Collections contact strategy that ranks each day's calls, texts and emails within the rules
Every contact inside the 7-in-7 rule, spent where it pays.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Software that decides which past-due accounts to contact each day, on which channel and at which hour, within the contact limits that apply. Collections Contact Strategy counts every contact per debt from every team and agency, greys out every hour the rules forbid, and plans each account where it is most likely to reach the borrower.
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Regulation F presumes harassment when a debt collector calls about a debt more than seven times in seven days, or within seven days after a telephone conversation about it. Many lenders hold their own floor to the same limits. Add opt-outs, the borrower's local hours, “not at work” requests and state and city caps like Massachusetts' two calls in seven days. The count is per debt, not per phone number, and it includes every team that calls.
On most floors that count lives in a spreadsheet and the dialer's own log. Branch loan officers, the payment-reminder line and outside agencies are invisible to it, so by ten o'clock the spreadsheet is wrong. Collectors dial in list order, spend the week's allowance early on accounts that would have cured on their own, and reach borrowers at hours they never answer.
Estimated split for one collections team, by hand and with the solution.
Six agents count every contact, apply every limit and plan each hour; the collector places each call and the team lead adjusts.
Team 2 of a bank's early-stage collections works 486 past-due auto, card and personal-loan accounts. It is Tuesday, 11:42 Eastern, and a branch call log has just arrived. Here is what happens, screen by screen, in the working solution.
The agents read six sources — the collections dialer, branches, texts, email, the letters vendor and Pinecrest Recovery Group — 1,904 contacts in the last 7 days. They check 486 accounts at every hour and channel, score each one, and plan 712 contacts for 8 collectors: 431 calls, 148 texts, 117 emails and 16 letters, 0 outside a limit.
“58 accounts likely to pay on their own — one reminder, no call.”
Each row is an account, each column an hour in Eastern time, shaded by how likely the borrower is to answer. Phoenix, Spokane and Honolulu rows start later because the 8 am–9 pm window is local. Jordan clicks Marcus Bell's 3 pm cell in Worcester: no calls, because Massachusetts allows 2 in 7 days and both are used.
“No calls. Massachusetts: 2 calls in 7 days used — next call Fri, Oct 16. Text and email are allowed.”
Branch 14 sends 3 calls made this morning: Dolores Reyes, Kevin Osei and Grace Thompson. The contact counter matches each one to its debt by account number, then phone number. Kevin talked with the branch at 10:55 and promised $289.00 by Oct 16, so his conversation week starts and his 3 pm call comes off the plan; the slot goes to Ana Whitfield at 44% likely to reach.
“Branch calls counted — 2 accounts re-planned, 0 outside a limit.”
A Branch 14 loan officer called Dolores Reyes at 11:31 about her auto loan — the seventh call since Oct 7. The rules checker blocks calls until Wed, Oct 14, when the Oct 7 call leaves the window. She opted out of texts, so the planner moves her to an email at 6 pm, 64% likely to open.
“No calls. 7 calls in 7 days about this debt — next call Wed, Oct 14. Email is allowed.”
Luis opens the account: 34 days past due, $612.40 past due, $14,820.55 balance. The call meter shows each of the seven calls with its source — six from the dialer, one from Branch 14 — and the agents' decisions in order, from the 08:02 plan to the 11:43 move.
“7/7 Limit reached — calls blocked until Wed, Oct 14, when the Oct 7 call leaves the window.”
The 6 pm email carries the past-due amount, a “Pay or set a date” link, the phone line and its hours, and a one-click opt-out. It waits for Luis. Below it: consent and preferences with their sources — texts opted out Aug 22, email opens 6–8 pm, afternoons preferred — and the promise she broke on Oct 6.
The planner never contacts anyone. Collectors place calls; emails wait for approval.
Helen owns the rules: Regulation F's 7 calls in 7 days and conversation week, local hours, opt-outs, refused times and places, Massachusetts, Washington and New York City limits, and the bank's stops. She checks a 2 pm call to Dolores Reyes and gets the rule trace line by line.
“Not allowed — call to Dolores Reyes at 2 pm Eastern would break a limit.”
Every contact, block, count change and opt-out is written to an append-only log with its rule. For September the pack gathers 38,412 entries: 0 calls over a limit, 1,207 calls held back with their rule, 0 contacts outside 8 am–9 pm local, 71 opt-outs honoured in a median 4 minutes, and a random sample of 60 accounts.
The pack waits for Helen Strand's signature.
The strategy analyst ran P-14 for 4 weeks on 1,240 auto accounts 31–45 days late: an evening email with the pay link before the first call. The challenger made 17.9 promises per 100 contacts against 13.2, with 1 complaint against 2 — and email opt-outs up from 0.6% to 0.9%, shown, not hidden. Imani approves, declines or runs it 2 more weeks.
Since the plan went live on Aug 31, Team 2 makes 15.2 promises to pay per 100 contacts against 12.4 in the 12 weeks before, needs 6.6 contacts per promise instead of 8.1, and reaches the borrower 24% of the time against 19%. Calls over a limit: 0, after 41 in June–August.
The same Tuesday, seen by the four people who carry it — what their day looked like, and what it looks like now.
Six agents count every contact, apply every limit and plan each hour; the collector places each call and the team lead adjusts.
Reads every call, text, email and letter from the dialer, branches, the reminder line, the letters vendor and outside agencies, and keeps the live count per debt — calls in the last 7 days, the last conversation, opt-outs and stated inconvenient times.
Checks every hour and channel of every account against Regulation F, state and city limits, opt-outs, stated inconvenient times and stops, judging local time from the area code and the address.
