Collection agencies may want to brace for a drop in contact rates starting later this week, especially if they are calling individuals who have cell phones with Verizon.
Verizon is expected to roll out its new free spam alert and robocall blocking technology later this week. The company had announced the new free and premium services last month.
The service, which will include a free version as well as a premium version that will cost $2.99 per month, will display the name, phone number, city, and state of a caller, as well as a picture that has been uploaded by the caller, for customers using Android or Blackberry devices (users using iPhones will not be able to see the picture).
Users will also be able to label calls as spam, and be able to set up their own spam filters to keep certain calls from ever being connected. Users will also be able to use a reverse number search to look up phone numbers to see who is calling.
Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, says it has identified nearly 300 million phone numbers linked to spam calls or robocalls.
AT&T and Comcast Xfinity have also announced they completed what is believed to be the first exchange of authenticated calls under the SHAKEN/STIR protocol. AT&T said it and Comcast will begin offering authentication on calls to its customers later this year.
