A Black Swan Solution Guide: The Value of an Authoritative Database of Global Telephone Numbers in Fraud Control

Dear Colleague:

What if a Fraud Management System came along that could automatically detect and block 90% of IRSF and Wangiri fraud cases coming through your network — and even make accurate blocking decisions on numbers never-before-seen?

Think how productive that FMS could make your fraud analyst team.  With most fraud attempts quickly blocked, analysts would have more time to track down the 10% of tough or usual cases that require their expert attention.

Well, such a system exists, but it’s not really an FMS.  Actually it’s a database designed to work in tandem with an FMS.  And it enhances the value of any FMS or fraud-fighting team that takes advantage of its intelligence.

I’m referring to iconectiv’s TruNumber Protect, an authoritative database of allocated numbers and special number ranges in every country of the world.  The database has proved its value for over a decade and is now in use at 50+ carriers.

TruNumber Protect is the subject of a new Black Swan Telecom Solution Guide entitled, The Value of an Authoritative Cloud Database of Global Telephone Numbers in Fraud Blocking & Business Analytics.  Click the image to download the 14-page Guide.

In fact, many Tier 1 carriers around the globe, such as British Telecom / Everything Everywhere, Deutsche Telecom Group and Verizon, have made TruNumber Protect integral to their fraud control program.

I’ve heard about iconectiv’s database for years, and assumed it was a supplementary solution tailored to the needs of large carriers.

But having discussed TruNumber Protect in great depth with iconectiv’s principal solution engineer John Haraburda, I now view TruNumber Protect as an invaluable pre-FMS firewall for blocking fraud even before the call goes into signaling.

And while large carriers are indeed the biggest financial supporters of TruNumber Protect, iconectiv also sells the solution to many mid-sized carriers who pay based on their traffic volumes.

Highlights of this Solution Guide

John Haraburda does an excellent job of sorting out the details behind TruNumber Protect in this Guide.  Here’s a preview of key things you’ll learn in the Guide:

• TruNumber Protect Flexibly Integrates with Your Fraud System.  Management of your custom fraud control preferences is done through the TruNumber Protect on-line portal which enables flexible rules setting.  The rules stay consistent even when the database is updated.  In fact, you can even build rules upon rules.
• Best Practices in Leveraging Numbers Lists — John walks through the use of numbers intelligence and shows the pitfalls of being too-reliant on industry- and vendor-blacklists.  He explains how the fraudster preference towards higher-volume and lower-tariff campaigns will require rethinking fraud detection methods.
• Fraud Analyst Productivity Benefits — While blocking fraud loss is the biggest benefit of using TruNumber Protect, John explains the substantial staff productivity gains that result from using TruNumber Protect pre-FMS blocking of fraud.
• Employing the Database in Other Use Cases — John supplies interesting examples of how analytics can leverage TruNumber Protect to create valuable insights.  Plus, carriers who subscribe to TruNumber Protect regularly use it in areas such as billing, least cost routing, SMS revenue assurance, and profit margin analysis.

In short, the Guide will give you a great appreciation for how an authoritative global database of phone numbers may benefit your fraud control operation.

Enjoy Reading!

Dan Baker, Research Director of TRI
Editor, Black Swan Telecom Journal

P.S.

The paper is the second in a new series of Black Swan Telecom Solution Guides — deep dive one-vendor-specific papers that focus on one Solution category. 

These objective papers — written under TRI’s editorial and industry analyst guidance — educate telecom professionals and buyers on a Solution’s important features and benefits.

Interested in having a Guide prepared for your telecom solution?  Then email me so I can send you the details.