It has become very frequent that every day we receive a good number of calls from unrecognized numbers with robotic voices on the other end of the line that advertise different products to us, and sometimes, they try to make us fool so that we pay them back for their wrong accusations on us. Therefore, it causes tremendous damage to our phone call experiences. Today, as you can understand, we are going to deal with this ‘Robocall’ problem. So, if you are thinking of getting rid of this annoying problem, then you are in the right place.
What Is Robocalling?
As mentioned earlier, after picking up a call, if you heard a recorded or robotic message instead of a normal human voice live on the other end of the line, then you are encountering a robocall. Statistics say that we encountered over 32 billion robocalls last year, which is not only a huge number but also very alarming. Now, the question is why are robocalls getting so popular nowadays? With the digitalization of the world and the availability of the product, telemarketing has increased unimaginably. Especially in the places which are famous for politics and good sales, people usually get more robocalls compared with other areas. These calls are made by an automated dialer that uses pre-recorded voices. To prevent these irritating robocalls, the authority of the USA comes with some regulations. In attempting to stop or reduce such calls to cell phone numbers without the recipient’s prior consent, in 1991, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were designed. In 2019, TRACED Act was created to restrict the use of robocalls because the act requires the FCC to do several things:
- Implementation of the Caller ID authentication
- Reporting all criminal robocalls to the Justice Department
- Give the facility to the consumers to block the robocalls without taking charges
- If any companies violate the rules, take action against them by increasing the penalties.
The problems created by illegal robocalling
Well, you might wonder that there are regulations against robocalls, notwithstanding this, there are so many robocalls that are troubling us every day, which seems very ridiculous. The scammers, who make illegal calls, can fake their names into something relevant that you can relate to by using a kind of software. For example, a call can be made in the name of the government agency, social security agency, or local number. That is called “spoofing”, which enhances the chance of receiving the calls by the mass people.
This might seem simple to you, but the research on this subject suggests that there are serious consequences of “spoofing” sometimes. To be specific, the impact of robocalls is creating obstacles in reaching the patients, claimed by the Medical professionals. For instance, specialists need to call the patients when they are referred to them (the specialists). Many times, these calls are ignored by the patients because they do not recognize the number thinking of the number as a robocall. As a result, serious issues might occur.
How do you stop robocalls?
To solve this problem, carriers in the US have come together to define a framework. The name of the framework is STIR/SHAKEN, which is a suite of protocols and procedures. The intention behind forming this is to combat the “spoofing” on public telephone networks. If a call fails this spoofing test, you will not receive this call. This also means that there will be almost no robocall after full implementation of this system.
Now, there are spammers who do not manipulate caller IDs by fake identity. For them, the framework collects the collective feedback to identify their intentions. When the system can identify them, their phone numbers get added to the blacklist. In late 2019, based on such blacklists, RingCentral started offering call analytics and the capacity has been growing since then. There is an option for the customers to block a particular call as a suspected robocall, which will allow the system to label incoming calls as “suspected robocalls” to help the customers further. This feature is currently available in the United States and Canada and can be enabled by your company admin.
Can you trace robocalls?
Yeah, with the new STIR/SHAKEN framework, it might be possible to trace a robocall. It is because the STIR/SHAKEN is using an authentication system by a sort of digital fingerprint to recognize where the number originates and what number is appearing on the caller id. Now, if the numbers are different then the recipient will get notified of it by an appearance on the caller id which might say “possible spam”.
Whatever seeks to classify something automatically, there will be some imperfection that might occur sometimes because none can be a perfect solution. For best practices, it is suggested that STIR/SHAKEN and call analytics should be used together for an optimal mitigation strategy.
A Few Call Blocking Devices:
Well, now comes the most interesting and important part where we will discuss a few of the best call blocking devices that are available on the market right now. These devices will help you to get rid of your long-time annoying experiences with robocalls.
Price: $89.99
This call blocking device is one of the best that is available in the market right now. With the many uncountable features, this device will help you to get rid of PPI, Scam Calls, Unwanted Calls, Telemarketing Calls, Nuisance Calls with only one touch of a button. it has a 5,000 pre-programmed annoying robocall database collected from the FCC. Besides, you can also block 1500 more numbers without any hassle; which is more than enough.
Price: $99.99
CPR V10000 Call Blocker is another call blocking device with more advanced features. This device is considered one of the most advanced call blockers for landing phones. Like CPR CALL BLOCKER V5000, this advanced gadget has the same specifications but this device is not limited to these specifications. There is a pre-programmed 10,000 Number Nuisance Robocall Database to assist you. Moreover, the 2000 Additional Number blocking capacity of this upgraded advanced device will allow you to block the numbers that you feel irritating. Not only that this device features WHITELIST MODE. When the mode is turned ON, it blocks all calls except those in your WHITELIST to ensure your privacy. So, you can give a try to this wonderful device.
Price: $59.99
CPR SHIELD CALL BLOCKER is one of the best-selling call blocking devices. It is very famous for its simple design and budget-friendly price. If you want to add a specific number to the blocked list, just press the "Block now" button. After that, the Call Blocker Device will add the number into its unit memory. The number will be permanently blocked. So do not get annoyed by unwanted calls and save your countless family time. This device will raise the shield to defend your phone line.