Robocall Mitigation

The Regulatory Backbone: TRACED Act and FCC Rules

The TRACED Act (2019) directed the FCC to require caller ID authentication and active robocall mitigation from every voice service provider. The practical obligations:

• Implement STIR/SHAKEN on the IP portions of the network, signing calls with attestation levels A, B, or C.
• File in the Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD) — a public FCC registry where each provider certifies its authentication status and describes its mitigation program.
• Respond to traceback requests from the Industry Traceback Group (ITG) within set timeframes.
• Know your upstream customers — gateway and intermediate providers must vet the traffic they accept.

The Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD)

The RMD is the enforcement lever. Since September 2021, US carriers are prohibited from accepting traffic from any provider not listed in the database. Each filing states:

Filing Element	What It Declares
Implementation status	Full STIR/SHAKEN, partial, or mitigation-only (for non-IP networks)
Mitigation plan	How the provider detects and stops illegal traffic originating on its network
Contact information	Who responds to traceback and enforcement requests

The FCC actively removes providers with deficient filings — and removal means every downstream carrier must stop carrying their calls. For a voice provider, falling out of the RMD is an existential event.

How Carriers Detect Robocalls

Carrier and third-party analytics engines score every call using signals such as:

• Call velocity and patterns — thousands of short-duration calls per hour from one number is the classic robocall fingerprint.
• Answer and duration ratios — low answer rates and sub-10-second average durations indicate unwanted dialing.
• STIR/SHAKEN attestation — unsigned or C-attested traffic draws more scrutiny.
• Consumer complaints — spam reports from recipients and FTC/FCC complaint feeds, aggregated per number.
• Invalid or unallocated origination — calls claiming to come from unassigned numbers, a hallmark of caller ID spoofing, can be blocked outright.
• Number reputation history — past labeling follows a number even after it changes hands.

How Businesses Avoid Being Flagged

Legitimate outbound operations get caught in the same nets that catch robocallers. The practices that keep numbers clean:

1. Get full (A-level) attestation. Originate calls through a carrier that has verified your right to your numbers. Reseller chains and BYON setups often drop you to B attestation.
2. Register your numbers with analytics providers. Free Caller Registry and carrier branded-calling programs attach a verified business identity to your numbers.
3. Watch your calling patterns. Spread volume across an adequately sized number pool, avoid bursty short-duration dialing, and honor DNC and TCPA consent rules — complaints are the strongest negative signal.
4. Keep CNAM current. A registered business name materially improves answer rates and reduces spam reports.
5. Monitor your own numbers' spam scores. Labels appear silently — carriers don't notify you. Routine reputation checks catch flagging before answer rates collapse.

Monitoring Number Reputation via API

VRI's spam reputation lookup returns the current spam score and risk classification for any US number, so outbound teams can audit their caller ID pool on a schedule instead of discovering "Spam Likely" labels from angry prospects:

curl -s "https://api.verirouteintel.com/v1/lookup" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -G --data-urlencode "phone=+12025550175" \
  --data-urlencode "fields=spam_score,is_spam,spam_type,cnam,carrier"

For investigating suspicious inbound traffic, VRI's traceback search surfaces robocall traceback data for compliance and enforcement teams.

Related Terms

• Right Party Contact
• STIR/SHAKEN
• Rate Center