By: Ali Mumtaz Rana, Chief Technology Officer, 46 Labs

Businesses are making more calls than ever, but fewer people are picking up. The rise of VoIP and mobile-first communication has brought convenience, but it’s also introduced a significant identity issue. When a consumer sees an unfamiliar number pop up on their screen, they often assume it’s spam, a scam, or a robocall—and they usually ignore it.

This erosion of trust is taking a measurable toll. Declining answer rates reduce customer engagement, diminish service experiences, and siphon billions from potential revenue pipelines.

By modernizing the business-to-consumer call, branded calling offers a pathway to restoring trust and improving answer rates. Companies can now display their name, logo, and even the purpose of the call directly on a recipient’s screen—a step toward helping consumers make more informed decisions about whether to engage.

But not all branded calling solutions function the same way. With proprietary, carrier-controlled systems competing against open, standards-based alternatives, the coming years will likely determine who shapes the future of enterprise voice—and how accessible and effective that future could be.

The Consumer Trust Crisis

In an all-IP world where phone numbers are easily spoofed and robocalls are rampant, it’s understandable that consumer trust in phone calls has declined. Unfortunately, this also means legitimate calls—from doctors’ offices, banks, or delivery services—frequently go unanswered.

The business implications are significant. Missed healthcare reminders can lead to no-shows and poorer health outcomes. Undelivered packages cause delays and customer dissatisfaction. Customer issues remain unresolved. Collectively, these inefficiencies contribute to substantial revenue losses. A phone number, once seen as a trusted form of contact, has become a symbol of uncertainty. This breakdown in trust has rendered traditional caller ID ineffective. Without a reliable and user-centered solution, enterprise voice communication may continue to lose relevance with consumers.

Why VoIP Creates New Trust Challenges

To understand why consumer trust in phone calls has faltered, it helps to examine the technological shift underneath. The transition from traditional phone networks to VoIP systems has introduced new complexities, especially concerning caller identity. While frameworks like STIR/SHAKEN aim to address some of these issues, they fall short of resolving the broader trust problem. A sustainable solution will require both technical advancements and improved user experience across the entire calling ecosystem.

No End-to-End Authentication for VoIP

Traditional circuit-switched telephone networks had a built-in layer of trust because caller ID data was tied to physical infrastructure; in today’s packet-switched VoIP systems, that trust framework is missing. Caller ID information now travels as metadata, which can be easily manipulated or spoofed. Since VoIP calls often pass through multiple carriers and platforms, there’s no universal method to authenticate the actual source of a call. This authentication gap sits at the core of the identity issues affecting modern business communications.

STIR/SHAKEN Only Solves Part of the Problem

STIR/SHAKEN uses digital signatures to verify that the carrier initiating a call is authorized to use a specific phone number, which can help reduce spoofing and robocalls. But it doesn’t go far enough. Even when a number is verified, it still doesn’t tell the recipient who is calling or why. Without additional context or branding, these calls may still be perceived as untrustworthy. In essence, authentication alone cannot bridge the visibility gap businesses are facing today.

The Need for All-IP and User Interface Improvements

As telecom infrastructure continues moving toward all-IP networks, there is an opportunity to enhance the overall call experience. Consumers don’t just need a number—they need recognizable identifiers like a name, logo, and reason for the call. For branded calling to truly succeed, mobile interfaces must evolve to natively support and display this enhanced information in a clear and consistent manner.

A Better Way to Earn Consumer Trust

Branded calling has emerged as a meaningful strategy for businesses to rebuild trust with consumers. However, early implementations came with significant limitations. Today, a new, standards-based model is reshaping the landscape, introducing greater competition, enhanced flexibility, and a more unified system focused on transparency and user empowerment.

One key contributor to this evolution is 46 Labs, whose approach is helping businesses effectively enhance caller identity verification, creating a more reliable and trusted calling experience for both enterprises and consumers alike.

