Investor · North Las Vegas · Member since 2020 · 18 posts · 9 votes
So, I use BatchLeads to send SMS and they will show you which numbers have been flagged as spam so you can order new numbers regularly. I use Xencall as my dialer and they don't seem to have the feature. I emailed them (Xencall) to ask about it and they suggested using 411.com reverse phone search. At first I was like, OK, no problem. I would diligently plug in all of my numbers one by one regularly each week to see the numbers labeled as "low spam risk". For reference, I put in both my personal number and my Google Voice number and both were also labeled as "low spam risk", so I assumed that was the baseline.
Fast forward 3 months, and I thought I was doing pretty well as far as my VAs and their professionalism and not getting flagged as Spam. However, just this morning, I decided "what the heck" I'm going to use Xencall to call my own phone, both personal number and GV number. Low and behold, my outbound call bank of numbers were coming up as "suspected spam". Who knows how long its been like this. I could have potentially been wasting thousands of records, not to mention the thousands of dollars in salaries of the VAs wasted on dialing numbers using spam-flagged numbers.
I've searched the web for a method for regularly checking my numbers and so far haven't come up with much. Being a virtual wholesaler/flipper I already spend quite a bit of money on different services (Dialer, Website, Lists App, County Lists, Call Tracking, CRM, Docusign, Social Media Manager, Data Organizer, Quickbooks....it just goes on and on.) Point being, I'd love to find a free service if possible, but if I MUST, I'll bite the bullet and get yet another service considering that could essentially cripple my business.
So....any of you knowledgeable BP'ers out there know of ways to be able to consistently and accurately check whether your outbound phone number bank has been flagged as spam?
I work for a company that provides CNAM (Caller ID Name) data to phone carriers. I'm also very familiar with the robo/spoofed call dilemma that is facing the telecom industry.
As I'm sure you have experienced, people receive a ton of spam calls on a daily basis. To combat this, many phone carriers have implemented nuisance/spam scoring algorithms. These phone carriers automatically flag numbers that show signs of being unwanted calls. Sometimes this is done by blocking them entirely, sometimes replacing the CNAM with something like "SUSPECTED SPAM."
Each phone carrier can decide how they want to handle calls the suspect are spam. For example, if you call my cell phone from Xencall, AT&T (my phone carrier) will decide, based on their internal algorithm, how they want to handle the call. In addition, there is no central database or whitelist that carriers can cross-reference to determine which calls are "known-good" or non-spam numbers. Each carrier is on its own and even if Xencall marks your number as safe or good, other carriers won't be able to access that information.
The only thing I can recommend is testing calleridreputation.com. While I can't speak to how effective it will be for you, you should be able to see how your outbound numbers score within a handful of different carriers and robocall mitigation services. Once you have identified which service/carrier is flagging your numbers, it may be worth reaching out to them directly to resolve.
I suspect 411.com provides a single score and doesn't evaluate many nuisance services when determining if your numbers are low-spam-risk.
I've only been cold calling for 4 months, but I encountered the same issue. I was using Calltools as my dialer and changing numbers every month, but the number still came up as Spam Likely when I called myself. I think it's a function on the volume of calls coming from the number. So I'm transitioning to less mass marketing and focusing on niche lists and hand dialing.
I work for a company that provides CNAM (Caller ID Name) data to phone carriers. I'm also very familiar with the robo/spoofed call dilemma that is facing the telecom industry.
As I'm sure you have experienced, people receive a ton of spam calls on a daily basis. To combat this, many phone carriers have implemented nuisance/spam scoring algorithms. These phone carriers automatically flag numbers that show signs of being unwanted calls. Sometimes this is done by blocking them entirely, sometimes replacing the CNAM with something like "SUSPECTED SPAM."
Each phone carrier can decide how they want to handle calls the suspect are spam. For example, if you call my cell phone from Xencall, AT&T (my phone carrier) will decide, based on their internal algorithm, how they want to handle the call. In addition, there is no central database or whitelist that carriers can cross-reference to determine which calls are "known-good" or non-spam numbers. Each carrier is on its own and even if Xencall marks your number as safe or good, other carriers won't be able to access that information.
The only thing I can recommend is testing calleridreputation.com. While I can't speak to how effective it will be for you, you should be able to see how your outbound numbers score within a handful of different carriers and robocall mitigation services. Once you have identified which service/carrier is flagging your numbers, it may be worth reaching out to them directly to resolve.
I suspect 411.com provides a single score and doesn't evaluate many nuisance services when determining if your numbers are low-spam-risk.
Thanks so much for the detailed reply. That was gold. I'll try calleridreputation.com and go from there. That makes a lot of sense, that there would likely not be any free options considering the service would need to be able to check with multiple carriers.
While it seems to "work" (I have been using some numbers without seeing them flagged) I don't know for sure. I still call my personal phone every now and then to check and rotate 5 numbers periodically.
I've been told that a lot of the time it doesn't even matter what the actual number is. As long as it's a VoIP number, some carriers will label it as spam or potential spam.
