Nothing kills a sales cadence or support callback faster than seeing “Spam Risk” on a customer’s screen. Call analytics engines label aggressively to protect consumers, and real businesses get caught in the crossfire. The good news: with the right mix of authentication (STIR/SHAKEN), number hygiene, and call-behavior best practices, you can protect your reputation and keep answer rates healthy.
What STIR/SHAKEN Actually Does
STIR/SHAKEN is a framework that cryptographically signs caller ID information on IP-based calls. In simple terms, your upstream carrier “vouches” for the number you’re calling from:
- Full Attestation (A): The caller is known and authorized to use the number.
- Partial (B): The caller is known, but the number authorization is uncertain.
- Gateway (C): The call’s origin is unknown; the provider is just passing it along.
Higher attestation helps downstream networks trust your calls, and reduces the odds of a spam label. But attestation alone won’t fix sloppy dialing practices or poor list hygiene.
Why Legit Calls Still Get Flagged
Analytics engines score patterns, not promises:
- High short-call ratios and rapid redials look like robocalls.
- Sudden spikes in call volume from new DIDs raise suspicion.
- Mismatched caller name (CNAM) or rotating numbers without purpose erodes trust.
- Calling people who didn’t opt in drives complaints, one of the strongest negative signals.
Build a Clean Call Identity
- Use numbers you own and control. Avoid masking with unfamiliar DIDs. Keep a stable outbound identity for each team or region.
- Set CNAM consistently. Ensure your display name is accurate, short, and professional. Consistency across all outbound numbers matters.
- Segment numbers by purpose. Sales prospecting, account management, and support callbacks should use distinct DIDs. Reputation problems in one flow won’t contaminate another.
- Warm up new numbers. Ramp call volume gradually. Sudden surges trip reputation alarms.
Dialing Behavior That Boosts Answer Rates
- Respect cadence: Avoid repeated attempts within short windows. Space retries and rotate time-of-day.
- Target opt-in audiences: Maintain proof of consent; make opt-out easy and honored immediately.
- Mind your ratios: Keep average call duration meaningful; avoid patterns of sub-10-second calls.
- Local presence, not whack-a-mole: Limited, relevant local numbers can help, don’t rotate dozens of DIDs daily.
Strengthen Your Authentication and Transport
- STIR/SHAKEN attestation: Work with your upstream to ensure A-level attestation wherever possible and that your numbers are properly associated with your organization.
- TLS/SRTP for SIP trunks and softphones: Encrypt signaling and media to prevent interception and tampering.
- Session border controls & rate limits: Throttle abnormal spikes, set per-endpoint caps, and block malformed SIP to reduce fraud risk.
Reputation Monitoring & Remediation
- Track answer and block rates by number, campaign, and carrier. Sudden drops often indicate labeling.
- Register your DIDs with major analytics ecosystems and maintain accurate business info.
- Rotate responsibly: If a number gets mislabeled, pause it and remediate—don’t blast the same campaign from a new block.
- Use branded caller experiences where available (logo/brand/name presentation) to boost trust for high-value callbacks.
Secure the Inbound & Your Budget
Fraud isn’t just outbound labeling; it’s also toll fraud and voicemail hacking:
- Lock down international dialing and premium-rate destinations.
- Geo-fence traffic to the countries you operate in.
- Strong admin access: MFA for voicemail, PBX, and call-routing tools.
- Call recording controls: Apply role-based access and retention policies that match your privacy commitments.
Train Your Team
- Open strong: A clear, human greeting that states who you are and why you’re calling reduces hang-ups (a positive signal).
- Honor opt-outs: One-click do-not-call buttons in your dialer workflows, plus nightly suppression list syncs.
- Validate numbers before loading: Verify against internal “do not call,” ported numbers, and obvious typos.
Quick Checklist for Sales & Support Leaders
- A-level STIR/SHAKEN attestation for all primary outbound numbers
- Stable CNAM and purpose-segmented DIDs (sales, AM, support)
- Warm-up plans for new numbers; monitored call-duration benchmarks
- Opt-in proof and instant opt-out workflows
- TLS/SRTP enabled; SBC rules, rate limits, and geo-fencing in place
- DID reputation monitoring and remediation procedure
- Training: compliant scripts, clear intros, and respectful retry cadence
Bottom line: Think of voice security and reputation as part of your revenue stack. Authenticate your identity, dial like a professional, secure your transport, and measure relentlessly. Do that, and you’ll see fewer spam labels, higher connection rates, and better conversations, exactly where sales and support teams win.
This post was written by a professional at Centra IP Networks. Centra IP Networks, established in 2005, is a trusted nationwide telecommunications provider specializing in solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. From Business Phone Service Dallas TX companies rely on to advanced business voice systems, we deliver a complete range of connectivity solutions, all from one reliable source.