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Demystifying Telecom Terms

Skip the misleading jargon and get informed with our set of need-to-know industry terms, defined by our experts
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Cut out the misinformation

Telecom Lexicon

Attestation

With a STIR/SHAKEN call, the originating service provider attests the call by signing, or confirming, the relationship with the caller and their right to be using that phone number.
The use of an attestation indicator like a green checkmark at the time of the call represents the originating signer’s ability to vouch for the accuracy of the source of origin of the call.
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Caller ID

Caller Identification (ID) is a service, subject to device, that transmits a caller's telephone number to a called parties' device. This information may include a name associated with the phone number (CNAM) to be displayed on the screen or display interface. 
Caller ID is also known as CID, calling line identification (CLI, CLID), calling number delivery (CND), calling number identification (CNID), calling line identification presentation (CLIP), and call display.

Enterprise Challenge / Attestation Gap

Indirect cases of STIR/SHAKEN delivered calls may result in an Attestation Gap, also known as the Enterprise Challenge.
This gap may occur when a contact center/BPO makes calls on behalf of multiple clients involving more than one party during the call path. The end clients being represented (enterprise brands) would not have a direct relationship with the service providers utilized by the contact center/BPO meaning the service provider may not be able to validate the identity or assign an attestation level greater than B or C to the call.
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Know Your Customer (KYC)

Know Your Customer (KYC) is a due-diligence business approach that encourages professionals to make an effort to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining any sort of business relationship to protect legal business and the consumer from fraud or scam. 
In the telecom industry, it has made an appearance through identity vetting, STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication, Robocall Mitigation Plans, and traceback procedures.

Out-of-Band

Out-of-band solutions allow for information and rich call data elements to be added or passed along with a call by a solution provider via an app or at the network level, regardless of whether the call is STIR/SHAKEN enabled or not.

Rather than push and verify the information during the call path via a PASSporT, the information is verified and registered ahead of time with the originating service provider who is making the call. 

Rich Call Data (RCD)

Rich Call Data (RCD) are branded asset elements like caller name, branded logo, and custom call reason, that you can attach and manage for calling campaigns to add another layer of identity verification and to elevate your calls via branded calling. 
This technology is available across all major wireless carrier networks, see Branded Calling for specifications.

Enterprise Challenge / Attestation Gap

Indirect cases of STIR/SHAKEN delivered calls may result in an Attestation Gap, also known as the Enterprise Challenge.
This gap may occur when a contact center/BPO makes calls on behalf of multiple clients involving more than one party during the call path. The end clients being represented (enterprise brands) would not have a direct relationship with the service providers utilized by the contact center/BPO meaning the service provider may not be able to validate the identity or assign an attestation level greater than B or C to the call.
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Scam (Labeling)

Scams are a type of fraud or financial crime by a smaller group or individual that may come through phone calls via robocalls, real people, or text messages, usually with a phony ploy or identity to gain trust in attempt to steal personal information or money.
‍e.g. job scams, lottery scams, impersonating law officers or political entities, ransom calls, Nigeria 419 scams, credit card scams, fake medical bill expenses, or phony vehicle warranty calls.
Your calls may be mislabeled as Scam for a number of reasons, but with Numeracle it can be remediated. 

Branded Calling

Subject to device, carrier, and solution, branded calling solutions allow you to add and manage branded assets like caller name, branded logo, and a custom call reason to various calling campaigns when calling subscribers on mobile devices.
This presentation layer adds extra identity verification that can elevate calls, help achieve instant recognition and trust in your brand, and may improve conversion rates & sales efficiency. 
Numeracle’s Branded Calling Solution covers Verified Calls by Google, Hiya Connect, and TNS Enterprise Branded Calling.
Branded Calling is also referred to as branded call, branded call display, branded caller ID, and call branding, and is similar to, but different than traditional Caller ID.

Certificate Authority

For a cross-border call to be STIR/SHAKEN verified, it must first be confirmed and signed with a certificate that can be traced back to a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) List held by its country. If the certification is not present on that list, the call fails.

Fraud (Labeling)

Fraud is a large and serious financial crime that aims to take advantage of an individual/business that may present itself via phone call, masquerading as a false identity (Spoofing) to gain trust and scam called parties out of large scales of money. 
Your calls may be mislabeled as Fraud for a number of reasons, but with Numeracle it can be remediated.
e.g. misappropriation of cash or assets, false invoices, manipulating accounting entries, falsifying financial statements (phony IRS calls, Social Security scams), bribery, or fake campaigns attempting to raise funds

Labeling & Mislabeling

In response to the increasing amounts of illegal robocall complaints and consumer fraud via phone to the FCC, major wireless carriers have partnered with 3rd part call labeling analytics companies that push out labels like ‘Scam,’ ‘Fraud,’ ‘Potential Spam,’ ‘Nuisance’ call, etc.
These labels may accurately reflect a call but they may also inaccurately represent a legal phone call that has been mislabeled due to consumer reaction, disproportionate call volume, or improper dialing practices.

