RingCentral is taking steps to protect customers from the increasing problem of robocalls and spam calls.

The UCaaS provider is using its artificial intelligence (AI) models to predict whether an inbound call is spam based on analysis of the number. This is part of the company’s work to implement STIR/SHAKEN standard technology.

RingCentral is working to root out up to 4.9 billion unwanted calls a year.

STIR/SHAKEN is a framework of interconnected standards mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). STIR/SHAKEN are acronyms for the secure telephone identity revisited (STIR) and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (SHAKEN) standards. This means calls traveling through interconnected phone networks would have their caller ID signed as legitimate by originating carriers and validated by other carriers before reaching consumers.

RingCentral has implemented the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework to more accurately authenticate and verify traffic routed through its platform to stop unwanted calls.

Boosting Partners’ Credibility

Praveen Mamnani is RingCentral’s vice president of product for enterprise and SMB.

RingCentral’s Praveen Mamnani

“For channel partners who are offering RingCentral solutions, STIR/SHAKEN gives them an industry-compliant solution in their portfolio that they can offer to customers, which can boost their credibility when engaging with customers as a key differentiator,” he said. “This can also help them to strongly position RingCentral in a competitive sales process. The benefits of STIR/SHAKEN compliance for our channel partner customers are the same as if customers purchased the solutions directly from RingCentral.”

These unwanted robocalls are undermining consumer confidence in voice communications services, RingCentral said.

The FCC is requiring all U.S. voice providers to implement STIR/SHAKEN next month, Mamnani said.

“Robocalls have recently returned to pre-pandemic levels,” he said. “The FCC estimates these robocalls can cost Americans about $10 billion each year.”

Helping Businesses

STIR/SHAKEN benefits businesses by helping to reduce the number of robocalls/spam calls that they receive, Mamnani said.

These calls are often disruptive and time consuming, he said. They’re also potentially dangerous if callers share sensitive information by mistake. That includes any information that can be used to identify an individual.

Detecting and blocking unwanted calls adds value to the overall RingCentral solution, Mamnani said.

Irwin Lazar is president and principal analyst at Metrigy.

“As organizations continue to invest to improve customer-facing and internal communications, robocalls and spam calls waste time, productivity and money,” he said. “RingCentral’s early participation in the STIR/SHAKEN effort, and its AI-based capabilities to minimize unwanted calls via identifying illegal caller ID spoofing, offers its customers potential to reduce costs associated with spam calling, and to reduce burden on contact center agents and back-office personnel.”