Twilio Begins Signing Enterprise Calls Using SHAKEN/STIR Protocols To Help Stop Illegal Robocalls for End Users

SAN FRANCISCO, April 8, 2020 — Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), the leading cloud communications platform, today announced that it has launched an initiative to authenticate enterprise calls on Twilio’s platform to help ensure that end users receive calls coming from trusted sources. The process has started in the United States and will expand during the course of the next year. 

The authentication process has been developed and implemented by Twilio to comply with the SHAKEN/STIR protocol. Once SHAKEN/STIR is fully implemented amongst the rest of the telecommunications industry, Twilio will be able to verify customer calls received on the Twilio platform, providing consumers with the information necessary to decide whether to answer the call or not.   

“Launching our initiative to sign enterprise customer calls within the SHAKEN/STIR framework puts Twilio at the forefront of industry-wide efforts to ensure trusted customer communications, particularly with regards to calls from businesses,” said Jesper Joergensen, general manager of Voice and Video for Twilio. “Authentication is only one part of the overall calling process but is a crucial element for overcoming the toxic effects of spoofing and illegal robocalls. We want our customers to know that we are doing everything we can to make sure that their calls are indeed received and answered.”

Twilio’s authentication efforts are part of a larger effort to support the broader telecommunications industry’s commitment to comply with the Federal Communications Commission’s mandate that voice service providers adopt the SHAKEN/STIR protocol by June 2021. The goal is to implement a system-wide program to digitally sign and verify calls, allowing consumers and business users to be confident that the caller ID information they are seeing has been verified. Twilio co-chairs the Robocalling and Communication ID Spoofing group for the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), in addition to having a seat on its board of directors. Members of ATIS, along with the Internet Engineering Task Force and the SIP Forum (Session Initiation Protocol), work together as an industry consortium to develop and implement the SHAKEN/STIR protocol to eradicate illegal spoofing. Twilio is able to support the deployment of SHAKEN/STIR by partnering with Neustar Inc., a global information services and technology company, to digitally sign and verify calls in real time made on Twilio’s platform. By incorporating automated caller identity validation, Twilio will be able to detect and flag illegally spoofed calls in real time to protect users from phone scams and ensure that legitimate and wanted calls are indeed received and answered by end users.

Twilio is committed to continue working with its colleagues in the telecommunications industry and public policy officials to increase fully authenticated, verified traffic throughout the network in 2020 and beyond to stop illegally spoofed calls and help restore trust between businesses and consumers.