First, the problem
As you may know, with the rise of robocalling, wireless carriers as well as cellphone manufacturers (Apple's iOS, Google's Android) have implemented measures to prevent "spam calls" and protect consumers. While this is good news for consumers, established businesses often see their numbers incorrectly marked as spam or outright blocked from reaching a consumer for legitimate business reasons. In this article, we will discuss the core of this problem and what Aloware can do to both prevent and mitigate this.
How did it start?
FCC and SHAKEN/STIR
The FCC has mandated a protocol that carriers must be able to identify the original caller ID of any call delivered to a consumer. Almost all robocallers use a combination of two bad acts - they falsify their caller IDs (consumer sees a number very close to their own), and the call only plays a pre-recorded message rather than a live human on the call.
This protocol, called SHAKEN/STIR, ensures that the caller IDs are verified and the calling phone numbers belong to the business. Moreover, the same protocol paves the way for alphanumeric caller IDs in the US, whereas the phone will show the business' name (and logo!) if it can verify that the number is registered to a business.
You can read more about SHAKEN/STIR on our vendor's website (link).
National Do Not Call Registry
The national DNC has been around for a long time, and businesses were mandated to check their consumer phone numbers against the DNC list before calling them. These days, the FCC is taking consumer complaints more seriously and refers the complaints to wireless carriers. Wireless carriers will then, in turn, start blocking traffic from those calling numbers. The calling numbers will also be added to the blacklists that are used below.
Mobile Apps and Operating Systems
Both iOS and Android have built-in systems to check a phone number against numerous blacklists for spamming. Additionally, apps like Nomorobo, hiya, robokiller check these blacklists and outright block a call or show "spam likely" on the consumer's phone.
The Solution
Registered calling
Registering phone numbers for your business is a sure way to mitigate the risks of phone numbers being marked as spam. Aloware has implemented the SHAKEN/STIR protocol since June 2021, and it's as easy as filling out a form inside your Aloware account. If you are using Aloware's local presence feature, all your numbers will be registered to your brand.
What happens when I register my numbers?
When you register your numbers, carriers will assign a "caller verified" status to calls you are making. Aloware will also send your business's name to the wireless carrier, and (in the future) the carrier will be able to display your business name to the consumer.
How do I begin registration? Is there a cost?
We provide a managed registration service to all of our clients. All you need to do is to go to your Aloware instance, click Account and click Compliance. We would ask for your business details to verify your business and forward it to carriers.
Currently, we are absorbing all fees associated with registering your phone numbers. While this might change in the future, we recommend that you register your business as soon as possible.
How do I prevent my agents from calling DNC numbers?
We have recently partnered up with dnc.com (link) to provide scrubbing service against national and state-wide DNC registries. Scrubbing your lists ensures that your phone numbers do not receive complaints and won't be blacklisted.
How do I check the health of my numbers?
Just like dnc.com, we have partnered up with Nomorobo to do lookups in their database for your numbers. To learn more about this feature, please ask your success manager for more details.