As business telephone lines are increasingly targeted by robocalls, scams, and fraud, call filtering has become critical to protecting organizations and their employees. Call filtering solutions are designed to automatically block unwanted or malicious calls that could compromise security and reduce productivity. While traditional approaches to call filtering and authentication have been complex and costly, new technologies are paving the way for smart, efficient, and affordable filtering that can scale easily across an entire enterprise.
What is Call Filtering Software
Call filtering software is a form of call security technology that screens incoming phone calls and allows, blocks, or redirects them based on pre-defined rules and criteria. By analyzing each incoming call, these software solutions can identify spam, telemarketing, fraud, and other unwanted calls and automatically prevents them from connecting. Call filtering software has evolved from simple caller ID systems to sophisticated technology that leverages machine learning, real-time databases, and call authentication protocols.
Threats Addressed by Call Filtering Software
Call filtering solutions are designed to protect businesses from several critical threats.
Robocalls and Spam Calls Robocalls are automated calls generated by computer systems that can dial thousands of numbers in a few seconds. These calls are typically used for telemarketing, political campaigns, or surveys, but they are also the favorites of fraudsters and cyber criminals. The sheer volume of robocalls is a nuisance, and they can cause significant trouble when a user is duped into visiting a malicious website or placing a call to a fraudulent number.
Phishing and Social Engineering Scams Phone phishing threats, also known as voice phishing or “vishing” scams, involve callers posing as representatives of legitimate organizations like banks, tech support, or government agencies to trick individuals into divulging sensitive information like account numbers, passwords, or Social Security numbers.
Caller ID Spoofing In caller ID spoofing, scammers make their calls appear as if they’re coming from a trusted source like a local business, government agency, or a familiar contact. This trust increases the likelihood of a scam’s success.
How Call Filtering Software Works
Call filtering software uses a variety of techniques to identify and block potentially unwanted callers.
Caller ID Authentication
Call filtering software analyzes the caller ID data for incoming calls to determine if the number belongs to a known contact, a reputable source, or if it’s of suspicious origin. To combat caller ID spoofing, filtering software may rely on STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs), a critical protocol that digitally signs and verifies the origin of a call to prevent cyber criminals from using fake caller IDs.
Real-Time Threat Intelligence
If a caller ID is determined to be authentic, call filtering software may check it against databases of known spam, telemarketing, and scam numbers. These databases are maintained by telecom providers, security firms, government agencies, and other organizations.
Machine Learning and AI
Sophisticated call filtering software incorporates advanced machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence to identify suspicious calls by analyzing call patterns, caller behavior, and contextual clues. For example, if an unknown number is rapidly calling multiple users within a short timeframe, the software might flag it as spam even if it’s not yet in a database. AI-powered algorithms can learn from past data to better identify and block emerging threats.
User-Defined Settings
Most call filtering solutions allow businesses to create “whitelists” of trusted contacts and “blacklists” of blocked numbers. Many call filtering technologies allow users to set filtering thresholds. Some users may choose a low threshold to avoid inadvertently missing client calls mistakenly identified as spam, while others may choose a high threshold to block all telemarketing and robocalls. Call filtering software also typically allows users to choose to block calls, redirect to voicemail, or flag certain calls for review.
The Advantages of Call Filtering Software
Deploying effective call filtering software offers clear advantages for businesses.
Stronger Security Call filtering software provides an essential layer of security by proactively blocking calls from spammers, scammers, and suspicious numbers. By preventing these calls from reaching employees or contact center agents, filtering software significantly reduces the potential for phishing scams and fraudulent activity.
Greater Efficiency Call filtering software is a powerful tool for reducing disruptions to employee routines and boosting productivity. By minimizing the number of spam or scam calls received each day, filtering software prevents disruptions to workflow and distractions to employees.
Better Customer Experiences By preventing telemarketing, spam, and robocalls from tying up phone lines, filtering software increases the ability of legitimate users to quickly reach their desired contacts.
Lower Cost Effective call filtering technology saves money by preventing employees’ time from being wasted and by avoiding the significant costs associated with data breaches, compliance failures, and loss of customer trust.
Limitations of Traditional Call Filtering Software
While traditional call filtering software offers some protection, it has not been a foolproof solution for several reasons.
Reliance on Static Databases Cyber criminals and scammers change phone numbers frequently, causing static blacklists to quickly become out of date and making it harder for telephony threat intelligence databases to stay current.
