Welcome to the Robocall-pocalypse

Robocalls. We all hate them. But, at worst, they're a minor annoyance, right? They happen relatively infrequently and are quite easy to identify, so at most you spend a couple minutes any given week dealing with it. At least, that used to be true. If you aren't receiving a barrage of robocalls daily, then you're one of the lucky ones, according to a recent story by NBCNews.

 

From February to July of this year, the number of robocalls rose by 50 percent, and they alongside unwanted telemarketing duke it out for the title of "Most Complained About to the FCC." The issue is evolving along a path that has some serious potential to cause damage to the victims of the robocall invasion. As of right now, 40% of robocalls received are scams meant to swindle you out of money. If you consider that phone owners from Atlanta with a 404 area code, on average, receive 68 robocalls daily.. I think you can see where this is going.

 

Thankfully, we don't have it quite that bad in Oregon. The 971/541/503 area codes are receiving anywhere from 6.5-9 robocalls on an average day. In our opinion, though, that's six and a half to 9 too many. So, what are our options?

 

  1. Wait it out.

 

This one may not seem very attractive, but it might be one of your best options. That is unless, of course, you want to spend time investing in different solutions with varying degrees of efficacy. The truth of the matter is this: this is simply a phone analog of the spam email crisis of the early 2000s. Nowadays, our email platforms do a fantastic job of filtering the spam out of our mailboxes, and we don't even really notice it. Phones just haven't gotten to that point quite yet. There is a new caller authentication protocol known as "Stir/Shaken" currently under development which is supposed to bring some relief to consumers.

 

  1. Call your mobile carrier and ask them about their robocalling blocking options.

 

Believe it or not, all four major carriers have anti-robocaller solutions on offer. Go to a local retailer or call them on their support line to see if it might be a winning solution for you.

 

  1. Add your name to the National Do Not Call Registry.

 

If you haven't yet, you can add your information to the N.D.N.C.R to deter at least the lawful telemarketers and robocallers from bombarding you with their solicitations. Unfortunately, this won't do much to stop the scammers and unscrupulous businesses out there.

 

At the end of the day, the robocall menace will be short lived, especially as technology companies and government agencies are under ever-increasing pressure to solve the issue. What's important for you and your business right now is ensuring that you don't fall for the portion of them that are fraudulent or miss any business opportunities as a result of the volume of illegitimate calls. If you have any concerns, feel free to reach out to FrameWork. We're here to help you out and keep your phone lines clear and your business running smoothly!

 

If you want to read the full NBCNews report, check it out here.