As more people suffer from spam and fraud calls, Hiya has partnered with Ericsson to launch a technology solution for anti-spam and fraud calls worldwide.
Spam and fraud calls have been a disturbing phenomenon around the world lately. Unfortunately, quite a few people have fallen victim to fraud, spam and robocalls from criminals who aim to trick the recipient into buying a service or divulging sensitive personal information that could lead to hacks. This situation has led to the emergence of various network-based call protection solutions to protect people and their businesses from unsolicited and fraudulent calls.
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Ericsson and Hiya. are ready to provide call protection solution services that will save more people from spam and fraud calls announced a collaboration deal that provides network-based protection to people around the world. Tagged Call Qualification, the solution is expected to be available to all wireless carriers using the Ericsson IP Multimedia Subsystem.
With Call Qualification, Hiya and Ericsson offer an adaptive AI machine learning technology that can help customers detect and stop new and emerging scams that come their way through phone calls. Aside from Ericsson’s IP IMS, the network-based call security technology also works in tandem with Ericsson’s Mobile Switching System to provide coverage for both 4G/5G and 2G/3G networks.
Alex Algard, CEO and founder of Hiya, commented on the launch, noting that “spam and fraud calls are a huge problem for individuals and businesses alike – and it’s only going to get worse as the bad guys making these calls get more sophisticated in Their tactics. Through our partnership with Ericsson, providers will have immediate access to Hiya’s most advanced, AI-powered call protection features worldwide, giving subscribers a superior voice calling experience and greater network confidence.”
David Bjore, Ericsson’s Head of Solution Area Communication Services, reiterated the need for the partnership, stating that “Spam, fraud and obnoxious phone calls are a frustration that can affect almost anyone with a phone. It is certainly an area that is likely to positively impact subscriber satisfaction and customer loyalty if they can be stopped. That is exactly what we want to achieve, in partnership with Hiya, for carrier customers with Call Qualification.”
Why the collaboration came about
The increasing number of fraud calls could be an important reason why this collaboration came about. hiyas 2022 Call Report Status revealed that spam and fraud calls are on the rise worldwide, up 13% from the previous year. The Hiya report further revealed that mobile subscribers now receive an average of 14 unwanted calls per month, and a quarter of consumers reported losing money to a phone scam with an average loss of $542 per victim. Consumers and companies therefore expect network providers to take action and solve this problem.
a 2021 report by First Orion, a digital calling experience service provider for carriers, suggested that consumers received approximately 110 billion scam calls, resulting in 88 million scammer victims and an estimated $44.2 billion in scam losses. Likewise, according to Truecaller, another player in the call security services industry, over the past twelve months, the total money lost on scam calls in the US was valued at $29.8 billion.
While the US has been a prime target for spam and fraud calls in recent years, Truecaller’s top 20 countries affected by spam report puts Brazil as the country most affected by fraud incidents, followed by Peru and Ukraine.
Given the spike in fraud and scam calls that customers around the world have witnessed, other mobile tech companies have also unveiled their spam call protection solutions in recent years. Some notable mentions include AT&T Call Protect for AT&T users, T-Mobile Name ID for T-Mobile users, and Truecaller.
The future of the spam call protection industry
The announcement of the partnership between Ericsson and Hiya to tackle fraud and call scams is arguably the latest boost in the call security solution. However, other spam call protection solutions have been launched recently.
For example, last year Teltech Systems launched RoboKiller’s Call Confidence API, which allows companies to fight spam and robocalls by strengthening their network’s defenses against illegal phone scammers. In addition, another major player in the mobile communications technology sector, T-Mobile, has launched a caller authentication technology in 2019. Labeled Caller Verified, this solution offers its customers protection against scammers and spammers who use telephone techniques to swindle their customers.
With all these call protection services, it is hoped that more phone users will be protected from spam and fraud calls. Through this partnership, Hiya hopes to take advantage of Ericsson’s global market coverage to reach more international customers.