Since the passing of the TRACED Act in 2019, Congress provided the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) with new tools to combat illegal and unwarranted robocalls.  The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act uses caller ID authentication tools and framework, such as STIR/SHAKEN, to enable phone companies to verify that once a phone call is placed, the caller ID information transmitted matches the caller’s real phone number. Though the FCC has made lead way on the anti-robocall front, the initiative is unfortunately also impacting legitimate businesses that have a high outbound call volume. Legitimate companies are filing complaints that their calls are being labeled as SPAM, SPAM LIKELY, SCAM LIKELY, or TELEMARKETING, thus impacting the legitimacy– and reputation of reputable businesses. Since spammers are resourceful and creative, there is no simple way to create a universal ‘spammer list’ to track and monitor (often illegal) operations.  The best chance for avoiding spam labels is to follow best practices and ensure good ‘call hygiene.’   Calling Best Practices to Avoid Being Labeled as SPAM For legitimate businesses placing legitimate calls, being flagged as spam or fraud can be deeply upsetting.  Continue reading for tips to create a more positive calling experience for your business and call recipients.   Register Your Phone Numbers The Free Call Registry by Hiya (www.freecallregistry.com) is one of the most popular tools to register your phone numbers, and is used by carriers such as AT&T, Comcast, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon.  Though it is impossible to avoid bogus spam labels completely, Hiya strives to keep false positives to a minimum and maintains an industry-leading low rating of incorrect classifications.  Registering your numbers ensures that Hiya and the aforementioned carriers are aware that the phone number is owned by a confirmed enterprise.   Monitor Call Activity Calling the same number multiple times a day (or even in a given week) can trigger spam reports against a business.  Calling outside acceptance hours in the recipient’s time zone will also raise red flags and trigger spam labels.   Use Established Phone Numbers Spammers often recycle numbers quickly to evade analytics, so using brand new phone numbers without a history of service can trigger spam warnings.  It is important for legitimate businesses to avoid consistently rotating through different phone numbers.   Avoid 'Dead Air' Calls Another common cause of spam complaints are ‘dead air’ calls– calls that produce no sound when a caller answers the phone.  It is important for legitimate businesses to verify their outbound dialers are properly connecting to agents.   Avoid Excessive Local Dialing As you are probably aware, scammers purchase area codes that are similar to the victims they are targeting.  Many spam calls appear to be from a local resource to trick the recipient into answering the call.  Algorithms will flag excessive calling to local area codes or digital matching (close areas or counties to each other) to be a sign that the caller is trying to appear local when they are not a local caller.   Limit Use of Main / Advertised Numbers for Outbound Dialing Placing excessive outbound calls from your main numbers will not only raise red flags, but can also be easily spoofed by malicious callers.  Main business numbers should be used primarily for inbound calling and not used for high volume outbound calling campaigns.  It is also not recommended to published direct dial number lists (employee-specific phone numbers) on the internet.   Adhere to Do-Not-Call Lists Do-not-call numbers are phone number that have been registered with the fcc.gov’s do-not-call list.  Do-not-call violations can result in fines and penalties from the federal government, in addition to being flagged as spam or scam.   Summary Cold calling is still a popular and effective choice for many businesses attempting to generate interest in the product or service they are selling. As long as businesses follow legal requirements and best practices for outbound dialing, then their risk of being labeled as spam will be low.  However, if your company has wrongfully been flagged as spam then we recommend contacting your local provider so they can try to resolve the issue.   About ACC ACC Telecom is a b2b telecommunications company headquartered in Columbia, Maryland serving small to large businesses nationwide.  Specializing in cloud-based phone systems with inbuilt contact center software and voice over IP (SIP Trunk) calling services, ACC is your one stop telecom provider for all of your communication needs.  Contact ACC Telecom today to learn best practices for implementing an outbound calling plan or contact center solution for your company.

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