Skip to content
Stopping Illegal Robocalls Where They Start

Our Mission

We are working with others in the fight against the robocall scourge.

We focus on the providers of telecommunications services to hundreds of millions of Americans. Consumer and small-business customers are fed up with the worsening epidemic of illegal robocalls. Many providers have taken steps necessary to prevent these calls from originating on their platforms. They do this by vetting their customers, limiting high volume placement of calls, and routinely auditing for suspicious traffic. We all recognize that it is far more effective to stop illegal calls at the source, so when problematic calling campaigns are identified, we cooperate to trace them to their point of origin to take appropriate action.

When ALL telecommunications providers work together this way, we will have a measurable impact on this scourge. Our Forum shares best practices and responds rapidly to new methods of attack; we invite every provider to participate. In the past, traceback efforts have sometimes been stymied by uncooperative upstream providers. Going forward, the are encouraging all provider(s) sourcing that traffic to take proactive steps to mitigate illegal calls. That includes retaining identification of volume calling customers and promptly sharing the source of problematic calls in response to traceback requests. Most provider contracts and tariffs already prohibit illegal calling. Providers (and their customers) must be diligent in meeting that constraint.

The focus of our efforts is illegal calls, starting with the most prolific offenders. Providers (and their customers) that are not conduits for these illegal calls will not face new obligations from our initiative, but all providers – and their customers – will benefit when we together turn the tide on illegal robocall volume. Even calls from overseas must enter the USA network through some USA provider. We have an opportunity and an obligation to pursue this initiative as part of a multipronged approach to the illegal robocall problem.

The latest from our blog:

Can We Get Telemarketing Back on the Rails?

Every American is familiar with the onslaught of unwanted telephone calls – usually referred to as robocalls. Many people get a few each week; some get several every day. The standard advice now is “don’t answer the phone if you don’t recognize the calling number.” That’s not how the telephone is supposed to work. How…

Solving the Business Telemarketing Dilemma

Promotion of business services is one of the most prolific applications of telemarketing. If you are a purveyor of credit card processing services, or you help businesses get themselves listed in on-line directories, or you offer search engine optimization, or you provide funding to small businesses, robocalling can be an effective advertising channel. It doesn’t…

Service Provider Compliance with 47 CFR § 64.1200(n)(4) – Part II

In our previous post, we explained how the FCC regulations obligate telephone service providers to play an important role in keeping illegal calls off the network. The FCC does not dictate what a provider needs to do, but we have collected below a set of reasonable steps that can help an originating voice service provider…

Service Provider Compliance with 47 CFR § 64.1200(n)(4) – Part I

The FCC’s regulations implementing the TCPA put many obligations on those initiating calling (and texting) campaigns. But there’s an important provision that can put a significant burden on telephone service providers. It says: (n) A voice service provider must: (4) Take affirmative, effective measures to prevent new and renewing customers from using its network to…

RRAPTOR Takes on Fraudulent Utility Calls

RRAPTOR is a robocall surveillance platform that captures thousands of robocalls daily. It analyzes and groups them in many different ways, including matching keywords and phrases in the messages they play as well as inspecting the phone numbers that they use and the STIR/SHAKEN signatures they carry. Some of the most troubling calls are those…

Best Practices for Lead Generators

A large fraction of the robocalls we receive are placed by Lead Generators. This cottage industry is part of the massive world of marketing. Like a TV commercial or a billboard or a post card in your mailbox, a phone call from a lead generator is an attempt to sell you some product or service.…