Rich Communication Services (RCS)

RCS is a communication protocol of advanced messaging that includes rich call data (RCD) elements to transmit in-call multimedia for a branded and interactive mobile experience. This developing tech aims to replace older SMS and text messaging models and add an extra layer of trust to the messaging channel.
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Robocall

According to the FCC, robocalls can be defined as any call made using equipment to make calls with stored telephone numbers or telephone numbers produced using a random or sequential number generator, or a call that uses an artificial or prerecorded voice. Essentially, a call that does not require sufficient human intervention.
It must be noted that the term is not solely negative and includes both legal and illegal robocalls which is determined by the calls origin and intent. 
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Spam (Labeling)

The classification of the spam call can be presented as: Nuisance, Spam Risk, Potential Spam, Spam Caller, etc. and these warning labels’ origin is heavily tied to consumer-reaction reports of unwanted calls, intense call volume, and improper or irregular dialing patterns as opposed to the intent of a financial crime (see Fraud Labeling). 
Your calls may be mislabeled as Spam for a number of reasons, but with Numeracle it can be remediated we can consult you on best practices for healthy number dialing to avoid future spam labeling.

STIR/SHAKEN

This acronym stands for: STIR - Secure Telephone Identity Revisited; SHAKEN - Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs. 
STIR/SHAKEN is a caller ID authentication framework that is an industry standard defined in the TRACED Act designed to assign a certificate of authenticity to each phone call for use across the telecom network. 
These certificates will act as a digital signature of trust passed from carrier to carrier to improve traceable call delivery. While STIR/SHAKEN will help identify harmful robocalls, it will not completely eliminate all illegal robocalls for good because it does not verify the intent of a call, just its origin.

Caller ID Authentication

According to the FCC, caller ID authentication is a technology that enables subscribers to trust that callers are who they say they are. This verification approach allows consumers and law enforcement to more readily identify the source of illegal robocalls and reduce their frequency and impact. 
One example is the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework.
Caller ID authentication may also be known as call authentication, verified ID, verified caller, accurate identification, or authenticated caller identification.

CNAM

CNAM stands for “Caller Name Delivery,” also known as “Caller Name Presentation (CNAP).” It is used in US-based telephone networks to provide the name information of the calling party, most often displayed in Caller ID.
This name could be a company name or the name of an individual, but can also be blocked or restricted, displaying as “Caller ID Unknown” or “Unknown Caller.”

Gateway Provider

As defined by the FCC, gateway providers are, “the first U.S.-based intermediate provider in the call path of a foreign-originated call that transmits the call directly to another intermediate provider or a terminating voice service provider in the United States,” (FNPRM, para. 33), and are the new target of focus for the FCC. 

Number Reputation

The reputation of your phone numbers may be labeled or mislabeled as ‘Spam’ or ‘Scam,’ depending on a variety of factors. Monitoring phone number reputation is essential for healthy number reputation free of negative tags in order to maintain successful communications with your customers, subscribers, and clients.

Remediation

Once tags and labels improperly appear on a phone number, there aren’t many solutions that can correct and reverse these labels to “clean up” the reputation of the numbers, and therefore the calling entity. Numeracle’s Number Reputation Management Solution provides visibility into your number labeling and has a remediation process to correct improper labeling that has a success rate of over 96%. 
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Robocall Mitigation Databse

The FCC created the Robocall Mitigation Database to enforce TRACED Act requirements mandating the implementation of a caller ID authentication framework at the network level.
All voice service providers are required to file and provide detailed information regarding their implementation of the STIR/SHAKEN and/or a Robocall Mitigation Plan. The reputation of the voice service provider may be impacted by how rigorous a policy is defined and implemented.

Spoofing

Illegal call spoofing refers to a bad actor using the phone number of an organization they’re not authorized to represent, including robocalls stealing the numbers of others or making up fake numbers with the intent to defraud consumers.
Legal call spoofing could be a global pharmacy calling to alert a patient that a prescription is ready for pick-up, displaying the regional number of the local pharmacy branch as opposed to the corporate number actually originating the call.

TRACED Act

Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act

The TRACED Act put forth by the FCC defines the need for a caller ID authentication framework (STIR/SHAKEN) and Robocall Mitigation Plans for voice service providers in order to address consumer complaints and combat the origination of illegal robocalls.

Verstat Parameter

The terminating result of a fully attested call is expected to render as a valid number indicator, or verstat parameter, to a called party like a green checkmark. Through a few terminating providers, the checkmark may be presented at the time of call on Android devices or as a grey checkmark in the call log on iOS devices. The final display is still drastically limited by the device's capability to display complex data.
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INSIGHTS BLOG

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To learn more about our favorite topics related to call delivery, check out the Numeracle blog.

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