Robocalls have been a serious issue for years, despite legislators doing their best to pass regulations to crack down on them. In turn, many telecom companies have taken matters into their own hands to reduce how frequently these calls impact their customers. Now,AT&Tis joining the club and turning to credit reporting agency TransUnion for help.
AT&T and TransUnion have announcedthat they are teaming up to provide relief for the telecom giant’s customers in the form of more robocall transparency (viaThe Verge). The feature will use the STIR/SHAKEN protocol to brand legitimate calls with business logos to help recipients verify they are not robots. Previously, some device owners needed a separate app on their phone to verify companies by logo to ensure they weren’t receiving a robocall — this will eliminate the need for such an app. If you have an Android phone and AT&T service, you won’t need to make any changes to start experiencing the benefits.
While it’s worth applauding AT&T’s efforts to crack down on robocalls, other companies joined the fight long before the telecom business entered the arena. For instance, T-Mobile announced that it would beintroducing a similar caller ID programto reduce spam calls back in 2022. To develop the feature, the company teamed up with the telecommunications trade group, CTIA. Its foundation was based on the same STIR/SHAKEN protocol that AT&T is now using to create a similar robocall barrier — the origin of a call has to be verified prior to it connecting to the end recipient, limiting spam calls.
Interestingly, Google has been one of the companies to spearhead initiatives against such calls. To benefit those who use its Phone app, the businessrolled out its Verified Calls featureback in 2020. At the time, it provided more than just a company logo during an incoming call — Verified Calls went as far as to include the call reason on the display of your device, as well as a verification badge to let you know you aren’t being spam-called. While Google Phone may not be as widely used as standard calling via a telecom service, the Verified Calls feature is one that helped set the precedent for others.
It seems that robocalls aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, which means that it may be up to telecom companies and these features to reduce frustration. While government regulations seem to help, it’s obvious that spammers remain one step ahead of such legislation. As we wait for the next big feature for combating robocalls, some of us — at least AT&T customers — can now rest more easily at night.
