Google prepares ‘Verified calls’ for your phone app, a way to avoid unwanted communications by verifying your identity with the business and the reasons for making the call. It even allows showing the business logo on the screen so that it is known that the number really belongs to the company.

The Google phone app, the one that comes in the Google Pixel and also in some phones from other brands (such as the international Xiaomi), is an application that does much more than calls: Google has been evolving it to be a tool against unwanted communications. And it is that the phone has blacklists, blocking of unknown numbers and even filters ‘spam’ calls so that they do not bother us. In addition, the company strengthens the phone app with a new service: ‘Verified calls’.

The phone app will notify you of the reason for the call

We have all suffered unknown calls that we did not know what they were talking about until after going off-hook. Not only that, it is possible to fall into identity theft as some telemarketing companies call to attract customers by posing as other businesses. And, as it is too easy to fall into this type of cheating, receiving an on-screen warning that the company that is calling us is really who they say they are can avoid a multitude of frauds.

As the Google help page shows, and as they discovered in Android Police, Google has launched the ‘Verified calls’ service for its phone application on Android. This service will be carried out together with the companies that wish to be verified since it will be them who will have to provide the data to Google so that the telephone can consult the database and make sure that the number that calls matches one of the registered ones. In this case, a warning will appear on the screen confirming:

• Who calls us. The phone app will display the company name on the screen.
• Why are you calling us. We will know the reason for the text communication before even going off-hook (provided the company has decided to share it with Google).
• Company logo. To make verification more accurate, the company can display its brand image on the phone’s screen.

In order for us to verify in the application which is the company behind the call and the reasons why it is calling, it is essential that the business has registered in the Google database and agrees to share all the information with that company. The phone app will confirm the data before showing the call to the user and make sure it is correct. Otherwise, the filter of ‘spam calls’ could act, so this would be a good motivation for businesses to collaborate with Google.

Current appearance of the ‘spam’ filtering options on Google’s phone

The new functionality of the Google phone app will be found within the options of ‘Caller ID and spam‘, in the application settings. It will be called ‘Verified Calls’ and can be enabled or disabled as desired. And it has already started to spread, albeit for a limited time: since the help section is only in English, verified calls are most likely to stay in the United States for now.

More information | Google