Unfortunately, we live in a time where you have to really consider whether you want to answer any calls that come from a number outside of your contact list.
More often than not, those calls come from spam numbers or people trying to scam you in one way or another.
Google announced on The Keyword that it is aiming to combat this issue with a new Verified Calls feature that will let businesses verify themselves. So, when they call a customer, the person will know exactly who is calling and that the call is legitimate.
The new feature doesn’t require any effort on the part of end-users. You just need to use Google’s Phone app (which is preinstalled on many Android devices). If your phone doesn’t have Google’s Phone app, Google says that it will be available for download starting later this week on even more Android devices.
Businesses will need to do a little bit of legwork to verify their business and phone number. Google has a website where you can request more information about becoming a verified partner.
Google says that it has been testing the new feature, and has found that it greatly increases answer rates for businesses.
One of the side-effects of spam calls that end users don’t often think about is how legitimate businesses have a harder time getting hold of their customers because they’re afraid to answer their phone. This program should rectify that for businesses that choose to verify their numbers.
Of course, Google’s new Verified Calls feature is not a perfect system. There are tons of smartphone users with iOS devices and Android users not working with Google’s Phone app.
Is it worth it for companies to go through the effort of verifying their numbers knowing that only some users will actually benefit from doing so? Only time will tell. However, it’s certainly a step in the right direction for combating spam and scam calls.