Anti-Robocall Cloud (ARC)

The Anti-Robocall Cloud (ARC) is a service that is sponsored by the FTC. The service allows Telco operators to easily integrate their network with a service that provides anti-robocall detection and prevention. Telco operators will send abbreviated Call Detail Records (CDRs) to the ARC in bulk thru a simple web-service API. The ARC will analyze the data in near real-time across all Telco operators. If a caller-ID is detected as a possible robocall, then the ARC will notify all Telco operators of the possible robocall with an expiration on the block event. Telco operators will then send future calls from that caller-ID within the expiration window to voicemail, instead of ringing the end-user phone. The voicemail greeting will notify the caller of the blocked call and allow the caller to by-pass the block by one of several possible techniques such as entering in a random 4-digit code presented to the caller. Alternatively, the caller can simply leave a voicemail for the end-user which can be forwarded via email. If the call is successfully by-passed, this information will be sent back to the ARC to create a closed-loop system. This information can then be used to detect possible false detections and therefore remove the blocks, such as might be the case for legitimate robocalls.

The ARC is an optional service that Telco operators will have to integrate with using a simple web-service API. The anti-robocall feature can then be promoted to their end-users as a value-added option. The end-users will have the ability to opt-in/out of the service. Only CDRs for users who have opted-in to the service will be sent to the ARC and only detected robocalls towards users who have opted-in to the service will have the potential to be re-routed to the voicemail service.

The understanding of the ARC is that it will not block all robocalls since the system is a learning-based detection and prevention system. However, the objective is to hit the illegal robocallers where it hurts most, which is their bottom-line. If the system can drive down the revenue associated with robocalling, then illegal Robocallers can be put out of business and eventually stop even more robocalls.