Here are the robocall-fighting services phone providers are allowed to offer

In recent years, the Federal Communications Commission has approved several new rules to allow phone companies to take many steps to help customers help themselves.

Here are the services companies can offer; 12 of the largest companies signed an agreement in 2019 to offer many of these services. The agreement was with attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia:

1. Inform customers of services available to reduce unwanted calls.
2. Block known scam calls and spoofed numbers by default.
3. Warn on a person’s screen that an incoming call may be spam or a scam.
4. Offer a “verified number” or check mark display on the recipient’s screen.
5. Allow customers to opt in and filter or block illegal robocalls through a single source in one step.
6. Allow customers to block/filter all calls with no Caller ID? (Often called “anonymous call rejection”)
7. Offer a white list so customers can filter calls except those in their contacts? (Often called “selective call acceptance.”)
8. Offer an app/service that allows customers to filter possible spam calls and texts per their preferences. i.e. block only high-risk calls, or all risky calls. (If so, are there tiers of service with different prices?)

The other two apply to companies whose customers can receive texts:

9. Block certain robotexts that are likely to be spam/scams. (New FCC rule in January 2024 required providers to follow most of this by March 2024.)
10. Allow customers to block email-to-text messages by making it opt-in? (Currently encouraged by the FCC; may be required soon.)