news & events

Fraudsters and scammers have been preying on the coronavirus pandemic since March, often asking for money, personal information and claiming to provide health information related to the pandemic. iconectiv, the policy administrator for the FCC-backed initiative SHAKEN aimed at mitigating illegal robocalls, has warned that fraudulent calls may increase in the coming weeks as more government stimulus checks hit the bank accounts of tens of millions of Americans.

In this video interview, Chief Technology Officer, Chris Drake and Jeremy Cowan of VanillaPlus tackle the tricky subject of trust. With people fatigued by spam calls and text messages and businesses trying unsuccessfully to legitimately communicate with the consumer, how can Telcos restore confidence in communications?

Throughout the nearly four decades Richard Jacowleff has spent in the telecom industry, he’s witnessed and been a part of extraordinary changes, from the breakup of AT&T in 1983 to the ubiquitous use of smartphones. Rising through the ranks from technician to director, executive director, vice president and now president and CEO of iconectiv, he’s always considered himself a builder rather than a manager. Whether putting together brilliant teams or technology solutions, it is a matter of wanting to improve things by doing better and inspiring others to do the same.

At iconectiv, we are dedicated to helping you navigate the ever-changing communication landscape. New technologies have revolutionized the way brands and consumers connect and engage with one another. This has given rise to unforeseen challenges, such as a rise in illegal robocalling and caller-ID spoofing. As a result, confidence in the communications industry and new technology is declining. Our TruReach platform features four unique products to simplify processes and help you maintain consumer confidence at a time when trust in communications is wavering.

Currently over 75% of calls are left unanswered when it comes from an unidentified or unfamiliar number. This is due to the spike in illegal robocalls. In October 2019, Americans were inundated with more than 2,000 robocalls every second, which is enough to put the annual total over 49 billion. Given this, the situation has progressively gotten worse and people are not trusting that what they see on the caller ID is correct. The SHAKEN/STIR framework aims to verify calling number information between networks.

Robocalling has been an intrusive annoyance to millions of people on a day-to-day basis to the extent that they no longer pick up their phones to calls from outside their contact lists. Fortunately in the US, which saw more than 48 billion robocalls in 2018, regulation has been enacted to stamp out the practice. New legislation, called The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED) could see robocallers fined up to US$10,000 per call by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Millions of people are working from home around the world as the coronavirus pandemic spreads and authorities plead for people to stay at home to slow the rate of contagion. Though people staying and working from home helps stop the spread of the virus, it increases the likelihood of companies getting hacked through weaknesses in employees’ home networks and misuse of VPN.