Robocalls and Rural Call Completion Issues

Transcription

1 Robocalls and Rural Call Completion Issues Bob Gnapp Director Member Training & Network Analysis Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. This presentation may be used by attendees for informational purposes only. No part of this presentation may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

2 Robocalls Caller-ID spoofing Consumer protection hints Recent/future mitigation efforts Helping your subscribers Rural Call Completion Issues Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 2

3 Robocalls What are they? An unsolicited autodialed, prerecorded message or text Some companies can sustain up to 2000 simultaneous calls using a single server Autodialers are sometimes used to place human to human calls Human to human non-autodialed calls maybe subject to different rules Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 3

4 Robocalls Federal laws Robocalls are permitted only to those who have given prior express consent Consent cannot be a condition of purchase An opt-out option is required during each robocall Must disclose its name, its contact phone number and its address during the call Autodialed human to human calls are generally governed by telemarketing rules Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 4

5 Robocalls Federal laws Landline exemptions to prior consent Emergency calls Informational calls Political, market research and polling Calls from tax-exempt nonprofits Wireless exemptions to prior consent Emergency calls only Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 5

6 Robocalls Ringless voice mail? Allows callers to leave automated messages on a wireless phone s voic The called parties phone never rings! This technology currently falls into a regulatory grey area April 2017 FCC Public Notice asks for comments on ringless voice mail treatment Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 6

7 Caller ID spoofing What is it and how does it work? Deliberately falsifying the information transmitted to the called party s caller-id Phone number Calling party name In some cases, the calling party may simply block their caller-id Caller ID spoofing is not new Caller ID spoofing has become easier Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 7

8 Caller ID spoofing Getting more sophisticated My cell phone number s NPA NXX is During a one week period in June, I received unwanted calls from the following numbers: XXX XXX XXX XXX7 XXX XXX XXX6 Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 8

9 Caller ID spoofing Is caller-id spoofing legal? There are legitimate uses of caller ID spoofing Illegal if done with intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value Number blocking is not subject to the same rules as caller ID spoofing Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 9

10 Consumer protection hints List your phone number with the Federal Trade Commission's Do Not Call Registry There are several exceptions to this rule Business lines Established business relationships Political, market research and polling Calls from tax-exempt nonprofits Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 10

11 Consumer protection hints Set up anonymous call rejection on your phone [*77 turns it on] [*87 turns it off] Obtain consumer blocking tools and services Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 11

12 Consumer protection hints Don t give out personal information in response to unsolicited calls Don t say anything or press any buttons Don t trust the caller-id Don t pay upfront for a promise Don t be rushed into action Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 12

13 Consumer protection hints Hang up on sales pitch robocalls Checkout a charity before you give Consider how you pay You can t win a contest you didn t enter Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 13

14 Recent mitigation efforts July 2017 NOI proposes to implement new standards (SKAKEN/STIR) to verify the authenticity of caller-id Full, partial and gateway attestation used to convey caller-id reliability May also provide call categorization May allow for easier traceback Implementation may require new investment or expense for providers and consumers Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 14

15 Recent mitigation efforts November 2017 FCC Report and Order and FNPR - Allows providers to block calls with an invalid caller ID Phone numbers on a do not originate list Invalid numbers Valid numbers that are not allocated to a voice service provider Valid numbers that are allocated but are not assigned to a subscriber Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 15

16 How members can help their subscribers Education is a crucial component to making consumers better aware of existing tools that can protect them from unwanted calls Bill inserts, news letters and local news papers Pass on FTC information and alerts about scams Keep an eye out for the latest services and tools Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 16

17 Rural Call Completion Issues Background Customers in rural areas continue to report problems receiving long distance calls Calls do not complete Calling party hears ringing, called party hears nothing Calling party hears misleading tones or inaccurate call intercept messages Unusually long call set-up Calling party may hear ringing during delay Extremely poor quality on answerable calls/faxs Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 17

18 Rural Call Completion Issues Causes The majority of issues occur when calls are routed using underlying carrier(s) - a.k.a. Least Cost Routers (LCRs) LCRs have transported calls successfully for years, however The LCR market has become very competitive LCRs in continuous real time reverse auction for their services LCRs save money by using best effort networks or simply blocking calls destined to higher cost rural areas Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

19 Rural Call Completion Issues Causes End User Orig. Provider (e.g., IXC, Wireless or VoIP Tandem RLEC End User 19

20 Orig. Provider (e.g., IXC, Wireless or VoIP End User Tandem End User RLEC Ability to reach terminating LEC(s) Network X X X X X

21 Federal mitigation efforts FCC issues warnings on call blocking Enforcement action taken Rural Call Completion Order - Requires covered carriers to record, retain and report call completion data Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2017 Second Report and Order FCC eliminates reporting requirements Requires covered carriers to self-monitor their LCRs Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 21

22 What Can RLECs Do? Provide regulators with issue details For carriers only: Encourage calling party to open a trouble ticket Encourage dial around as temporary fix Encourage your subscribers to file complaints State Commission, FCC and consumer advocates Contact your Congressmen Use carrier contact list (ATIS website) NECA will soon issue a more comprehensive list Copyright 2018 National Exchange Association, Inc. All rights reserved. 22

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