Telephone Number Reputation Management
Overview
Carriers are intensifying their efforts to combat spam through enhanced detection and call blocking measures. This document aims to offer valuable tips and best practices to help ensure that your phone calls are not blocked or flagged as spam.
Respectful calling practices
Encouraging users to follow official opt-out procedures is essential, rather than blocking or reporting calls as spam. Excessive spam reports can negatively impact your number's reputation and hinder call deliverability.
Providing clear unsubscribe instructions is crucial for maintaining a positive calling reputation and ensuring compliance with regulations.
When recipients wish to stop receiving calls, they may opt to block the number or report it as spam. These actions can swiftly damage your number’s reputation. To avoid this:
Refrain from calling too often or during off-hours. Repeated or intrusive calling patterns can lead to an increase in spam complaints.
Research indicates that early call terminations and aggressive outreach are significant red flags in spam analytics. Being polite, transparent, and respectful fosters trust and helps keep your number off spam lists.
Train your staff to handle calls professionally by using clear introductions, a respectful tone, and concise, relevant messages. Reducing confusion helps prevent hang-ups and reports.
Communicate opt-out options in every call or voicemail. This allows call recipients to initiate opt-out options by dialing 5.
Respect all requests to stop calling.
Ensure that preferences are honored promptly by updating internal lists and tools to reflect the 'do-not-contact' status.
Register with Analytics Providers
As a Communicate client, you have the option to make calls using either a toll-free number that we provide or your own school or district phone number. For the toll-free numbers we offer, we take measures to ensure that calls are successfully delivered. If you decide to use your own number, we recommend following these steps to maintain its reputation and ensure reliable call delivery.
It is advisable to register your phone numbers with leading call reputation and analytics providers. These organizations notify carriers and end users about the reliability of your number.
Register with Hiya
Registering your phone number with Hiya helps ensure that your calls are accurately labeled (for example, as “School District” rather than “Spam Likely”) on supported mobile carriers like AT&T. Hiya also registers your number with First Orion and TNS. This process improves your call answer rates and decreases the likelihood of your number being mistakenly flagged as spam.
We automatically complete these steps for the PowerSchool numbers we provide to our customers. However, if you choose to use your own numbers, you will need to follow these steps with Hiya:
Go to the Hiya site and create a free account.
Submit the phone numbers you want to register. Once reviewed, successfully registered numbers will be marked as “Registered” in the console.
Keep your registered numbers up to date whenever changes occur.
Check spam lists
Registering with Hiya is an excellent first step; however, it alone may not fully safeguard your phone number's reputation. The following table is a detailed explanation of the advantages of broader registration.
Provider | Why It Matters | Networks/Devices Impacted |
|---|---|---|
The primary analytics provider for AT&T and Samsung devices. | AT&T (USA), Samsung smartphones. | |
Powers caller ID and spam protection for T-Mobile. | T-Mobile, MetroPCS. | |
Reputation management services for Verizon and US Cellular. | Verizon, US Cellular. | |
Carrier Tools (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and so on) | Direct methods for labeling and reporting issues. | Each carrier utilizes its own filtering system. |
Apps/Lists (YouMail, NOMOROBO) | Applications developed by third parties that consumers use to block or filter calls. | Users of iOS or Android devices who utilize call filtering apps. |
CNAM: An overview
Caller ID Name (CNAM) is a 15-character name that may be displayed alongside your phone number when making a call, particularly to landlines and VoIP systems. Registering a CNAM helps ensure that recipients see a recognizable name, such as “Greenwood School” or “District Office,” instead of just your phone number. This can increase answer rates and build trust.
While many mobile carriers now use third-party analytics services, such as Hiya or First Orion, for call labeling, some networks still rely on CNAM. Therefore, registering a CNAM remains an important step in maintaining your call reputation. If you're using your own phone number (rather than one provided by PowerSchool), we recommend contacting your phone service provider to register a clear and trustworthy name as your CNAM.
Recommendations
By following these recommendations, you can enhance your call deliverability and maintain a positive calling reputation.
Respectful calling practices
Use toll-free numbers recommended by PowerSchool.
Limit calling frequency
Communicate opt-out options
Register with analytics providers
Check spam lists
Register with CNAM