Consumers Aren't Answering the Phone. Branded Caller ID Can Help.
By Mijo Soldin, Vice President Telecom Strategy and Partnerships at Infobip
To say that Americans are flooded with spam calls is akin to saying the sky is blue, or that groceries have been pretty pricey lately. Odds are, you've received at least one spam call today, if not significantly more than one: per the consumer advocacy group PIRG, Americans receive two billion of them per month, amounting to nearly six for every man, woman and child in the country.
Mitigation measures on the part of government agencies and industry groups have had mixed results here. It’s true that suspicious calls are now much more likely to be flagged as spam on smartphone interfaces. But the nonstop deluge of spam has unfortunately instilled a deep wariness in people, with the consequence that few are likely to pick up for any number they don't know. Per recent data, 78% of people are likely to ignore calls from unknown numbers—even when, as is often the case, the caller in question is perfectly legitimate.
For call centers in particular, this is an existential threat. The entire business model of the call center relies on inbound and outbound calls from numbers they don’t know. The problem here cuts both ways: customers miss out on important information, and call center representatives waste hours simply trying to get ahold of people when they could be productively resolving customer issues.
It is in this context that verified calling solutions like Branded Caller ID are taking off —pointing the way forward at a time when consumer mistrust is rampant.
The trust crisis and its consequences
In explaining this trust crisis, it's important to note that—contrary to received wisdom—phone calls remain a highly popular customer service option as these often represent the most valuable conversations a business handles. The stereotype of Gen Zers cowering in fear at the thought of a phone call simply doesn't hold water: large majorities of every generation, Gen Z very much included, are happy to reach customer service by phone, according to McKinsey, and many prefer it.
In other words: it's not that people don't want to talk. It's that they want to feel secure in who precisely is calling before they pick up.
We’ve all heard the horror stories: a person gets a call from their bank, hands over their private information, and only learns that they’d actually been talking to a scammer when it’s too late. Those are extreme cases, of course, but even milder incidents—like getting your day’s third spam call in the middle of an important meeting—are enough to erode consumer trust in fateful ways.
Call centers are the organizations most directly affected by this crisis, but its consequences extend to every sector of the economy. At doctor's offices, no-show rates soar. At debt collection agencies, representatives struggle to get in touch with debtors as interest accumulates. Packages go undelivered, car insurance plans go unrenewed, filled prescriptions languish on store shelves. In the robocall era, everything becomes less efficient.
The new mitigation strategies
The federal government is keenly aware of all this, and in recent years has taken serious steps towards combating the trust crisis. STIR/SHAKEN—which stands for Secure Telephone Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs—is the showpiece legislation here: formally mandated by the FCC in 2021, these protocols let voice service providers (VSPs) authorize the origin of a call, which in turn allows them to assess trustworthiness.
These protocols were followed by the FCC's Eighth Report and Order, implemented just this year, by tightening the rules around the use of third-party authentication on the part of voice services providers (VSPs). Third parties contracted for this purpose are now mandated to sign calls using the VSP’s own certificate—as opposed to their own—while VSPs are now required to make all verification decisions regarding caller ID.
These developments are a meaningful step towards change—but it will nonetheless be years before consumer trust is restored (if it ever is). In the meantime, the fact remains: people simply aren't picking up. And is where the next innovation in verified calling comes in: Branded Caller ID.
The rise of Branded Caller ID
Branded Caller ID is spearheaded by CTIA, the trade association that represents the wireless communications industry in the US. What sets the CTIA model apart is that it is device agnostic and depends on an ecosystem of partners all with specialized roles which enhances the legitimacy and effectiveness. Having partnered with some of the most important telecom firms in the country— fully established with T-Mobile and recently launched on Verizon's network—they are rapidly remaking the face of call verification today.
Here's how it works: businesses apply individually for verification with Branded Caller ID's Authorized Partners. From there, they are granted the ability to transmit Rich Call Data (RCD) with their call. That means not just the brand name and logo but—crucially—the actual reason for the call—Payment Reminder, for instance, or Fraud Alert.
It sounds simple—but as early implementations have demonstrated, the results can be transformative.
The top-line benefit of Branded Caller ID is, of course, that it actually compels people to answer the phone. This isn't a surprise: 75% of consumers, after all, will never answer calls from unknown numbers. This alone is an argument for its rapid implementation across industries—but it's in its knock-on benefits that really demonstrate Branded Caller ID’s value.
As things stand, call center representatives are wasting hours every day simply trying to get ahold of people. By drastically increasing first call resolution (FCR), Branded Caller ID frees up call center reps to actually do their jobs and to tackle creative problems. Add in the money saved through fewer missed appointments, payments, and so on, and the ROI advantage is self-evident.
On the consumer end, meanwhile Branded Caller ID boosts engagement, increasing overall customer satisfaction. Notably, it does this while keeping call centers in strict compliance with a range of proliferating regulations—ensuring that customer information stays safe, and reducing the risk of fines (or worse).
Again: consumer trust is not going to rebound overnight. But as Branded Caller ID is currently demonstrating, there are real ways to mitigate this ongoing crisis. Spammers will always be a fact of life, but we can't let them ruin our customer relationships. With Branded Caller ID, we don't have to.