The American Bankers Association and eight other industry trade groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to require telephone companies that block calls to transition to using Session Initiation Protocol Codes 607 and 608 to provide immediate notification to the bank or other caller when it blocks the call. SIP Code 607 signals end-user blocking of unwanted calls and SIP Code 608 signals blocking in the network based on reasonable analytics.
The FCC had required use of SIP Code 607 or 608 to signal blocking by the telephone company, but determined that the codes were not ready to be implemented. The FCC allowed telephone companies to use a separate SIP code—SIP Code 603—to provide immediate notification of blocking, but that SIP code signals another reason the call was not completed—that the recipient declined the call—which makes it difficult for callers to recognize immediately which circumstance is signaled by the code.
The trade groups also requested that the standards-setting body Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions share an outline of anticipated progress toward finalization of the codes, and set a deadline for required use of the codes to provide immediate notification of blocking.
