Telstra has advised our upstream carriers it will be implementing scam protection measures over and above the Communications Alliance C661: 2020 Reducing Scam Calls Industry Code.
These changes are in direct response to the increase in scam call activity across all Australian fixed and mobile phone networks where they have seen a spike in ‘scam’ traffic where scammers appear to be using Telstra CLI’s for the purposes of penetrating scams.
For clarification, a CLI (or ‘calling line identification’ ) is the number that is presented to external parties when you make an outbound call from your phone system.
Effective from the 1st of March 2022, Telstra has advised that they will filter voice traffic terminating through their domestic Points of Interconnect (POIs) and block any voice traffic that is using this method to contact external parties.
Please note, Telstra will only block calls where a customer presents a Telstra-held number for outbound calls that does not use Telstra’s upstream carriage for landline/ mobile termination, and to clarify this means that any DTS voice clients using this method will be directly impacted from the 1st of March onwards.
If you currently use Telstra CLI’s for outbound number presentation and you don’t want to be impacted going forward, the best course of action is as follows:
- Port all Telstra numbers you may have to DTS ASAP – Numbers on DTS’ network will not be impacted by this change
- Change your outbound presenting CLI/number to a DTS supplied CLI/Number – If you are unsure, DTS CLI’s/Numbers are billed by DTS to the client, or show as an active number on DTS’ voice platform (visible within DTS’ Direct Portal).
Any questions/issues feel free to get in touch with your DTS account manager to discuss.
Owen Hough
Sales Manager
