At a time of pervasive legal and illegal robocalls, many people have taken to not answering calls unless they recognize the caller ID, and even then, they may be wary – but the danger is that they may miss important calls. A recently completed Comcast proof of concept aims to give people a higher comfort level about callers’ identities with the goal of ensuring that people pick up the phone when it’s important.
The proof of concept relied, in part, on an enhanced form of caller ID known as rich call data that uses public key cryptography and is an extension of the STIR/SHAKEN framework of protocols. According to a press release, rich call data allows legitimate callers to tell the people they call “exactly who they are, where they’re calling from and even why they are calling.”
Participants in the proof of concept see it having strong appeal with enterprises that want to make sure their calls are answered.
STIR/SHAKEN is a set of standards designed to prevent callers from tampering with caller ID to make it appear as though a call is coming from someone else – a practice known as spoofing.
Comcast Robocall-Busting Proof of Concept
Four vendors were involved in the Comcast robocall-busing proof of concept, including:
- Everbridge, a service provider specializing in critical event calls and notifications for emergency scenarios
- NetNumber, which provided the NetNumber Guaranteed Caller platform that issued a SHAKEN delegate certificate
- Numeracle, which provided Verified Identity vetting and validation that supports know your customer (KYC) capability
- Twilio, an outbound VoIP service provider that used technology from the other vendors to sign the call with a SHAKEN signature using A-level attestation, which according to the press release, is the highest level of verification.
The FCC earlier this year mandated that telecom providers implement STIR/SHAKEN technology in portions of their networks that use internet protocol (IP) communications by June 30, 2021. Some carriers already have implemented the technology, generally on a limited basis.
The FCC mandate doesn’t appear to require carriers to expand STIR/SHAKEN technology to include the capabilities that the Comcast proof of concept demonstrated. But those capabilities would seem to have strong appeal and I would expect to see Comcast and its competitors moving ahead with full-scale support for this type of solution.
This concept is ok but it not the silver bullet. On the other hand which one off these phone inventions breaks the mold when it comes to ensuring each times phone rings or text messages it’s something of importance? Verizon 1999 phone invention Unique Caller ID Screener or FTC 98 BLT 739 Caller ID Screener Thank you.
Something drastically needs to be done. I receive an average of 6 to 8 robocalls daily on my landline. I have Nomorobo, which does a great job at eliminating most of them, and also a local blocking app that uses a 56K FAX modem to eliminate the “V” calls and others that don’t end up getting blocked, but more and more are getting thru by simply spoofing valid local numbers and changing them by the hour. I also turn off my cell phone in the evening, as I end up getting scammer calls on that device at all hours of the night.
I totally agree. A few years ago, I would answer calls, then hang up if no one spoke to me after the count of 10. Now I just answer & immediately hang up unless I recognize the name or number of the caller. If in doubt, I let them bounce to voice mail, but then I have to clean the blank message out of my voice mail so I try to avoid that.
I agree something has to be done. I researched Verizon and FTC and discovered Verizon phone invention Unique Caller ID and FTC 98 BLT 739 Caller ID Screener between one of these phone invention is phone consumers dream come true phone device control all calls and texts messages.
Verizon, AT&T knocked T Mobile scam shield try to slow down robocalls. Yet Verizon in a conspiracy with others been blocking # 1 phone invention CALLER ID SCREENER for 20 plus years. Compare stir shaken tech to next big tech investment CALLER ID SCREENER automatically let American phone consumer’s control all calls and texts messages. Eliminating phone owners from monitoring display phone devices whether to pick up or not. Ensure each time phone rings or text message it’s something of importance.