Written on Feb 10, 2021.
What is STIR/SHAKEN?
Spam and illegal robocalls are a significant problem many communications companies are struggling to deal with as they try to protect the privacy of their customers. In 2019, phone calls were the most common way scammers got in contact with their victims.
The Federal Trade Commission has been working to educate the public about these unwanted calls, but with mixed success.
However, a new communications solution has been developed to help combat the abuse. It’s called STIR/SHAKEN — a set of standards that can assist communication service providers in preventing unwanted and spoofed calls from connecting with their desired endpoint.
STIR/SHAKEN technology is designed to reduce fraudulent robocalls and illegal phone number spoofing. STIR stands for Secure Telephony Identity Revisited. SHAKEN stands for Secure Handling of Asserted information using tokens.
What specifically is STIR?
STIR is a working group within the IETF which has developed a set of protocols used to create a digital signature for a call. The signed call includes information about the calling party and allows for verification of the signature by the terminating provider..
What specifically is SHAKEN?
SHAKEN are the standards for how STIR is to be deployed by service providers within their networks.
How could Bulk Solutions Help?
Bulk Solutions takes the complexity of Stir / Shaken away from services providers and makes available a very easy to use API to encrypt and decrypt identiy headers.
STI-AS (Authentication Service)
We will provide you the Stir/Shaken token needed to Digitally Sign your outbound calls.
STI-VS (Verification Service)
This is where we decode and verify an Inbound Call's Identity Header on your behalf. 
Support Systems
We support all SoftSwitches which do not have built in mechanisms to preform the STI-AS and STI-VS functions for Stir/Shaken. One such SoftSwitch is Broadworks from Cisco Systems.
Why is STIR/SHAKEN Certificate Authority so important?
5 billion+ robocalls are made each month, and research suggests that more than 40% of those calls are thought to be fraud-related.
How does it help you?
When people can't trust that callers are who they claim to be, they stop answering even legitimate calls. Authentication built right into our solutions with no extra effort needed on your part can help ensure that customers feel more comfortable about saying hello instead of dismissing the call.
How will STIR/SHAKEN technology look to consumers?
Consumers should not notice any functional change to their caller ID displays, other than the ability to better trust the data they see.
How does STIR/SHAKEN implementation stop illegal robocalls?
STIR/SHAKEN uses public key cryptography and digital certificates to authenticate phone calls, similar to the way that e-commerce websites secure their traffic. Originating carriers digitally sign their calls, and terminating carriers check to see that the signatures are authentic before completing the call. Bulk Solutions could be your Stir/Shaken certificate authority and Stir/Shaken implementation partner.There are three Stir/Shaken Attestations. A, B and C
Full or “A” Attestation: The Calling Number is ported to Bulk Solutions.
Partial or “B”Attestation: The Calling Number is NOT ported to Bulk Solutions, however, is a valid Telephone Number.
Gateway or “C” Attestation: Other, not limited to Invalid Telephone Numbers.
We have worked extensively with our upstream vendors on this solution, and we will always attest and categorize your outbound calls using Stir/Shaken asttestations whenever possible.
Bulk Solutions was founded by engineers with a vision: to revamp the telecom industry with the highest quality services, providing simplicity and flexibility! We don't lock our customers into long contracts with variable pricing. Simply put: we aim to provide carriers the best price and best service!
That's why we like to consider ourselves the one-stop telecom shop!
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Stay Safe!
Bulk Solutions
Call 855-906-0901 or email sales@bulkvs.com
