Spam-blocking technologies are crucial for protecting consumers from unwanted and potentially harmful calls, and we’re not invalidating the need for those services. However, these technologies can also inadvertently affect legitimate call centers, creating significant challenges for businesses that rely on phone communication.
Kevin Wagoner, CTO & Vice President of Balboa Digital, provides insight into this issue: “Spam blocking algorithms are designed to filter out unwanted calls, but they can sometimes misidentify legitimate calls as spam. This can significantly impact call centers that are trying to reach customers with important information.”
Spam blocking works by analyzing call patterns, caller IDs, and other factors to determine the likelihood of a call being spam. While effective in reducing spam, it can also lead to false positives, where legitimate calls are blocked. According to a report by Hiya, nearly 25% of business calls are mistakenly marked as spam.
Balboa Digital, a leading call center outsourcing company, has developed strategies to ensure their clients’ calls are not wrongly blocked. “We use advanced caller ID management and maintain a high call quality score to minimize the chances of our calls being flagged as spam,” says Wagoner. By continuously monitoring and adjusting their calling practices, Balboa Digital ensures that their clients’ important calls reach their intended recipients.
Moreover, the company collaborates with telecom providers and regulatory bodies to stay updated on the latest spam-blocking technologies and regulations. This proactive approach helps them adapt to changes and maintain high call connectivity rates.
In addition to carrier-level spam blocking, there are also app-level spam labeling services like RoboKiller, Nomorobo, and U-Mail. These apps allow consumers to block calls based on their own settings and analytics, which can further complicate call delivery for legitimate businesses. “These app providers are crowdsourcing their spam labeling, so if many users report a certain phone number as spam, all users will get that designation for that phone number,” explains Wagoner.
Balboa Digital addresses these challenges by using services that allow them to register their numbers in advance, a process known as call branding and whitelisting. This ensures that their clients’ calls are more likely to be delivered and correctly labeled. “It’s a pay-to-play situation where you have to pay on a per-call basis, but it results in a higher percentage of our calls getting through to the destination,” says Wagoner.
The impact of spam calls is significant. In 2023, Americans received 3.34 billion robocalls in December alone, averaging nearly 17 spam calls per person. Globally, unwanted scam calls reached 7.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
In conclusion, while spam blocking is essential for consumer protection, it poses challenges for legitimate call centers. Companies like Balboa Digital are at the forefront of developing solutions to navigate these challenges, ensuring that their clients’ calls are delivered effectively.
