Picking your (tech) poison wisely
What to do and what not to do when you consider adding new tools and technology to your tech stack.
Developers, Make Your Calls REALLY Legit with Branded Calling
Let’s be real - getting a call from an unknown number is often just plain annoying. You’re not alone if you hit "decline" right away; around 78% of people do the same to dodge spam or scams. But what if your app could change that experience entirely?
Meet Branded Caller from Infobip.
Unlike regular caller ID that might flash a name (or worse, just a number), Branded Caller puts verified, visual brand info front and center. Think: the company’s logo, a recognizable display name, and even a quick note about why they’re calling. No more mystery calls.
For developers, this isn’t just a nice-to-have feature – it’s a serious upgrade to the voice call experience.
By integrating Branded Caller, you’re helping businesses increase answer rates, build trust, and fight fraud, all while working inside a secure and standardized ecosystem built for interoperability and long-term use.
Why developers should care about branded calling?
With call fraud on the rise in the U.S., Branded Caller has stepped up by using cryptographic security under the STIR/SHAKEN protocol to verify caller numbers and significantly reduce spoofing and robocalls.
As Ryan McQueary (Manager of Voice Engineering, Infobip) explains, STIR/SHAKEN is a set of industry standards that enhance call verification by cryptographically signing voice calls – a critical step for ensuring call authenticity.
Here’s how it works from a technical standpoint:
When a call is placed, the originating service provider sends a verification request to an Authentication Service (AS). This request includes key details like the originating and receiving phone numbers, timestamp, and an important metric called the trust level or Attestation Level.
This trust level indicates how reliable the call is:
- Both the network and caller are trusted.
- The network is trusted, but the caller is not.
- Neither the network nor the caller is trusted.
The Authentication Service then returns an Identity Header, which includes a cryptographic signature and certificate. This data travels along with the call through the phone network. Before the call reaches the recipient, the terminating provider verifies this signature and trust level.
Based on the verification results, the provider can decide to mark the call as “trusted,” block it, label it as “SPAM Likely,” or flag it for further action.
For developers, this process offers a powerful way to build secure, trusted communication apps and services that can help businesses reduce fraud while improving customer trust and engagement.
STIR/SHAKEN – one protocol to rule them all
Early branded calling systems, or “legacy” approaches, explains McQueary, relied on a patchwork of databases, carrier deals, and handset partnerships. They showed logos or caller names but were fragmented, lacked cryptographic security, and varied in accuracy across networks and devices.
Legacy systems didn’t securely embed branding into call signaling, and before STIR/SHAKEN, there was no standard way to transport and validate branding across carriers – making calls vulnerable to tampering.
STIR/SHAKEN changes all that.
It builds a higher level of trust for carriers and users by ensuring the displayed brand identity stays legit and can’t be easily faked.
And because STIR/SHAKEN is based on industry – wide standards, it works seamlessly across carriers, mobile systems, and networks. Regulators, carriers, and standards bodies back it as the universal solution, making cryptographically signed branding more trusted wherever calls go.
How do I wire Branded Caller into my stack?
So, how do you plug Branded Caller into your existing setup, and what’s needed to make it work?
First off, Infobip acts as the Originating Service Provider and signs calls using a Signing Agent from the CTIA ecosystem. They picked SecureG to handle this crypto magic, making sure calls are legit and trusted.
Next, they team up with an Onboarding and Vetting Agent, NumHub, which lets customers securely add their brands to the mix. Think of it as the bouncer making sure only the right brands get in.
Security’s no joke here, Infobip runs a strict KYC (Know Your Customer) check before handing out Virtual Local Numbers. They follow CTIA’s standards to keep everything reliable and above board.
And it’s not just about old-school phone calls (PSTN). Infobip also supports cool OTT channels like Viber Business Calls and WhatsApp Business Calling, showing off verified business names and logos. That way, businesses can reach customers wherever they’re most likely to pick up.
Want to learn more about Branded Caller? We’re here to help!
