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Caller reputation and spam label help

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Hiya Caller Reputation — included automatically for customers within Hiya Connect Number Registration — enables businesses to see their spam status and a reputation report card. This article explains how spam labeling works, how to read your reputation report card, and what to do if your calls are being labeled as spam.

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Understanding spam labeling and categories

Hiya's spam labeling is used by major mobile service companies worldwide, including Samsung, AT&T, and Virgin Media O2, to protect users and deter scam calls. By registering phone numbers within Connect Number Registration, you can view whether or not calls from registered phone numbers are being labeled by Hiya as spam. (Note: spam labeling can occur on other networks that don't use Hiya, and that labeling will not be reflected here.)

What is spam labeling?

A call labeled as spam may display with a warning to the recipient or be blocked. If a call is labeled as spam, that can indicate that it is not following best practices that respect the wishes of recipients, such as creating aggressive nuisance calls.

The spam labeling status is provided as one of three possible values:

  • "Labeled spam" indicates that calls from this number are likely to be labeled as spam in the future, and likely have been labeled as spam in the past as well.
  • "Moderate risk" reflects that a phone number may not currently be labeled as spam, but has been labeled as spam in the recent past and so may be at risk of receiving a spam label again.
  • "Low risk" phone numbers are unlikely to be labeled as spam.

Please note that spam labeling is dynamic for every phone call, not a static property of a phone number. Every call is analyzed based on historical and real-time data. Therefore, not every call from a phone number may have the same label, and the flag status is not a guarantee of future call labeling.

Spam category

For phone numbers labeled as spam, Hiya may be identifying a specific category of spam to the user. Common categories include "Telemarketer", "Survey", or "Political", among others. Not every phone number labeled as spam will have a specific category, and those without a category are likely showing a general spam warning to recipients. Also, the exact label may vary depending on the network or device on which it is being displayed.

Understanding your reputation report card

While viewing the list of phone numbers in the Number Registration section of the console, click on any phone number to see additional details about the phone number. This includes the number reputation report card, which includes performance grades against four key factors that can influence spam labeling.

These grades, from A (good) to D (very poor), are a reflection of calling behavior and recipient engagement with past phone calls, which guides the possibility of future spam labeling. Understanding your report card is a crucial first step for any phone number being labeled as spam.

Maturity

What it means: Maturity is a reflection of whether a calling phone number is well established. A number is considered "mature" either if it creates a higher volume of calls, or if it's seen creating calls over multiple days/weeks (even at very low volumes).

How to use it: Phone numbers with little to no calling history can be a red flag for spam analytics systems, as it can indicate that the business is attempting to evade spam labeling by changing phone numbers. For a phone number with a low grade in maturity, the enterprise should establish themselves by using that phone number; making even a handful of calls makes a difference.

Follow-up questions: If a business receives a poor grade, here are questions to dig deeper:

  • Why hasn't this phone number been used? Is it new?
  • Was the number added to replace other numbers that were labeled as spam? If so, the underlying number reputation problem probably still needs to be addressed.

Connection

What it means: This grade, based on the reactions of call recipients to calls from this number, shows whether recipients of calls from this number tend to answer the phone when called from this number. It can indicate if the recipients are expecting or want to receive this call.

How to use it: If a phone number has a low grade for its connection quality, it could mean recipients aren't finding the calls to be relevant to them. This can often be due to overly aggressive calling patterns such as calling too often, or continuing to call after the recipient gives an indicator they aren't interested (like hanging up on a previous call). This is also one area where call branding can really assist — if a call is expected and wanted, it's possible the recipient just doesn't realize who is calling them.

Follow-up questions: If a business receives a poor grade, here are questions to dig deeper:

  • What is the policy for repeat calling to the same recipient? Policies that require a recipient to explicitly request to be removed from a calling list will lead to unanswered calls and poor connection.
  • For telesales, consider the integrity of any leads lists. Lists that are old or have minimal consent can lead to unexpected calls that then go unanswered.
  • Do recipients likely know who's calling? If calls have no branding, and/or are placed well after the recipient may have given consent, they may not realize who is calling or why it would be relevant to answer.

Engagement

What it means: This grade, based on the reactions of call recipients to calls from this number, reflects whether recipients tend to stay on the line when they answer the call. It can be an indicator that recipients are engaging with the inbound call and having a meaningful conversation.

How to use it: Calls with a low grade in engagement may or may not indicate a problem. Some calls, like appointment reminders, will naturally have lower engagement from recipients since they aren't meant to have a lengthy conversation. But for other types of calls, this usually is a clear indicator that recipients don't get value from the calls (especially if you find the recipient is the one hanging up). It is a major indicator of low-quality lead lists for sales-based services.

Follow-up questions: If a business receives a poor grade, here are questions to dig deeper:

  • Is there a lag before calls are connected to an agent? Recipients can be quick to hang up if there's silence when they say "hello".
  • Is your dialing platform over-driving your call center agents? Prolonged silence or messages asking the recipient to "please wait" usually end in a hangup.
  • Are your calling agents properly identifying themselves to the recipient? The recipient may already be suspicious the call will be spam and attempts at small talk can be met with "not interested" and a quick hangup.

Sentiment

What it means: This grade, based on the reactions of recipients to calls from this number, reflects whether recipients appear to want any lasting association with the caller. In particular, this can be a reflection if recipients choose to block any future calls, possibly also raising a report against the caller.

How to use it: This is usually one of the strongest indicators about call quality for recipients, because this grade goes beyond calls being unexpected or inconvenient, but to being truly unwanted. Check for poor calling practices that would frustrate recipients (calling too often, calling on stale leads) and ensure that calls are reaching the right people who should get lasting value from a connection with the caller.

Follow-up questions: If a business receives a poor grade, here are questions to dig deeper:

  • What is the policy for repeat calling to the same recipient? Policies that require a recipient to explicitly request to be removed from a calling list will lead to recipients reporting or blocking future calls.
  • Are calls reaching recipients at appropriate times? A caller making irritating calls during dinner or early morning will quickly be blocked.

What to do if you're labeled as spam

Recipients consider spam labeling in their decision of whether or not to answer the phone, so maintaining a healthy caller reputation is critical to the success of a caller. If a phone number is being labeled as spam, there are a few important actions you can take as the number holder to correct the problem.

  • Adopt good calling practices. Spam labeling is heavily influenced by how recipients react and engage with your phone calls. Aggressive tactics, outdated or minimal consent, and failing to respect recipient wishes can cause poor engagement and a spam label. Hiya recommends following our guide to customer-friendly calls to ensure your calls aren't putting you on the bad side of your current or future customers.
  • Review your reputation report card. Within Connect Number Registration, you can view your grades as a caller across several key metrics. These give insight into how recipients are reacting poorly to your calls, and potentially why. This can also help you apply more targeted adjustments to your calling practices.
  • Add branding and access additional insights. Properly identifying yourself as the caller will often improve connection rates with recipients, and often also improves overall engagement — even when recipients choose not to answer. Hiya Connect Branded Call enables you to display your caller identity on outbound calls, use performance analytics to optimize your calls, and see feedback from users reporting calls as spam.
  • Request a review of your spam label. After reviewing the reputation report card, if you believe a spam label is incorrect, you can submit a request for reputation review. Please include context that addresses any poor reputation grades so that Hiya can understand the circumstances behind these calls. Hiya may require additional information during this review.