By Angela Garfinkel, Director
Calls with checkmark have been verified by the carrier
I was reviewing my missed calls on my mobile phone this morning and noticed a checkmark next to the phone number of the missed call. When I click on the little ‘info’ icon next to the phone number, it displays the date/time of the missed call and says ‘Calls with checkmark have been verified by the carrier’.
This is a representation by my wireless carrier (Verizon) that the call was originated by a carrier that knows the calling party AND the Caller ID number is authorized to be used by the calling party. This is called an A attestation.
There are 3 levels of SHAKEN attestation
In the STIR/SHAKEN framework there are 3 levels of Attestation.
- A Attestation is also known as Full Attestation. This means that the carrier knows their customer (KYC) and knows that the customer is authorized to use the Caller ID phone number that is in the record header. Calls with an A Attestation result in this being displayed on my mobile device: Calls with checkmark have been verified by the carrier.
- B Attestation is also known as Partial Attestation. This means that the carrier knows the customer but does not know if the customer is authorized to use the Caller ID phone number that is in the record header. Calls with B Attestation don’t display a checkmark.
- C Attestation is also known as Gateway Attestation. This means that the carrier can’t authenticate the call source, like in the case of an international gateway. Note that this is death to a call. QVD will not originate any calls with a C Attestation.
QVD Elastic SIP customers benefit from A-Attestation on every call
To ensure compliance with the requirements of Know Your Customer (KYC), each Quality Voice & Data customer that purchases SIP trunks from QVD must complete a Trusted Call Completion® application. The Trusted Call Completion® application ensures that QVD has the necessary minimum information about each customer, protecting our future right to sign calls and maintain our role as a SHAKEN Service Provider.
Customers that purchase their Caller ID numbers from QVD and utilize our SIP trunks get 100% of their calls signed with an A-Attestation.
Customers that don’t purchase their Caller ID numbers from QVD can provide a signed LOA for the Caller ID numbers to authorize QVD to provide an A-Attestation on each phone number.
The absence of the checkmark decreases your ability to accomplish your goals
Uber increases trust from their customers by requiring Uber drivers to display an Uber sign on their window or dashboard. The absence of an Uber sign will lead to decreased confidence in the driver. Decreased confidence in drivers will result in decreased confidence in the Uber brand.
If your outbound calls do not result in a checkmark, then they are not being signed by your carrier. Unsigned calls are like an unmarked Uber. Unsigned calls decrease confidence in the call and ultimately decreased confidence in your brand.
What can you do to ensure your calls display a checkmark? QVD can help. We’re offering a SHAKEN test. We’ll tell you immediately if your calls are signed with an A Attestation, B Attestation, or C Attestation. Complete this form today to learn more: Get your free SHAKEN test
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.