Introduction:
You may have noticed changes to what your cell phone displays when a call comes in. If it's a number not on your contact list, it may show additional information like SPAM LIKELY or TELEMARKETER. Depending on your cell phone vendor, you may have even had cases where you see a ‘Blocked’ or "Missed" call. You may also get a notification of a voicemail left, but you never have a missed call.
This occurs because cell phone vendors implement their own tracking and reporting system for calls on their network.
Cases of Reports
The term side may see
- SCAM LIKELY
- SPAM
- SPAM RISK
- TELEMARKETER
- BLOCK CALLER
What is the origination side experience:
- Call Failure
- Call misroute
- Busy
- The call routed straight to Voicemail
How to Fix:
Each vendor has its own database to track and report numbers. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to look up and see if a number is listed on a certain vendor's database. There also isn’t a criteria of what a vendor is looking for in order to mark a number as problematic.
Some vendors, such as AT&T, will offer their subscribers an app to monitor and report their calls. Active Armor is an AT&T app that allows their customer to report a call as being problematic. It also will display how many users have reported the number.
As mentioned, there isn’t a way to know if your number has been reported. We would advise two methods of addressing this matter.
Proactive Procedure:
Should you intend to make outbound calls for a business, it would be best to register your number(s) with the large analytics vendors to avoid being quickly marked as problematic. Further down this article, we provide a link to different vendors and providers.
Reactive Procedure:
If you receive a report that your number has been marked as spam, you should register it with analytics vendors. The time it can take for a vendor to respond and correct the issue can vary.
Providers and Analytics Partners
While some vendors have their own internal platform for marking and reporting a number as being problematic, many others will use a 3rd party vendor for handling this reporting. Below is a website that contains these vendors and providers:
Top Vendors Contacts:
While the link above lists all vendors, below, we wanted to list some of the biggest vendors:
AT&T:
AT&T uses HiYa to track reports of problematic numbers. Below is a link to submit a request to have a DID entry corrected:
https://hiyahelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014815387-I-want-to-change-or-remove-the-caller-ID-information-or-Spam-Rating-of-a-number
T-Mobile:
T-Mobile has its own portal for customers to report an issue with how a DID is being displayed. Below is their link:
https://callreporting.t-mobile.com/
Verizon:
Verizon has its own portal for reporting issues with DIDs:
https://voicespamfeedback.com/vsf/
Cell Phone Manufacturers?
A cell phone manufacturer can also have built-in methods to restrict calls for the customer. Below is a known factor for Samsung users.
Samsung Phone Users:
Users who own a newer Samsung phone may have noticed Caller ID information being provided on inbound calls even though you are not paying for the service with your cell phone vendor. The Samsung phone has a Smart Call system that pulls this data from HiYa. You can use the link below to submit a request for HiYa to correct their entry:
www.hiya.com/manageyourcallerid
FAQ:
Can AVOXI submit a request to these vendors to remove the wrong label?
While we are always willing to go the extra mile for our customers, many of these vendors and providers will request a number of items best left for the customer to answer. The vendor may also follow up via the email used to register the number, which could leave an AVOXI agent receiving requests for information that would not be received by the owner of the number.
What are the criteria to avoid being marked as Spam?
Vendors and analytics providers do not list what they are looking for when marking a number as problematic. This is likely done to avoid malicious users adjusting their metrics to pass under this criteria limit. We can advise the following items likely play a role:
User input
- The customer reports a call as being bad within the smartphone or 3rd party app
Call Analytics
- How many times does the vendor see your number hit their network
- How often is it reaching the network
- How long are the calls?
Call frequency on the network
- Are there specific times the number is used
How long does it take for a vendor to remove the incorrect labeling?
Unfortunately, we cannot advise as each vendor has its own process.
Is there any way to know if a DID has been labeled?
Unfortunately, no. There isn't a national database to verify if a DID has been labeled as being problematic.
Can I buy numbers that aren’t marked as Spam?
As mentioned above, there isn't a way to know if a number has been reported. Most vendors will store numbers in their database for a few months in an attempt to allow time to pass and the reports of the number being problematic to pass. How long an analytics provider keeps their record of a number is not known.
Shouldn't Stir/Shaken prevent this issue? Or Is this an issue with Stir/Shaken?
One element of Stir/Shaken is used to validate a call and ensure it is not being spoofed. Stir/Shaken permits the call to enter the term vendor's platform, but from there, analytics provider input, user reporting, and carrier analytics will determine what occurs with the call.
