Vodafone answers call to give customers more confidence to pick up the phone

Improving consumer trust

These concerns are justified. Scammers are increasingly impersonating reputable companies and organisations, especially during the holiday season and becoming more sophisticated using AI. To restore consumer trust, Vodafone is expanding its portfolio of network Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) by bringing Branded Calling to the UK this month following a successful rollout of a similar service in Germany. Vodafone’s other markets will follow.

Branded Calling uses Vodafone’s network intelligence to verify a caller’s identity and enrich the call display by adding the organisation’s preferred name to the recipient’s screen – so even if the number isn’t saved as a contact, customers see trusted information alongside the phone number. Behind the scenes, the service authenticates calls in real time by matching values provided by the caller and recipient with those in the Vodafone network, confirming the call is authorised by the organisation, reducing the risk of impersonation or hijacking.

This seamless solution brings benefits for everyone - organisations will be able to efficiently communicate with their customers again, and consumers can confidently trust the information they are being given by the organisations they interact with.

Global standards

Branded Calling is based on Network APIs - a set of rules that allow trusted third-party aggregators, organisations and developers to take advantage of new network functions when creating apps for end users. Since Branded Calling is built on the latest global open-source CAMARA standards, it can be used worldwide. Like other APIs that comply with CAMARA, it meets current privacy and regulatory requirements and integrates smoothly with modern mobile networks.

Vodafone is also evaluating the inclusion of a company or organisation logo and a brief explanation for the call within the Branded Calling service. For example, a bank subscribing to the service could alert a customer that it is calling about a card transaction, a pharmacy regarding a prescription or an airline with flight details.

Johanna Wood, Head of Network APIs at Vodafone, explained that the company created Branded Calling and contributed to the CAMARA standard to help consumers identify callers and why they are calling, making business-customer interactions easier while reducing fraud.

She added: "Scams targeting consumers, banks, hospitals, and government departments are on the rise and getting more sophisticated, so it's no surprise that people are avoiding calls from unknown and anonymous numbers. With Branded Calling, Vodafone is leveraging its network intelligence to make these essential checks seamlessly in the quest to restore consumer trust."

Portfolio of network fraud prevention APIs

Branded Calling adds to a portfolio of Network APIs already developed by Vodafone primarily focussed on combating fraud such as age verification, cross-checking customer provided information and determining whether a phone number is in use.

These APIs, and more that will follow, let developers access Vodafone’s fast, low-latency pan-European 5G network through a secure, easy-to-use interface. Although the rollout of these APIs across all Vodafone’s markets is still in the initial stage, they are already helping many end users. They generate nearly 20 million network sessions per month, most of which enable organisations to improve identity checks and stop fraud.

Beatriz Fernandez, Head of Core, Software and Platforms, Vodafone, added: “These kinds of services are made possible due to the company’s strong track record in innovation. We are now able to promote the network as a service enabler and extend access to advanced capabilities within Vodafone, to our partners, as well as to private and public sector organisations.”