In an attempt to combat the increasing annoyance of robocalls, Comcast today launched what the company says is the country’s largest landline voice implementation of STIR/SHAKEN-based Verified Caller ID feature.
At the end of March, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules requiring the implementation of caller ID authentication using the technical standards known as “STIR/SHAKEN.”
The technology is designed to further the FCC’s efforts to protect consumers against malicious caller ID “spoofing,” often used during robocall scam campaigns to trick consumers into answering their phones, as Telecompetitor reported.
YouMail estimates that Americans received nearly 46 billion robocalls nationwide in 2020, or about 350 per person for the year.
Comcast customers with caller ID will now receive a “Verified” [V] label in the caller ID when a call is authenticated as not spoofed, meaning Comcast has confirmed the call is coming from the telephone number displayed.
The new feature is based on Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR) and Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs (SHAKEN). Together, the technologies are designed to enable telecom voice providers to authenticate calls between networks.
“Comcast engineers helped pioneer STIR/SHAKEN and the company has been a leader in the industry-wide effort to combat fraudulent calls since day one,” Kelly Barlow, Comcast senior vice president, connectivity services, said in a prepared statement. “We’ll continue to enable our customers with the tools to protect themselves and partner within the industry to help rid the nation’s consumers of these dangerous calls for good.”
