Spam calls are a problem for both personal and business phone lines. This problem can also affect virtual numbers that you use to conduct business and communicate with customers. Companies publish their phone numbers so customers will have an easier time connecting to them. But spammers can find them too. Let's look into ways to get rid of spam calls to VoIP numbers.
What Is a Spam Call?
Calls from an unknown person, robocalls, telemarketing calls, ghost calls (a call where no one is actually on the other side), all those types of activities could be called spam. If spammers besiege your mobile phone, it is simply frustrating. But when the same happens to phone lines you use for work, it could have more detrimental consequences.
Dangers of spam calls:
- They keep a phone line busy, blocking customers from reaching you;
- Spam calls distract employees, lower their focus;
- You spend time figuring out is this a sales pitch or a genuine inquiry about your company;
- Loss of money. Ghost calls are problematic when you have chargeable call forwarding, as you get charged after picking up a call, but there is no one on the other side. Besides that, if employees have to call back on every missed call, they might be dialing a phone number of a scammer, spending money on telephony in vain.
What to Do if Your Virtual Number Is Attacked by Spam?
Virtual phone numbers are considered more confidential because all communication happens without disclosing your private phone number. Shouldn't VoIP telephony be protected from spam? Thing is, a virtual phone number for business is published on various open platforms (social media, websites) and it could get to a database used by spammers or scammers. But by using VoIP telephony, you get more ways of blocking spam calls from various phone numbers.
How to Block Spam Calls if You Are an IP Telephony User:
Identify the Phone Number Using Caller ID and Check Your Contacts
If an unknown number calls your private phone number, likely, you will hang up, knowing about scammers. But when someone calls your virtual phone number for business, you cannot ignore it, because it might be a client. IP telephony has a Caller ID service helping to identify the caller, showing first and last name or a company name.
If you connected a virtual PBX along with CRM, then the system automatically searches phone numbers in your client database. Besides, an IP PBX has a voicemail available. A customer with an urgent need can leave a message if you miss their call, and you will be able to call back.
Blacklist the Undesirable Numbers
Freezvon virtual numbers have a blacklist and a whitelist feature, which allow removing undesirable calls and unloading the line. It is a paid feature, but you can use it to block spam calls and avoid most of them.
IVR as a Way to Neutralize Robocalls
Robocalls, or calls during which pre-recorded voice messages are delivered, are actively used in telemarketing. Companies use robotic calls to customers, and business partners, to notify them about updates or conduct a survey. However, such calls may be unwanted, and scammers use this tactic as well. Interactive Voice Response, or IVR, helps to filter robocalls out. To get connected to an agent, you need to press a key in a dial tone. Robots cannot do that, and the call will be completed, without bothering your call center agents.
Blocking Ghost Calls
One of the ways to neutralize this issue is to change the SIP telephone port. It is important to check the safety of the SIP telephony because fraudsters can not only bother you with calls but try to hack your SIP account. If you are facing this issue, please contact the Freezvon IP provider to block harmful IP addresses.
Cybersecurity Training for Employees
Call center agents receive hundreds of calls daily, and their manager needs to ensure everyone knows how to block spam calls. Conduct training and establish a rule to inform the team leader in case of a suspicious volume of calls from phone numbers that are not in your client base.
Protection from spam calls is a priority for the provider Freezvon. To reduce vulnerability and block suspicious IP addresses, we use AbuseIPDB and similar services. This helps take care of our customers, their virtual numbers, SIP accounts, and provide a convenient way of working with IP telephony. If you have any questions about virtual phone numbers for calls, SMS, fax, VoIP services, or a virtual IP PBX, you can contact us anytime.