Limitations of STIR/SHAKEN The STIR/SHAKEN protocol is only effective in networks that have adopted the protocol — anytime a call crosses to a network that doesn’t use the protocol (such as an international network), the protection is lost. Additionally, while the protocol is effective at preventing caller ID spoofing, it doesn’t protect against phishing or social engineering attacks.
False Positives and Negatives Traditional filtering software often has a higher rate of false positives resulting in legitimate calls being blocked, and false negatives that let spam calls through.
High Costs Traditionally, the expense to authenticate inbound calls has been quite high, involving expensive per-call charges and costly security interrogations.
SecureLogix: Sophisticated Call Filtering Software
SecureLogix provides call branding, security, and authentication solutions designed to solve call security and trust issues while reducing costs and maximizing revenue. For 20+ years, we’ve profiled, tracked, and defended customers against evolving schemes and threats that plague contact centers and unified communications networks. With highly effective technology and the most skilled team in the industry, we offer solutions that monitor and protect some of the world’s largest and most complex contact centers and voice networks.
SecureLogix® Call Defense™ System
Call Defense™ System is an award-winning voice channel and call protection technology that sits at the edge of your voice network, acting as a call firewall to effectively identify and block unwanted calls. As a highly effective call filtering software solution, Call Defense™ System effectively blocks robocalls, spam, spoofing and impersonation calls, social engineering calls, toll fraud and call pumping attempts, and other unwanted calls.
With Call Defense™ System, you can:
- Enforce unified security policies across the enterprise.
- Bring greater visibility into telephony activity.
- Respond to malicious or unwanted calls with alerting, blocking, and/or redirection.
- Rely on a Call Intrusion Prevention (IPS) system to detect the pattern of attacks and identify anomalies.
- Enforce call volume thresholds and traffic velocity limits.
- Improve reporting with voice network usage/CDR analytics and attack/fraud forensics.
Orchestra One™ Call Authentication Service
SecureLogix Orchestra One™ quickly verifies and authenticates every inbound call with automated, cloud-based call authentication and spoofing detection services. With this call filtering software solution, you get a solution that dramatically lowers the cost of call authentication while improving filtering effectiveness.
Orchestra One™ provides:
Low-Cost Authentication To minimize the cost of call authentication, Orchestra One™ employs multiple zero-cost low-cost metadata services to authenticate each call at its lowest possible price.
High-Value Risk Scores By analyzing orchestrating thousands of call details along with real-time carrier network metadata (including STIR/SHAKEN when present), Orchestra One™ delivers a rigorous verification/authentication score for each call to effectively filter out unwanted and malicious calls.
TrueCall™ Spoofing Protection Service
SecureLogix® TrueCall™ Spoofing Protection Service is an outbound calling solution that identifies and blocks spoofed calls attempting to use your corporate calling numbers to impersonate your brand. This network API-integrated spoofed-call filtering software is the industry’s strongest and most secure approach to spoofing prevention. It integrates with major wireless carriers and their call analytics vendors to only allow legitimate out bound calls to pass through.
With TrueCall™, you can:
- Prevent malicious actors from spoofing your enterprise calling numbers, protecting your reputation score.
- Increase call answer rates by protecting your legitimate outbound enterprise calls from being labeled as fraud or spam.
FAQ
Q: What is call filtering software?
Call filtering software is a tool designed to screen and manage incoming calls, helping companies avoid spam, robocalls, and potential scam calls that can disrupt operations. This software typically relies on techniques like caller verification, blacklisting, and customizable filtering rules to protect employees and improve productivity by reducing unwanted interruptions. Many call filtering solutions also offer analytics and reporting tools, enabling companies to track call patterns and identify potential security threats.
Q: How does call filtering software identify spam or scam calls?
Call filtering software identifies spam or scam calls by cross-referencing incoming numbers with databases of known spam, scam, and telemarketing numbers. Advanced systems may use machine learning to detect patterns associated with spam behavior and even analyze the call’s content if it is answered.
Q: Does call filtering software block important calls by mistake?
While most call filtering software is designed to prioritize legitimate calls, there can occasionally be false positives. Many systems allow users to review blocked calls or adjust settings to prevent important calls from being filtered out. Adding trusted contacts to a whitelist can further ensure that essential calls come through.
Q: Does call filtering software prevent caller ID spoofing?
Some call filtering solutions, especially those with STIR/SHAKEN technology, can detect and prevent calls from spoofed numbers. However, caller ID spoofing is complex, and effectiveness may vary. Advanced filters are better equipped to identify spoofing by verifying caller authenticity.