The Fear of the Unknown Caller ID; and the FCC Continues Its Quest to Squash Robocalls

The unsolved unknown caller ID and the trust crisis

In this issue:

1. The fear of the unknown caller id

2. FCC continues its quest to squash robocalls

The Fear of the Unknown Caller ID

“Answer all phone calls,” the FEMA representative said to those of us recently affected by the LA fires. He was responding to a question about FEMA case workers calling from out-of-state numbers with unrecognized caller IDs and whether we should pick up. His advice was simple: Answer all calls. He didn’t say whether to trust them—just answer. To confirm the call was legitimate, he added, have the caller recite your FEMA ID number before sharing any personal information.

It was a straightforward, manual solution to a technology problem.

Thanks to unwanted robocalls, unknown caller IDs are automatically distrusted. But that ingrained habit of screening calls can backfire. In the moments we need help most, we risk missing critical information—from the very people trying to provide it.

But this trust gap doesn’t have to exist, especially when the technology to fix it is already here.

From the age-old Caller Name Delivery (CNAM) to newer iterations of branded calling, the telco industry has everything it needs to restore trust in the phone call.

And it’s not just FEMA.

Healthcare providers, banks, and plenty of other organizations face the same problem: Their calls go unanswered, not because people don’t need the info, but because they don’t trust the number. Branded calling flips that script, turning an unknown number into a trusted one before you even pick up.

One Problem, Three Solutions

The technology solutions boil down to three: CNAM, Rich Call Data, and the latest, Branded calling ID. Twilio’s Melissa Blassingame gave a great overview of these options in her One Expert, One Topic contribution.

The options range from the basic—CNAM, which displays the caller’s name IN ALL CAPS—to the more dynamic Rich Call Data, which can show not just the brand but also the reason for the call. Imagine seeing the FEMA logo on your screen, along with exactly why they’re calling.

The challenge, as Melissa puts it, is industry alignment:

“For branded calling to reach its full potential, it’s essential that all industry players—terminating carriers, technology providers, handset manufacturers, vetting companies, and originating service providers—align on a set of standards and best practices.”

Finally

Even within branded calling, you have a tangle of products at wildly different price points, with spotty coverage, and with carrier-specific solutions.

There’s the TransUnion solution, which only works on AT&T and Android. Then there’s Hiya, First Orion, and Numeracle, which work on some but not all major networks. CTIA’s branded calling ID is trying to build consensus across the carriers. And of course, Apple has its own separate solution.

When it comes to CNAM, the lack of a centralized, trusted data source means every terminating provider—like AT&T Wireless—maintains its own database. So while CNAM is widely implemented, not everyone reads from the same source.

A standard only works when everyone follows it. The protocol allows originating providers to supply CNAM data, but whether that caller ID is displayed on the terminating side is largely optional.

You can still see this in action today: When you get a new phone number and test it, the caller ID might display the previous subscriber’s name (though most wireless carriers now let you update it through your account).

So while the “deploy” button for branded calling is either hidden, confusing, or too expensive, unifying CNAM lookup is its own labyrinth. This muddy windshield of fragmented, incomplete solutions keeps trust in voice calls just out of reach.

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The FCC Continues Its Quest to Squash Robocalls

Trust in caller ID is one way to restore confidence in voice calls. The other is blocking known spurious caller IDs from entering the network. The FCC’s latest proposed NPRM is a step in that direction.

Shameless plug: Subscribe to The Docket Digest for a crisp, complete summary of everything it covers.

Chairman Carr also shared his top priorities for the upcoming Open Meeting. As I mentioned last year, spectrum allocation and fighting robocalls remain bipartisan issues:

“Messaging and voice account for less than 3% of total bandwidth usage, yet they are the most visible proxies for a carrier’s QoS. A lack of bandwidth not only impacts consumers’ quality of access but also disrupts businesses that rely on these connections. Imagine a future where RCS is the messaging standard and SMS becomes the fallback due to insufficient bandwidth. This is why every CPaaS player must care about bandwidth availability.”

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Thank you for reading, and have a great week!

TJ