web page so each visitor or traffic source sees a unique tracking number.
IVR (interactive voice response): An automated phone menu that asks callers questions (press 1, say yes) before routing them.
Jornaya LeadiD: A lead and consent-verification token from Jornaya that records the consumer's journey and consent disclosure on a lead form.
Live transfer: A call where an agent or IVR qualifies a consumer first and then connects them live to a buyer's agent, usually on the same call.
National Do Not Call Registry: The FTC-run list of consumers who don't want telemarketing calls. Sellers and telemarketers must scrub against it and pay for area-code access above the first five.
One-to-one consent: A 2023 FCC rule that would have required prior express written consent to be given to one seller at a time. The 11th Circuit vacated it in January 2025.
Pay per call: A performance-marketing model where an advertiser (buyer) pays a publisher only for inbound phone calls that meet agreed rules, such as a minimum call length.
Ping/post: A lead-selling protocol: a partial, anonymized lead is 'pinged' to buyers for bids, and the full lead is 'posted' only to the winner.
Prior express written consent (PEWC): The TCPA's consent standard for telemarketing calls made with an autodialer or a prerecorded or artificial voice: a signed written agreement that clearly authorizes the calls to a specific number.
Real-time bidding (RTB) for calls: An auction in which buyers bid on each call, using details like caller ID, state or IVR answers, before the call is routed to the winner.
Reassigned Numbers Database (RND): The FCC's database that tells callers whether a phone number has been permanently disconnected (and possibly reassigned) since a given date.
Revenue per call (RPC): Total payout earned divided by total calls delivered, including calls that didn't pass the buffer.
Ring tree: A routing setup that tries a series of buyers in priority or bid order until one accepts the call.
STIR/SHAKEN: The caller ID authentication framework that the FCC requires voice providers to use, so carriers can verify the number shown is really the caller's.
TCPA litigator scrub: Checking phone numbers against databases of people who frequently file TCPA lawsuits or demand letters, and suppressing those numbers before calling or texting.
TPMO (third-party marketing organization): CMS's term for organizations and individuals, including lead generators and call centers, that sell or market Medicare Advantage or Part D plans for compensation.
TrustedForm certificate: A third-party record from ActiveProspect that documents a web lead's consent event, including the page, the disclosure text shown and a session replay.
Warm transfer: A transfer in which the first agent stays on the line to introduce the caller to the receiving agent before dropping off.