B2B cold calling rules in Florida, Texas and California: a plain-English guide

The short version (and a disclaimer)

This is not legal advice. It is a sales team's plain-English summary of public rules as of October 2026. Laws change and the details depend on your product, your list and your tools. Have a lawyer review your program before you scale it.

With that said, here is the shape of it. Most federal and state telemarketing rules were written to protect consumers at home. Calls from one business to another, about a business product, sit mostly outside them. The risk shows up at the edges: cell phones, sole proprietors who use a personal number, autodialers and prerecorded messages, text messages, call recording, and the contact data you buy.

Federal basics: TCPA, Do Not Call and the TSR

The National Do Not Call Registry

The FCC says the national registry applies to calls to "residential subscribers" and does not stop calls to businesses. Business numbers that were registered by mistake do not create violations. But the FCC will not give blanket protection for calls to home-based businesses. It looks at whether the number is really residential. If your list includes a plumber's personal cell, treat it like a consumer number.

Cell phones, autodialers and prerecorded messages

The TCPA generally bans autodialed or prerecorded non-emergency calls to cell phones without prior express consent, and requires written consent when those calls are advertising. There is no B2B carve-out for this. In 2021, the Supreme Court's decision in Facebook v. Duguid narrowed what counts as an autodialer to equipment that uses a random or sequential number generator, but that does not change the rules for prerecorded or artificial voice calls. Ringless voicemail drops and AI voices deserve a lawyer's review before you use them on mobile numbers.

Keep an internal do-not-call list

FCC rules at 47 CFR 64.1200(d) require telemarketers to keep a company-specific do-not-call list and train staff to use it. Even when a rule technically exempts a B2B call, honoring "take me off your list" is the right move. It also protects your caller ID reputation.

The FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule

The FTC exempts most business-to-business calls from the TSR. The exception matters for some industries: calls to sell nondurable office or cleaning supplies (paper, toner, solvents) to businesses are covered. Selling a cleaning service or durable equipment is a different question from selling consumable supplies. In 2024, the FTC also extended the TSR's ban on misrepresentations to B2B calls. Do not misstate who you are, why you are calling, or what you sell.

Florida: the FTSA after the 2023 amendment

The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, section 501.059 of the Florida Statutes, is the state's mini-TCPA. Key points for B2B callers:

• Scope: it covers "telephonic sales calls" to a consumer about "consumer goods or services," which the statute defines as property or services normally used for personal, family or household purposes. A call to a business about a business service generally falls outside that definition. Gray areas: sole proprietors on personal phones and products sold to both homes and businesses.
• Hours and frequency: covered calls are limited to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and no more than three calls on the same subject to the same person in 24 hours.
• The 2023 amendment (HB 761): signed May 25, 2023, it narrowed "automated system" to equipment that both selects and dials numbers, limited liability to unsolicited calls, let a checkbox or similar act count as a signature for consent, and requires a person to reply STOP to a text and wait 15 days before suing over it.
• Damages: $500 per violation or actual damages, which can be tripled for willful or knowing violations.
• Call recording: Florida requires the consent of all parties to record a private conversation (section 934.03). Announce recording at the start of every call.

Calling Tampa, Miami or Orlando businesses? See how we approach outreach on our Florida page.

Texas: Chapter 302 registration and SB 140

Texas regulates telephone solicitation in Chapter 302 of the Business and Commerce Code. Unless an exemption applies, a seller must register with the Texas Secretary of State on Form 3401, pay a $200 fee, and post a $10,000 security such as a bond.

SB 140, effective September 1, 2025, expanded "telephone solicitation" to include text messages and images, and made violations of Chapters 304 (the Texas no-call list) and 305 enforceable by private lawsuits under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. In a November 2025 settlement, Texas agreed that consent-based marketing texts are exempt from Chapter 302 registration. Chapters 304 and 305 still apply.

Exemptions that matter for B2B teams (read the statute with your lawyer, the conditions are specific):

• Section 302.059: a caller who does not try to complete a sale on the call, and instead arranges a sales presentation face to face at a later meeting. This is close to how appointment setting works. Whether a video meeting counts is a question for counsel.
• Section 302.058: calls to former or current customers by a business operating under the same name for at least two years.
• Section 302.056: sales where the business buyer intends to resell the item or use it in manufacturing, remanufacturing, reuse or recycling.

Texas is a one-party consent state for recording (Penal Code section 16.02), but if the other person is in an all-party state, follow the stricter rule. More on selling into Houston, Dallas and Austin on our Texas page.

California: telephonic sellers, CCPA and recording consent

Business and Professions Code 17511

California requires "telephonic sellers" to register with the Attorney General at least 10 days before doing business, with a $50 fee and a $100,000 bond. The definition is narrower than it sounds. It applies to callers whose solicitations meet specific triggers in section 17511.1, such as promising free gifts or premiums with a purchase, or offering investments like precious metals, and it lists exemptions. A typical B2B service call that books a meeting usually does not hit those triggers, but check your script against the statute.

CCPA and your B2B data

Until January 1, 2023, the California Consumer Privacy Act had a temporary exemption for business-to-business contact data. It expired. If your company is a covered business under the CCPA, a California resident's work email, direct dial and job title are personal information. Know where your list came from, and have a process for opt-out and deletion requests.

Recording calls

California Penal Code section 632 bans recording a confidential communication without the consent of all parties, and section 632.7 covers calls involving cell or cordless phones. The safe practice: say "this call is recorded for quality" in the first sentence, every time.

Selling into Los Angeles, San Diego or the Bay Area? See our California page.

A B2B calling checklist for all three states

1. Scrub lists for personal and mobile numbers, and treat them like consumer numbers.
2. Dial manually or with a dialer your lawyer has reviewed. No prerecorded messages or AI voices to cell phones without written consent.
3. Call during the prospect's business hours in their time zone.
4. Announce call recording at the start of every call.
5. Log every opt-out in your CRM and honor it across calls, email and texts.
6. Do not text cold. Get consent first, and keep proof of it.
7. Check Texas Chapter 302 exemptions and California 17511 triggers before you launch there.
8. Document where your contact data came from.

Our working rules for client campaigns are on our compliance page.