Robocalls have taken over the American telephone system. According to YouMail’s Robocall Index, robocalls are expected to reach 51 billion by the end of 2021. Let’s take a deeper look at understanding the recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) STIR/SHAKEN framework and our response to it.
The Purpose of STIR/SHAKEN
STIR/SHAKEN is the technology framework created from the TRACED Act, a law signed by Congress on December 20, 2019 to establish monetary penalties for robocalls.
The primary purpose of the framework is to reduce the ability for any calling party to spoof numbers in an effort to trick or defraud American consumers. It involves multiple levels of verification to ensure that the calling party indeed owns the Caller ID number they are using.
The TRACED Act requires the FCC to mandate that voice service providers adopt STIR/SHAKEN por other call authentication frameworks by June 30, 2021. To learn more about the implications of STIR/SHAKEN, click here.
What is Our Response to STIR/SHAKEN?
Throughout our history, we have worked with a very reputable network provider for our originating SIP trunks, from which we send our patented signals to deliver DirectDrop Voicemails. Our provider has been great for a decade, but given the regulatory change, we are upgrading to a Tier 1 network provider to get our traffic signed with the highest attestation so that all of our messages will continue to be delivered successfully and safely as they always have.
After careful consideration, we chose our new provider, Lumen Technologies. Lumen is one of six Tier 1 network providers in the United States and one of the oldest and most trusted (formerly CenturyLink and Level 3).
As part of our agreement with them, we put together a framework for us to register and validate the originating Caller ID numbers we use by proving that we are acting on behalf of each of our clients, using numbers they own. This involves a vetting process for each client, which we will complete on our clients’ behalf, and a verification of each number housed in our platform.
To conclude, we fully expect to continue to be able to deliver our messages as you are accustomed to, while safely abiding by the new regulations, without noticeable change to you. If you have any additional questions about STIR/SHAKEN, our team would be happy to answer them. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 866-644-9135 or support@voapps.com.
