Voice Broadcasting for Campaigns

Political Robocalls Scripted to Be Heard and Sent by the Rules

A recorded call is still a direct way to reach voters who still keep a landline and pick it up. Vertical Web writes the script, records or coaches the voice, checks the FCC rules and schedules your calls alongside your texts and email. One in-house team handles it from first draft to final report.

Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253

Years of Experience

0 +

Businesses We've Helped

0 +

Websites Designed, SEO Optimized and Maintained

0 +

4.9

Google Rating, Certified Google Partner

First Place triple honors, Best of West Houston 2025. More than $1M in annual PPC managed. Every service delivered in-house, and our original 1998 client is still with us.

Where Calls Still Work

What are political robocalls still good for?

Robocalls are not the right tool for every message. They work well when the voter keeps a landline, the message is short and the timing matters. Used that way, they fill gaps that email and text leave open.

We plan calls as one part of a larger voter outreach program, not as a stand-alone blast. That keeps your spending tied to voters who can actually hear the call, and it fits the rest of our political consulting work for your race.

Landline Households

Some voters, often older ones, still keep a home phone and pick it up. A recorded call reaches them without needing an email address or a mobile number on file.

Fast Notices

When a polling location changes or a deadline is close, a short call can spread the word. The message states the change, the new details and where to confirm them.

A Trusted Local Voice

An endorsement recorded by a respected local figure, in their own voice, can carry weight a written note cannot. We script it with them and get their approval before any call goes out.

IVR Polls

Interactive voice response lets voters press a key to answer a question. Campaigns use short IVR polls to gauge interest, find supporters or learn who wants a yard sign.

Voicemail Drops

A voicemail drop leaves your recorded message for voters who do not pick up. We decide who receives drops with the same care as live calls, based on the type of phone and the consent you hold.

Reminder Calls

A brief call near the end of early voting or on Election Day morning reminds voters of the date. It also tells them how to find their polling place.

The Rules

Are political robocalls legal in Texas?

Yes, when they follow federal rules. The Federal Communications Commission sets the rules for prerecorded and artificial voice calls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. Here is the short version we plan every program around. Treat it as a starting point, not legal advice. Before launch, the final call on how it applies belongs to your treasurer or counsel.

Landlines: no prior consent, with a limit

Political robocalls using a prerecorded or artificial voice can go to landlines without the voter’s prior consent. The limit is no more than three calls in any consecutive 30-day period. We track every landline number in your universe so no household goes over that limit, even when more than one message is running.

Mobile phones: consent comes first

Prerecorded or autodialed calls to mobile phones require the called person’s prior express consent. So we separate mobile numbers from landlines before a single call goes out. Mobile numbers without consent move to other channels, like peer-to-peer political text messaging, where a person on our team sends each text by hand.

Say who you are, and leave a number

Every prerecorded message must state who is calling at the beginning. It must also give a phone number during or after the message. We write both into the script. We also add the Texas political advertising disclosure, which states that the message is political advertising and who is behind it, and your campaign’s treasurer or counsel gets the final word on it.

Opt-outs and the Do Not Call Registry

The National Do Not Call Registry covers telemarketing sales calls, not political calls. That does not mean you can ignore people. Anyone can opt out in any reasonable way, such as asking not to be called, and your campaign must honor it. We add each request to one suppression list, explained on our campaign email and SMS compliance page, that also governs your email and texts.

AI voices count as artificial

In 2024, the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count as “artificial” under the TCPA. A cloned or synthetic voice follows the same rules as any other prerecorded call. We recommend a real recorded voice, ideally the candidate or a trusted endorser. If your campaign wants to explore AI voice, we will walk through the rules with you and your counsel first.

Who Is Behind the Call

Why Campaigns Trust Vertical Web With Their Robocalls

A robocall carries your name into someone’s home. The people behind it should know the rules, own the outcome and be honest about whether calls even make sense for your race.

Instructors, Not Just Vendors

Our principal, Beth Guide, has been teaching since 2003. Her digital marketing classes run through the SBA, the University of Houston SBDC, Lone Star College and HCC, and Fox 26 viewers know her as a go-to voice on technology. Other marketers come to us to learn.

Calls, Texts and Site in One Shop

The script, the recording, the landline and mobile split, the text follow-up and the web page your message points to are all built by our in-house team. There is no hand-off to a call vendor who has never seen your plan.

Around Since 1998

Vertical Web has served Houston since 1998, and the first client from that year has never left. Google certifies us as a Partner. Our Google reviews average 4.9. Best of West Houston 2025 awarded us First Place triple honors.

We Will Say When Calls Are Wrong

Because we manage more than $1M in PPC every year, we think hard about the cost of each contact. If your voters are mostly on mobile phones without consent, we will tell you to skip robocalls and spend elsewhere.

Scripting

How do you write a 30-second political robocall?