Proprietary Branded Calling

Between 2019 and 2024, the branded calling market was controlled by three major vendors who maintained exclusive relationships with mobile carriers. These vendors effectively acted as gatekeepers, limiting how businesses could manage their outbound caller identities. To reach most major U.S. carriers, companies had to contract with all three providers—a challenging and often costly endeavor. Each vendor brought its own set of technical requirements, onboarding processes, and pricing tiers, resulting in a fragmented and inconsistent ecosystem.

This consolidation reduced options for businesses, making it harder to negotiate pricing or request customized features. High fees and uneven consumer experiences were frequent, and potential conflicts of interest arose when vendors served both carriers and enterprise clients. These barriers caused many organizations to hesitate or avoid branded calling solutions, even though the concept clearly held potential to improve trust and engagement.

The New Standards-Based Approach

In late 2024, the branded calling space saw a major development: the introduction of Branded Calling ID (BCID), a CTIA-led initiative designed to replace siloed vendor ecosystems with a standardized, open framework. BCID integrates strong identity verification and Rich Call Data (RCD) to display a caller’s name, logo, and purpose, alongside a digital trust mark confirming authenticity.

The BCID model is structured around transparent roles and responsibilities. Vetting partners confirms business legitimacy. Onboarding partners manage the correct technical setup. Signing agents apply digital credentials. Network operators deliver the branded content to consumers in real time. BCID’s Best Practices framework supports self-regulation and rapid enforcement, leading to more reliable and uniform caller experiences across networks.

Open Ecosystem = Many Choices and Market Prices

Where the old system was closed and centralized, BCID opens the branded calling space to a broader market of service providers. This encourages innovation and introduces pricing competition. Businesses can now select partners based on their specific technical and financial requirements, whether launching branded calling for a small team or a global customer service department.

This shift signals a move from a limited-access, premium-priced service toward a more open, standardized ecosystem that has the potential to deliver trust, flexibility, and measurable return on investment.

The Future of Business-to-Consumer Calls

As branded calling gains momentum, it brings a range of benefits for businesses, consumers, and the telecommunications industry as a whole. The move toward open standards and cooperative frameworks is laying the groundwork for a smarter, more secure, and more meaningful calling experience.

Improved Economics for Business

With standards-based branded calling now available, businesses are seeing opportunities to lower per-call costs due to competition among providers and more streamlined technical integration. Improved answer rates lead to better ROI—calls are more likely to be picked up, increasing conversion rates and customer satisfaction. What’s more, small and mid-sized companies now have access to tools for trusted caller identity that were once only feasible for large enterprises, creating new pathways for market expansion and customer engagement.

Improved Recognizability and Trust for Consumers

Consumers benefit significantly from branded calling. With access to verified identity data and visual cues, they’re better equipped to determine whether to answer a call. These features are delivered without compromising privacy—no personal data is shared, and consumers retain full control over how they manage calls. This combination of transparency and control helps cultivate a calling environment that feels more secure and familiar.

Improved Traceability and Accountability for Everyone

Branded calling also aids in curbing fraud. When caller identities are verified and authenticated, it becomes easier to identify misuse and hold bad actors accountable. Regulators can more effectively monitor trends, enforce rules, and respond to violations. Consumers, meanwhile, gain better tools for reporting and blocking spam or scam calls, leading to a cleaner, more accountable phone ecosystem.

Rebuilding Trust, One Call at a Time

The evolution of branded calling marks a significant shift in how businesses engage with consumers over the phone. By replacing closed, vendor-controlled systems with open, standards-based solutions, the telecommunications industry is moving toward a model that emphasizes clarity, safety, and user empowerment.

With advantages that include reduced operational costs, improved engagement, enhanced trust, and better fraud deterrence, branded calling is shaping up to be an essential part of the modern enterprise communication toolkit. The future of voice is no longer just about connectivity—it’s about credibility, context, and confidence.