ARLINGTON, Va., March 25, 2020 – Numeracle™, the pioneer of robocall blocking and labeling visibility in the calling ecosystem, today announced the launch of a Critical Calls Registry™ to support the initiatives set forward by the FCC in the COVID-19 TCPA Declaratory Ruling issued March 20, 2020. By utilizing Numeracle’s defined process to vet and verify critical callers, communications solution providers and organizations can ensure COVID-19 emergency calls are not mislabeled as FRAUD or SCAM, or blocked at the carrier level.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCC Declaratory Ruling (In the Matter of Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, CG Docket No. 02-278) identifies, “efforts to slow the spread of the disease depend in part on effective communications with the American public about measures such as social distancing that can mitigate transmission of the illness, as well as other health and safety information that could save lives.”
As such, exceptions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) have been enacted, deeming COVID-19 communications “emergency calls,” thus waiving requirements of prior express consent in some cases. The Ruling further declares,“[under the TCPA] hospitals, health care providers, state and local health officials, and other government officials may lawfully communicate information about the novel coronavirus as well as mitigation measures without violating federal law.”
The biggest challenge in determining emergency vs. non-emergency calls under this statute, however, is the credentialing of callers and critical call intent. The FCC states, “in determining whether a call relating to the COVID-19 pandemic qualifies as a call made for an emergency purpose, we look to the identity of the caller and content of the call.”
To aid industry and government in these efforts, Numeracle has launched a Critical Calls Registry available to any organization or solution provider facilitating the delivery of COVID-19 communications meeting the “emergency call” criteria defined by the FCC. This Registry, an extension of Numeracle’s existing enterprise vetting, verification, and phone number registration solution, will expand to include a COVID-19 emergency call category used to identify and protect emergency calls across the carrier, analytics, and app ecosystem.
“The need to communicate during these unprecedented times will likely create an increase in outbound traffic and call patterns the call blocking and labeling analytics have never seen before,” said Rebekah Johnson, founder & CEO, Numeracle. “To prevent the improper blocking labeling of critical calls, we expect the carriers to honor the verified status of emergency calls and deliver these calls uninterrupted during this crisis.”
“We understand the challenges and urgency the industry is facing with COVID-19,” Johnson adds, “and we're committed to preserving the ability to communicate time-sensitive medical and public safety information about the novel coronavirus now, more than ever.”
If you are a hospital, health care provider, state or local health official, other government official, or a solution provider delivering emergency communications on any of these entities’ behalves, visit https://www.numeracle.com/critical-calls-registry to start the process of critical caller vetting and verification.