A good robocall sounds like a person talking, not an ad being read. Thirty seconds is enough for one clear message, as long as every line earns its place. Here is the order we write in, whether the voice belongs to the candidate, an endorser or a volunteer.

1. Open with who is calling

The first words name the caller, such as the candidate or the campaign. Prerecorded messages must do this, and it also tells the voter right away whether to keep listening.

2. Give one reason for the call

Pick a single job: a date, a location change, an endorsement or a poll question. A call that tries to do three things tends to be remembered for none of them.

3. Make the ask concrete

Tell the voter exactly what to do and when. “Early voting ends Friday, and you can find your site on our website” works better than “please support us.”

4. Close with the number and disclosure

The message ends with a callback number and the political advertising disclosure. We read the full script aloud and time it before anyone records.

5. Record, review, then schedule

We record the final version, you approve it, and we schedule the calls inside the landline limit. Voicemail drops get a version written to make sense without a live listener.

Spanish Recordings

Can you record political robocalls in Spanish?

Yes. We prepare Spanish scripts and arrange Spanish recordings so voters who prefer Spanish hear your message clearly. The Spanish version carries the same caller identification, callback number and disclosure as the English one.

Not every voter needs both. When a voter has already chosen a language by text or on your website, we use that choice for calls too. For households we know less about, an IVR menu can let the listener press a key for Spanish.

We treat translation as writing, not word swapping. Dates, times and place names are checked line by line against the English script before anything is recorded.

Every script we write has

Calls in the Mix

How do robocalls work with text messaging and email?

Calls work best as one channel in a plan. We decide which voters get a call, a text, an email or some mix, based on the phone type, the consent you hold and what you need them to do.

Split the phone list first

Your voter file may include landlines and mobile numbers, often from a voter phone append. We sort them before anything else. Landlines can get recorded calls within the FCC limit. Mobile numbers without consent go to peer-to-peer texting instead.

Use each channel for what it does well

A call is good at a short, spoken reminder. A text is good for a link and a reply. Campaign email is good for the longer story, the donation page and the volunteer form. When an endorser records a call, we often pair it with an email that carries their photo and a written quote.

Keep one opt-out list

If a voter asks your campaign to stop calling, they should not start getting robocalls from a different list next week. We keep one suppression list across calls, texts and email, and we apply it before every send.

Serving campaigns in both parties

We are nonpartisan and take on races from both parties. Recorded calls are part of our Republican voter outreach and our Democratic voter outreach programs, and each client’s lists and scripts stay private to that client.

Straight answers

Political Robocalls: Frequently Asked Questions

How many robocalls can a campaign make to the same landline?

Under FCC rules, political robocalls using a prerecorded or artificial voice may go to a landline without prior consent, but no more than three calls in any consecutive 30-day period. We track your universe so each number stays within that limit across every message you run. Because this is general information and not legal advice, run the specifics past your treasurer or counsel.

Can we send political robocalls to cell phones?

Only with the called person’s prior express consent. That applies to prerecorded and autodialed calls to mobile phones. If you have consent, for example from supporters who opted in on your website, we can include those numbers. If not, we move mobile numbers to peer-to-peer texting. Texting has its own setup steps, covered in our political 10DLC compliance guide.

Do political robocalls have to follow the Do Not Call list?

The National Do Not Call Registry applies to telemarketing sales calls, so it does not cover political calls. You still have to honor anyone who asks not to be called, in any reasonable way they ask. We log every request on one suppression list that also covers your texts and email, so an opt-out actually sticks.

Can we use an AI voice of the candidate?

The FCC ruled in 2024 that AI-generated voices count as artificial under the TCPA, so an AI voice call follows the same consent and identification rules as any prerecorded call. There are also trust questions when voters hear a voice that is not real. We recommend a real recording of the candidate or a trusted endorser, and a talk with your counsel before trying anything else.

What should a political robocall say at the start?

The message must state who is calling at the beginning, and it must give a phone number during or after the message. We also add the Texas political advertising disclosure. After that, keep it to one reason for the call and one clear action. We aim for about 30 seconds, which is enough for a complete message without losing the listener.

How much do political robocalls cost?

Cost depends on how many numbers you call, how many rounds you send, whether you need a phone append, Spanish recordings or an IVR poll, and how much scripting help you want. Since no two races look the same, we do not post rates. Schedule a consultation and you will get a straight answer on whether calls are worth it for your voters.

Can you run IVR polls for our campaign?

Yes. An IVR poll plays a short recorded question and lets the voter answer by pressing a key. Campaigns use them to gauge interest in a topic, find supporters for yard signs or volunteer work, or compare two messages. We write the questions in neutral language, record them and report the answers back to you.

Put Your Voice on the Line

If your voters still answer the home phone, a well-written call can reach them when it matters. Let us script it, record it and send it by the rules. Ask for a consultation, or start with a free website audit of your campaign site.

Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253 | info@verticalweb.com