A trio of vendors in the phone number management space is teaming up to allow enterprises to put their logos atop their outbound mobile phone calls. That kind of capability could help accelerate the market for branded calling – as well as inject an element of trust back into an industry that has been inundated with robocalls.
The push toward branded calling creates "a litany of value," James Garvert told Light Reading. Garvert is SVP of TransUnion's TruContact Communication Solutions, which sells branded calling products.
However, Garvert acknowledged that the US telecommunications space is "very fragmented and very large," in that it's spread across a wide number of providers, vendors and technologies. As a result, "it does take a team of experts to be able to tackle this challenge that's out there."
That team includes First Orion, Transaction Network Services (TNS) and TransUnion (Garvert's employer). On the sidelines of the MWC Las Vegas 2024 trade show, those three companies announced today the availability of branded calling with company logos across the top three US wireless carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon).
That teaming will allow government or enterprise customers to put their logo on calls they make to customers or constituents. Such a capability can dramatically increase the number of call recipients who actually answer the phone – noteworthy in an age of seemingly endless robocalls. For example, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) saw an almost immediate answer rate lift of 105% with the addition of branded call displays.
The details
"It's better for all involved," Garvert said, explaining that consumers will be able to answer branded calls without wondering whether they're scams. Meanwhile, mobile network operators will be able to squeeze money out of enterprises keen to put their name and company logo on top of their calls.
"This is a feature that they're willing to pay for," Garvert argued. Indeed: "You don't want this to be free," he said, because then scammers will want to take advantage of it.
Garvert declined to say how much money network operators and vendors like TransUnion expect to charge for branded calling.
To be clear, branded calling does incur operating costs. For example, Garvert said First Orion, Transaction Network Services (TNS) and TransUnion will vet – and then continuously monitor – all the enterprises that purchase branded calls to make sure that no bad actors or other scammers slip through the system.
"It is a continual cycle of vetting," he promised.
The past and the future
Branded calling is an offshoot of the RCD standard developed by the ATIS trade group roughly three years ago. RCD leverages the STIR/SHAKEN framework promoted by the FCC as a way to tamp down on unwanted robocalls. CTIA – the US wireless industry's trade association – also has developed guidelines for the implementation of branded calling.
And the service is catching on. According to vendors in the space, more than 3.7 billion branded calls have been placed so far this year. And providers are pushing things forward. For example, AT&T and TransUnion earlier this year added logos to their branded calling offering.
Now, thanks to today's announcement, branded calling logos can work across all three big carriers and multiple branded calling providers.
According to Garvert, logos won't be the endpoint of branded calling technology. "I'm very excited about what's in front of us," he said. "You'll see real innovation coming through."
He said some of the items on vendors' branded calling roadmap include the ability for enterprises to add the reason for their call to the screen of call recipients. Other updates may include the ability to conduct post-call interactions, such as selecting from among a variety of products. Eventually, callers may also be able to navigate through an interactive menu prior to placing a call.
Finally, Garvert said that branded calling could evolve hand-in-hand with branded messaging. Now that the Apple iPhone supports the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging standard, some in the industry expect branded enterprise messaging services to gain steam.
But Garvert warned that the industry will need to move carefully, in order to avoid situations where scammers might gain entry into the system. "It has to be thoughtful growth," he said.