STIR/SHAKEN Caller ID Spoofing Prevention Program FAQ
Overview
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US has taken action to limit the ability of robocalls to scam consumers and businesses through rules to address caller ID spoofing. As of June 30, 2021, voice providers must sign calls originating on their service using STIR/SHAKEN. This allows the voice service provider receiving the call to know that originating telephone number is not spoofed. 8x8 is signing all originating traffic on our service under STIR/SHAKEN.
See also: FCC page on Combating Spoofed Robocalls
FAQ
What is STIR/SHAKEN?
STIR stands for Secure Telephony Identity Revisited.
SHAKEN stands for Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs.
Basically, STIR/SHAKEN is a way to authenticate the originating telephone number for a phone call so that the voice service provider receiving the call knows that the displayed originating telephone number is accurate.
Why is STIR/SHAKEN now required?
The FCC has been pressing telecommunications providers to address robocalling, scam calls, and unwanted telemarketing calls. One tactic used by these callers is to spoof the originating telephone number to make the call appear that it is from a number that the call recipient is more likely to answer (e.g., make it look like the call is from the recipient’s local area). STIR/SHAKEN will allow the voice provider receiving a call to know that an incoming call is originated by the displayed originating number.
When will STIR/SHAKEN be implemented?
The FCC has required STIR/Shaken implementation by June 30, 2021.
What is 8x8 doing about STIR/SHAKEN?
We are signing all calls originating on our service under STIR/SHAKEN and have certified that we are doing this in the FCC Robocall Mitigation Database.
How will this impact my outbound calls?
As your outbound calls on 8x8’s service are signed under STIR/SHAKEN, your calls should not be treated as non-authenticated or blocked by the voice service provider on the receiving end based on lack of STIR/SHAKEN authentication. However, the FCC has also allowed voice service providers to label or block likely robocalls or unwanted traffic by default based on any reasonable analytics. Thus, a receiving voice service provider may still label a call that it receives as likely spam or block it even if the originating call is signed under STIR/SHAKEN. If you believe that a receiving voice service provider is mislabeling your outbound calls as likely spam or blocking them, let us know by contacting 8x8 Support.