As a call center, your main objective is to have calls successfully reach your client’s customers. With less than four months remaining before the deadline for the TRACED Act’s regulatory requirement, you need to proactively deploy and be prepared for STIR/SHAKEN well in advance to avoid the risk of having your calls blocked completely. Unless you have a firm date from your carrier for having your calls delivered with full “A-Level” attestation, you are at risk! In fact, although the date for SHAKEN is July 2021, most Blocking & Labeling services are already using the SHAKEN token, when it is in the call meta data, as another trust point in its decision on how to label or block a call. So why are you waiting?
STIR/SHAKEN Background
STIR/SHAKEN is the new technical standard, created to easily identify the origin of any call so that a bad actor can be quickly located by the Traced Back Group. SHAKEN was the creation of the Robo Call Task Force geared towards restoring trust in voice communications. Their goal was to help ensure the legitimacy of outbound calls and prevent fraudulent callers from scamming consumers and businesses through robocalls and illegal phone number spoofing.
Beginning July 1, 2021, telephone carriers or voice service providers will be required to digitally sign each call using a token and attestation level indicating that the carrier knows who their customer is and that they are authorized to use the DID number.
How does STIR/SHAKEN impact call center operations?
If call centers are not prepared for STIR/SHAKEN, the new standards will likely significantly impact business contact rates.
Outbound calls placed without being digitally signed with the highest attestation level are at risk for not getting through to customers. Simply put, contact rates will continue to decline and will impact your clients and their customers. No one can guarantee that your calls are going to be delivered after July 1.
The cost of doing nothing
Sitting on the sidelines will only have a negative impact on your operations. You could potentially lower the level of trust that you have with your clients and their customers you’re trying to reach. You’ll likely see lower contact rates, reduced client satisfaction, and decreased efficiencies across the enterprise.
If call centers choose not to be prepared for STIR/SHAKEN, you’re putting yourself and your clients in the worst possible position.
The time is now for call centers to be prepared for STIR/SHAKEN
With just under four months left for implementation, it’s time to be proactive. The authentication process is simple, and it is not worth the risk to businesses to ignore standards and not be prepared for STIR/SHAKEN.
- Call centers should contact their carriers and ask if they’ve implemented STIR/SHAKEN on their network. If so, verify that the centers calls are being signed and confirm they are being signed with the highest attestation level, which is an “A” rating.
- If you learn that your carrier has not fully prepared for STIR/SHAKEN, it’s critical to find out what their plan is for doing so, then decide whether you company can wait or make a business decision to move on. From the authors perspective waiting is not a commercially practical idea.
Customer trust is essential to call center operations. Don’t wait until contact rates decline and you burned through your list to do something about SHAKEN. The time is now.
Want to talk STIR/SHAKEN? Give us a call at 888-656-5111 for a free consultation.
About Quality Voice & Data
As an authorized SHAKEN Service Provider, Quality Voice & Data specializes in providing reputation-based telecom services. Our propriety technology, and deep-rooted experience within the industry, enable us to digitally sign & deliver your calls with full attestation.
Angela Garfinkel currently serves as Director for Quality Voice & Data. With 30+ years of call center and business process outsourcing experience, Angela provides the QVD team with key insights to support product development, marketing and sales. In addition, Angela teams up with Dean Garfinkel for strategic planning and leadership development. In addition to founding Quality Contact Solutions in 2007, Angela also co-authored an online course for The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) called Teleservices. Angela’s formal educational background includes a Masters in Business Administration and an undergraduate degree in Telecommunications Management from the University of Nebraska.