Free Caller Registry and FCC Robocalling Changes

Overview

Call blocking is being used by T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and other carriers to stop unwanted and illegal calls from reaching your phone. For several years, these carriers began investing into third-party and internal analytic software to improve their labeling services and algorithms to detect robocalls. Billions of robocalls or unwanted calls to consumers are now being blocked.

Many carriers and phone companies have now enabled additional blocking software to block calls or detect suspicious calling patterns to their customers. This means consumers are less likely to receive business calls if those businesses have not registered their company as legitimate.

As a consumer, you’ve probably seen many calls go straight to your voicemail, hear a single ring, or see “Spam”, “Spam Likely”, “Anonymous” or something to warn you before picking up. Many times, you may not even receive a notice.

The problem for businesses is that many carriers are taking advantage of the FCC rules that automatically enroll consumers in call blocking services. Which means, if you fall into categories such as: high call volumes, short calls, unanswered calls, and more; carriers may block you without any mention.

How You Can Avoid Call Blockage

If you don’t want to have your calls blocked or to show up as “Spam Likely”, “Telemarketer”, “Fraud Likely” or more, you can register your phone number with the Free Caller Registry portal.

The Free Caller Registry enables businesses to register phone numbers as legitimate. Once you submit your data, your registration gets sent to a centralized database where analytic tools determine the relationship between business and consumer. Once approved, you receive an email with approval.

How to Register with The Free Caller Registry

  1. Complete the online whitelisting form below so that your calls are not miscategorized as SPAM by wireless carriers: Free Caller Registry portal
  2. Once you register and submit the required information via the portal, the Analytics Engines will vet it and follow up with you directly via email.
  3. If they approved your request, it may take a few days for changes to your phone number(s) to go into effect. Note: Completing the registration process does not guarantee that your calls won’t be blocked or labeled as SPAM in the future; however, registration is intended to reduce the risk of blocking or labeling. Please register all business telephone numbers.

Mobile carriers T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon together with their respective partnered Analytics Engines First Orion, Hiya, and Transaction Network Services (TNS) have set up this portal to allow callers to more easily register their traffic with all of their systems at the same time.

This registration portal may not cover other consumer applications responsible for call labeling or blocking. You can find additional guidance from the FCC in the Tips to Avoid Having Legitimate Calls Blocked.

Here are some best practices to avoid being blocked

  • Always use a valid outgoing number.
  • Never display an invalid number in caller ID.
  • Never substitute a phone number in caller ID to which you do not subscribe.
  • Do not use an outgoing number that is on the Do Not Originate list.
  • Limit the number of calls placed per minute, particularly outside of normal business hours.
  • Limit the number of times you call numbers back within a short time frame.

In addition, if you want to not be blocked, be sure to register valid numbers you plan to use for outgoing calls with the resources below:

As always, we strive to keep you updated on ways to improve your business and the effectiveness of your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.