Scores how likely each borrower is to answer, and to promise to pay, by hour and channel, from the account's own contact and payment history and its segment; scores the likelihood of paying on their own for accounts under 30 days.
Builds the day's plan for each collector at 08:00 Eastern within 28 calls an hour per collector, skips accounts likely to pay on their own, and re-plans when a count changes — filling a freed slot with the next best account.
Designs champion-and-challenger tests with a random control group, measures promises per 100 contacts, contacts per promise, complaints and opt-outs, and proposes a change only when the result holds for 4 weeks.
Writes every contact, block, count change and opt-out to the exam log with the rule, the source record and who acted, and builds monthly exam packs: totals, exceptions, opt-out timing and samples.
Adjust the plan and place each contact. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Collectors, team leads and compliance can ask in plain words — or tell it what to change. Every answer cites the record or rule behind it.
Why did Dolores Reyes move to an email?
Her calls for the week are used up. A Branch 14 loan officer called her at 11:31 — the seventh call about her auto loan since Oct 7, and Regulation F presumes an eighth call within seven days a violation. Texts are off: she replied STOP on Aug 22. Email is allowed, and 4 of her last 5 opens were between 6 and 8 pm, so the plan sends at 6:00 pm with the pay link and an opt-out. She can be called again on Wed, Oct 14.
Which accounts are at the 7-call limit today?
24 accounts on Team 2 have had 7 calls in 7 days — 23 this morning, plus Dolores Reyes after the 11:42 branch file. Dolores Reyes calls again Wed, Oct 14 and Darnell Price Thu, Oct 15. Both still get an email or a text; no call is planned for either.
Test a text before the first call for 46–60 day card accounts
Drafted as P-17: 1,880 card accounts 46–60 days late, split in half for 4 weeks. Challenger: a text with the pay link at the hour each borrower last answered, then a call the next day; champion: today's call-first plan. Measured on promises per 100 contacts, contacts per promise, complaints and opt-outs. Texts go only where there is consent and no opt-out. It starts on Mon, Oct 19 if Imani Okoro approves.
Build the exam pack for September
Every contact, block and opt-out from Sep 1–30 — 38,412 entries. No call went over 7 in 7 and none was placed outside 8 am–9 pm local; 71 opt-outs were honoured, median 4 minutes. The pack goes to Helen Strand to sign.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Which limits apply, which contacts count, the hours you call and who approves — set by your collections and compliance teams, not written into a project.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Apply Regulation F call limits to our own collections | On | 7 calls in 7 days per debt, no calls for 7 days after a conversation · on or off |
| State and city limits | On | Massachusetts 2 calls, Washington 3 calls, New York City 3 contacts in 7 days |
| Allowed hours, in the borrower's local time | 8:00 am – 9:00 pm | 8:00 am – 9:00 pm · 8:30 am – 8:30 pm · 9:00 am – 8:00 pm |
| Honour an opt-out within | 1 hour | 15 minutes · 1 hour · 4 hours |
| What counts as a contact | All four sources | Collections dialer · branch call logs · payment-reminder line · outside agencies |
| Calls an hour per collector | 28 | 24 · 28 · 32 |
| Skip accounts likely to pay on their own above | 80 % | 70 % · 80 % · 90 % |
| Who approves a collection email | The account's collector | The account's collector · Team lead |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (MaxContact 2024 UK collections benchmark — 26% mean right-party contact across 100 teams; CFPB FDCPA annual report 2025 — about 207,800 debt-collection complaints in 2024). Rules cited: 12 CFR 1006.14(b)(2) and 1006.6 (Regulation F), 940 CMR 7.04(1)(f), RCW 19.16.250. People, banks and accounts named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Software that decides which past-due accounts to contact each day, on which channel and at which hour, within the contact limits that apply. Collections Contact Strategy counts every contact per debt from every team and agency, greys out every hour the rules forbid, and plans each account where it is most likely to reach the borrower.
The contact counter keeps the calls about each debt in the last 7 consecutive days and the date of the last telephone conversation, from the dialer, branches, the reminder line and agencies. At 7 calls, or inside the 7 days after a conversation, the rules checker blocks calls and names the date the next call is allowed. Text and email stay open where consent allows.
Yes. Branch call logs, the payment-reminder line, the letters vendor and outside agency files count alongside the collections dialer. When a new file lands, the count changes and the affected accounts are re-planned straight away.
Yes. Massachusetts, Washington and New York City limits sit beside Regulation F as rules, each with its citation. Your compliance team decides which apply and can add its own. Allowed hours are judged in the borrower's local time from area code and address; when they disagree, the stricter applies.
No. The agents count, check, score, plan and propose. Collectors place every call, and every collection email waits for the collector's approval. The team lead can move a planned contact, and a move into a forbidden hour is refused with the rule.
The reach scorer learns when each borrower answers and on which channel, from the account's own history, and the planner fills those hours first. Accounts likely to pay on their own get one reminder and no call, so the allowance goes to accounts that need it. Changes to the strategy are tested against a control group before the strategy manager approves them.
The exam log: every contact, block, count change and opt-out, with the rule and the source record, append-only and kept 7 years. Each month the exam log keeper builds a pack — totals, exceptions, opt-out timing and a sample of accounts with their full contact history — for the compliance analyst to sign.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements — your contact policy, the rules you apply and a sample of your contact history — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own accounts first.
Same request, same decision, every time, with the reason written down.
1-min demoCollections Agent AssistThe one call the rules allow this week, handled right first time.
1-min demoCollections Compliance MonitoringEvery conversation checked, not a small sample, each finding tied to its second.
1-min demoWe'll run Collections Contact Strategy on a sample of your own contact history and contact rules.