Batch reps state that you can call 150 times per day, per number. However, they don't state how many times per hour, but they do say that cab affect being flagged.
I'm just getting started, but im going to have my VA call me on a daily basis, to make sure its not flagged. It's free, and only takes a few seconds. I will also review the analytics on a daily basis.
Batch reps state that you can call 150 times per day, per number. However, they don't state how many times per hour, but they do say that cab affect being flagged.
I'm just getting started, but im going to have my VA call me on a daily basis, to make sure its not flagged. It's free, and only takes a few seconds. I will also review the analytics on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, spam/nuisance scoring is often done by the terminating carrier in real-time. A number flagged as spam at one point during the day, may not be flagged several hours later. If your VA calls you to verify, make sure you don't have him/her in your address book. Even then, spam scoring models and treatment of CNAM (calling name/caller name) varies from carrier to carrier, and call to call. What might display on your cell phone may not necessarily display on your business VOIP line or your home landline...
Here is the guidance that my company provides to consumers:
1. Do not use one main calling telephone number for multiple uses. Outbound numbers used for multiple purposes tend to get flagged by analytics engines and receive mixed feedback from consumers. For example, a telephone number used for marketing should not be used by other departments for other subjects.
By segmenting the use of telephone numbers by purpose or by subject, enterprises can improve their number’s status as legitimate.
2. Avoid excessive calling to the same call recipient. Review the number of times a particular user is called across all outbound calling campaigns from the same calling party in a short amount of time. Call recipients are generally tolerant of receiving two calls per day from the same calling party. However, once those calls increase to three or greater per day user tolerance significantly drops and users begin to block numbers or mark them as spam.
3. Ensure users expect a call. Review the methods used to opt users into outbound calling campaigns to ensure they are clear. Validated users understand they should expect a call from the calling party and place the calls within 90 days of the user opting in to be contacted.
4. Respect users’ requests not to be contacted. Comply with Do Not Call lists, other TCPA requirements, and user requests not to contact and provide a number/contact information that called parties can use to prosecute or report any alleged violations of law.
5. Provide a consistent, real, and user-dialable telephone number with every call you make. Calls from a calling party number that is invalid or not assigned to the caller will likely be flagged as spam and may be potentially blocked.
6. Provide a consistent Calling Name that matches the context. Displaying an accurate and consistent Caller Name gives customers more confidence in knowing who is calling and helps them make the decision to answer the call.
7. Align the context and content of calls for the duration of the number’s assignment. Consistently using the same number for the same purpose results in a more accurate reputation. Keep your numbers to a single subject (department) use to avoid being tagged as a robocall.
8. Document normal calling patterns. When launching a new call campaign, use a number that is compliant and known. This will aid analytics and service providers to designate the number as legitimate and not a number that’s being spoofed. Avoid unusual spikes in traffic volumes and follow and document expected and normative call pattern descriptions.
9. Don’t use a pre-recorded message for lead prospecting calls. Have a live person on the call. Call recipients are not very tolerant of lead prospecting calls that use a pre-recorded message and often report them as spam.
10. Don’t call unassigned numbers frequently. Know your customers and their current numbers. Frequent calls to unassigned numbers become a red flag and mirror a technique that bad actors use by dialing random numbers looking for unsuspecting consumers
I have run in to this as well.. One of my partners recommended you type a text before the call saying something to the affect of “my partner Jeff will be giving you a call from (insert number)" then call them from the other number on your account. That way, it will show up as “maybe:Jeff” rather than spam. Kind boot leg, but seems to do the trick.
@Duane Alexander do you still use batch? I'm currently on roor for last 4 yrs. My VA is raving about batch and wants us to move there. Any insight?
I like batchdialer for cold calling, but for texts/rvms I like Reireply , Marketingplex (which is basically the same as Reireply), and Launch Control
@Duane Alexander, I've seen you advocate for batch dialer on another thread. ReiReply looks pretty awesome and it has a dialer. What do you like more about dialing via Batchdialer over REIReply? Are you saying you use both REIReply and Marketingplex at the same time? Isn't there a bunch of functionality overlap?
@Duane Alexander do you still use batch? I'm currently on roor for last 4 yrs. My VA is raving about batch and wants us to move there. Any insight?
I like batchdialer for cold calling, but for texts/rvms I like Reireply , Marketingplex (which is basically the same as Reireply), and Launch Control
@Duane Alexander, I've seen you advocate for batch dialer on another thread. ReiReply looks pretty awesome and it has a dialer. What do you like more about dialing via Batchdialer over REIReply? Are you saying you use both REIReply and Marketingplex at the same time? Isn't there a bunch of functionality overlap?
Hey Grant. I stopped using Reireply before they added the multiline dialer so I can't really give an opinion on it. I no longer cold call, but I loved the simplicity of Batch Dialer. Very intuitive and well designed compared to other popular dialers out there like Call Tools and what not. I switched from Reireply to marketing plex because my account got banned on Reireply so I decided to give Marketing Plex a shot. Now my company uses Launch Control as my texting platform to great success.