The FCC announced their approval of new rules that allow phone companies to proactively block calls that are believed to be illegal robocalls. While phone companies can already block some calls that appear on Caller ID with fake numbers, the new rules make it clear that they are encouraged to block additional calls that are flagged as likely scams.
The FCC’s announcement for blocking illegal robocalls was released on November 16th. The new rules authorize phone companies to block robocalls from telephone numbers that:
- Do not or cannot make outgoing calls such as government numbers that are known to not make any outbound calls
- Reside on a “do not originate” list by the number’s subscriber
- Purport to be from invalid numbers, like those with area codes that don’t exist, from numbers that have not been assigned to a provider, and from numbers allocated to a provider but not currently in use
To minimize the blocking of lawful calls, the FCC recommended that phone service providers establish a simple way to identify and fix blocking errors. The rules also prohibit providers from blocking 911 emergency calls.
In order for legitimate businesses to avoid being blacklisted by phone companies under these new rules, the following best practices should be implemented:
- Only display accurate Caller ID information
- Only make calls with proper consent
- Always honor opt-out requests immediately
- Whenever possible, resolve complaints directly with consumers before they decide to file complaints with government agencies and phone companies