She studied piano at age four, sang with the Houston Children’s Chorus, was in musical theater, studied cello in grade school and college, and monetized her musical talents by playing with local city symphonies and gigging with a string quartet for weddings and events during her college years. Some would say Melissa Blassingame, Twilio’s RVP, Partner Alliances, had a passion and drive early on to dream big and wear many hats. When she then set her sights on a business degree and entered the telecommunications industry by chance, she understood what it meant to solve complex issues and unravel intricate puzzles that required relationship building, collaborating with others, dedication to the work at hand, opportune timing, and a drive to make the world a better place.

Melissa has spent the past 15 years immersing herself in roles ranging from operations and routing to carrier relations and business development. Starting out just as landlines were going out of favor and wireless networks were on the rise, she carved out a unique niche in global voice connectivity, phone number acquisition, and more recently, the U.S. messaging market. Her love for solving puzzles finds endless opportunities within the industry, especially as she observes the parallels and differences between messaging and voice technologies to advance communication channels.

A lifelong learner, Melissa has dedicated years to studying FCC Orders, NPRMs, ex partes, and tariffs. She strives for excellence, constantly seeking new information and even challenging herself by watching Jeopardy! for fun. Her deep understanding of the PSTN world remains the foundation she relies on when tackling customer challenges and network issues.

Outside of work, Melissa still relishes any opportunity to perform, bringing the same passion and meticulous care from her musical endeavors into the business world. In this installment of One Expert, One Topic, she shares her insights on branded calling.

About The Series

This is the thirteenth installment in the “One Expert, One Topic” series, where field experts select a topic and share essential insights using Matt Abrahams’ What/So-What/Now-What format. Presented in written form, it allows you more time to absorb the topic and guides you on where to go for further learning. Writing is both challenging and time-consuming; we are grateful to our contributors for sharing their wisdom in this format.

What

The origins of U.S. branded calling can be traced back decades ago, when consumers would see a caller name on their landline phones, and features like blocking the caller name or displaying “restricted” or “no caller ID” were available. How did that work? The terminating carrier was responsible for performing a dip into a CNAM (Caller Name Delivery) database, which was maintained by carriers and data companies. 

All CNAM databases relied on data from other carriers and service providers. If these entities weren’t properly managing the lifecycle of numbers, the databases could suffer from poor data hygiene over time. At this point, the proliferation of B2C use cases had not yet begun. CNAM was originally established as a feature that consumers paid for, given the cost incurred by the terminating carrier for the dip to the CNAM database. As competition with mobile carriers intensified, landline companies began to include free CNAM in consumer phone packages to retain their customers’ attention.

However, this version of CNAM lacked a governing model that incorporated a set of standards for authentication and vetting. B2C communications accelerated with the advent of CPaaS platforms that offered businesses a platform to easily incorporate communication workflows into existing business processes and applications using open APIs. At the same time, the economics of voice calling became more attractive for fraudsters to scale large volumes of robocalls, frustrating consumers. It was foreseeable that another standard would be needed.

In 2019, the FCC issued a declaratory ruling permitting voice service providers to block illegal and unwanted calls before they reached consumer phones, even without consumer consent. The ruling also proposed additional means for providers to screen calls for end-users, including the use of call labels (e.g., “possible spam,” “scam,” etc.). Analytic providers like Hiya, TNS and First Orion began offering protection services to mobile carriers by analyzing call patterns to mitigate spam and scam traffic. This partnership between analytic providers and mobile carriers gave rise to a new version of CNAM, now known as ‘Branded Calling’, and is available for businesses today using SDK technology. 

Congress passed the TRACED Act in 2019, directing the FCC to mandate all voice service providers to implement STIR/SHAKEN as the authentication framework by June 2021. Developed by the ATIS group, STIR/SHAKEN is a set of standards and protocols that enable providers to authenticate caller IDs for SIP calls to the terminating provider. The digital certificates used within this framework are based on common public key cryptography techniques, intended to address the issue of spoofed caller IDs used for illegal purposes and harm. ATIS later released a Rich Call Data (RCD) standard that builds on the foundation of STIR/SHAKEN by adding caller name, call reason, and call logo claims to the SHAKEN passport. However, this standard did not require terminating providers to display these claims. In the absence of a clear framework for proper vetting, the industry has yet to fully adopt the standard, particularly among businesses that do not leverage branded calling in its current market offering. 

