Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: we have a huge problem with fraud, spammers and robocallers. Robocalls are the FCC’s top consumer complaint and the agency’s number one consumer protection priority. Between 3 and 5 billion robocalls are placed each month, with over 40 percent of them potentially fraudulent.
It’s the digital communications age, where everyone has a cell phone and telephone numbers are universally used as unique personal identifiers, connected to even more databases than our social security numbers. Put a phone number together with a few key pieces of information easily gleaned from social media, and any bad actor has what they need.
So it’s no surprise that robocalls, fraud and social engineering attacks are on the rise, wreaking havoc with both individuals and businesses.
In today’s centralized systems, there’s no efficient way to share and attest to the legitimate telephone number subscriber’s identity. Subscribers have no control over their personal information, nor over what data are shared or with whom, leading to fraud and a total breakdown in trust in communications.
Data associated with telephone numbers are held in disparate, centralized databases that don’t talk with each other. Often the same data must be entered over and over again to accomplish the simplest, most mundane tasks, creating egregious errors and gross inefficiencies.
When text messaging became available in 2007 for non-wireless numbers, it created a whole new avenue for fraudsters to take advantage of our siloed systems – because although texting and voice use the same number, they operate in two completely different ecosystems.
Over the years, there have been many attempts to solve the problem – but to little or no effect. “Do Not Call” lists, wireless phone applications and independent databases promoting their “trusted” solutions for enterprises and carriers have all failed.
The U.S. government recently passed legislation called STIR/SHAKEN; these new industry standards are designed to combat fraud and robocalls by confirming the caller’s identity and creating a digital signature. But we believe this solution fails to address the root cause of the problem, and that the real solution will be found within blockchain technology.
Even the biggest, most powerful enterprises have zero visibility into how their telephone data is used. Today, the enterprise must send a request to the service provider that provisions their service. Enterprises are not involved in the attestation of data – whether it’s phone calls, texting or other features.
Not surprisingly, the process to move a phone number to a different provider is also sorely outdated. It typically involves a paper-based LOA (letter of authorization) which is prone to fraud, and approval times are unnecessarily long and drawn-out.
The KYC (Know Your Customer) process also involves paper documents that enterprises must file with their service providers. These PDFs expire within 30 days of signature and are often filed away and collect dust just like the contracts enterprises sign with carriers.
Just one incident stemming from our broken system can ruin an enterprise’s brand reputation and cost millions to repair.
TNID makes the sorely-needed paradigm shift our industry needs: using shared software to solve problems commonly experienced by almost every enterprise, service provider, and participant within the chain of custody.
TNID (Trusted Number ID) will completely transform how delivered communications are trusted. It provides a future-proof solution to these major identity management issues.
In short, TNID restores trust in communications for all legitimate holders of local and Toll-Free telephone numbers and IOT devices.
We like to say that TNID enables Communications at the speed of trust. When customers trust your organization, your messages get through quickly, without glitches or delays.
Enterprises, service providers, and anyone tied to a telephone number or device can leverage TNID’s “source of truth” because the information is vetted and attested by all members of the chain of custody. There’s no weak link in an immutable chain when cryptographically secured. The enterprise and its clients own the record's contents, including the LOA, KYC, use cases, and all features and assets associated with a telephone number.
By creating an attested record of identity tied to a telephone number, hackers and fraudsters face a costly and thus-far impregnable system.
TSG Global is determined to transform the way communications is delivered and solve these major identity management issues.
TSG clients are the first on the blockchain and thus the first to build their record and own their data. By integrating with TNID, TSG Global provides its clients the ability to deliver trusted consensual communications – without entering data into multiple third-party databases.
Once and done – using TNID’s safe and secure identity management technology, TSG Global clients build the record for each phone number once. They won’t ever have to build another API or interface into the many endpoints requiring identity information.
This approach is further affirmed by ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry); the 150+ member group recognizes the huge potential of blockchain technology to solve the many “real-world challenges facing today’s communications industry.” ATIS’ whitepaper released August 2021 affirms that blockchain can provide the highest attestation level for enterprises and vendors when attempting to complete calls under the FCC’s SHAKEN mandate.
Using TNID’s unique technology, TSG clients can dramatically improve number management, reduce and/or eliminate fraud and solve the many communications challenges commonly faced by large enterprises.
TNID provides a streamlined way to manage telephone numbers and the ever-growing data attributes associated with these and other unique identifiers.
A decentralized, distributed ledger (blockchain) network based on shared software, TNID offers a plethora of advantages over the existing communication Industry database methodology and structure.
A cloud-based solution leveraging Hyperledger technology, TNID creates a super highway for enterprises, service providers, carriers and registries to attest information for a phone number via a one-degree relationship (aka the “chain of custody”).
*A2P 10DLC enables U.S. businesses to send Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging via standard 10-digit long code (10DLC) phone numbers. A registered 10DLC messaging campaign offers better delivery quality with less risk of being filtered or blocked.
How Can TSG Global Help Us With 10DLC?
Thanks to extensive experience with business text messaging and our deep industry connections, TSG Global can help businesses comply with the changing policies around 10DLC.
TSG Global is actively working with The Campaign Registry (TCR) and other stakeholders to provide its clients with the easiest and most efficient way to register their brands and campaigns. Thanks to our deep industry knowledge and strong working relationships, we can help our clients save time and money.
Our expert and agile team provides enterprise-grade solutions, bridging the many gaps between carriers and enterprises that use messaging as a key communications tool.
What’s The Campaign Registry?
The Campaign Registry (TCR) is a reputation authority for business messaging on 10-digit telephone numbers (10DLC). TCR enables SMS messaging service providers such as TSG Global (called Campaign Service Providers or CSPs) to register 10DLC SMS campaigns on behalf of their customers.
The move to 10DLC is designed to protect consumers from spam and phishing messages. Carriers are requiring transparency into message content and the type and purpose of the messaging campaign. Wireless carriers will no longer support unsanctioned A2P long code messaging.
After registering a campaign with TCR, CSPs such as TSG Global work with their connectivity partners to activate the campaign, enabling their customers to send messages to end-users.
Let TSG Global do the work for you by providing the information necessary for TCR to perform basic cybersecurity and identity checks
What Information is Required?
When registering new campaigns, companies must provide information to validate their brand identity, industry vertical, campaign type and CSP.
In addition, they must explain how the messaging will be used (e.g., alerts, two-factor authentication, marketing). Additional information and/or third-party vetting may be required for special campaign types such as political and charity campaigns and emergency services..
Once the company and or brand is authenticated, TCR issues a Campaign ID number that’s provided to the CSP for use with the registered campaign.
Need Help with 10DLC?
In short, TSG Global guides enterprises through the complex process, ensuring that all requirements to register a 10DLC campaign have been met. Click below to schedule a one-on-one with our 10DLC experts today.