What next?

Enter Branded Calling ID™, also known as BCID™. This initiative has been industry-led from the start, with its roots embedded in transmitting Rich Call Data from end to end using IP interconnectivity. I’m proud to say that Twilio was one of the first originating service providers to successfully complete a wireless call incorporating the SHAKEN and RCD standards in 2021. 

Apple also recently introduced a preview of a new caller ID feature within Business Connect, allowing verified businesses to register their phone numbers so that their name and logo are displayed on Apple iOS devices. Expected to roll out in 2025, this feature has the potential to further reshape how branded calls are delivered to consumers. It’s important to note that the display functionality relies on the successful authentication and vetting of the business and its associated phone numbers.

So What

Why Branded Calling Matters:

When your phone rings and you see a familiar brand name and logo, you instantly know who’s on the other end. This recognition reduces uncertainty and helps you avoid answering potential spam or scam calls, which is crucial in today’s world of frequent robocalls and fraudulent schemes.

For businesses, branded calling provides an opportunity to present themselves more professionally and build trust. When customers see a recognized brand, they’re more likely to engage with the call, knowing it’s from a legitimate source.

Branded calling also improves communication efficiency between businesses and consumers. By clearly identifying who’s calling, it reduces missed calls and callbacks, ensuring that important information is conveyed effectively.

The Need for Industry Alignment:

For branded calling to reach its full potential, it’s essential that all industry players—terminating carriers, technology providers, handset manufacturers, vetting companies, and originating service providers—align on a set of standards and best practices. Rebuilding consumer trust with the voice channel as it stands today requires establishing a vetting process rigorous enough to identify potential fraud risks and hold responsible parties accountable.

Standards and best practices ensure that the branded calling experience remains consistent across devices and networks. Another critical element to driving the growth of branded calling is identifying a path to providing businesses confirmation that the branded call is properly transmitted to the end consumer. Without this feedback loop, questions about the effectiveness of a given call can arise and diminish the feature’s overall value. 

For branded calling to succeed, alignment across devices and networks is critical. Without it, inconsistencies may emerge in how branded calls are displayed or the brand information may not transmit to the consumer’s device, undermining its effectiveness and eroding trust among both businesses and consumers. If branded calling is seen as unreliable or inconsistent, adoption may stall, leading to missed opportunities and limiting the feature’s potential impact on engagement and trust.

Frameworks and standards are vital to building and maintaining consumer confidence, and fostering business interest in the technology. Businesses are more likely to invest in and adopt branded calling solutions if there is wide scale distribution across handset manufacturers and terminating carriers. Disparities and a lack of standardization and accountability can lead to hesitancy, slowing down the technology’s adoption and limiting its potential benefits.

Now What

Apple recently announced that its latest iOS 18 release will support Rich Communication Services (RCS), marking a significant step forward for the adoption of Rich Business Messaging (RBM) across Apple devices. This integration is expected to accelerate RBM penetration within the next year in the US. Notably, this progress aligns with the establishment of Rich Call Data (RCD) frameworks, developments aimed at restoring consumer trust and simplifying future onboarding for enterprises.

With the potential to unify branding across both voice and messaging platforms, this evolution promises an end-to-end, seamless experience for businesses, consumers, and the broader communications ecosystem. To achieve this vision, industry-wide collaboration is essential. Accelerating the movement towards standardized branded communications can solidify trust and engagement as pillars of modern communication.

For further learning, consider these resources:

• FCC Docket 17-97 contains all filings made in response to NPRMs and Orders surrounding strengthening and expanding caller ID authentication using STIR/SHAKEN standards.
• ATIS Standard for Calling Name and RCD Handling Procedures explains how RCD Passports or inclusions of RCD claims can be added into the SHAKEN Passport.
• For more information on CTIA’s Branded Calling ID™, the standards-based Rich Call Data (RCD) ecosystem, visit the Branded Calling ID website for more information.
• For RCS insights, explore GSMA for updates on RCS development and its impact on business messaging.

This is just the beginning of branded messaging and calling frameworks gaining momentum. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss this further or need guidance on implementing branded calling and messaging strategies. Connect with me on LinkedIn!