Tired of all those scam calls? Help may be on the way

Published January 21, 2020 at 12:27 am

A reprieve may in the forecast for cell phone users who are sick and tired of scam calls.

A reprieve may in the forecast for cell phone users who are sick and tired of scam calls.

According to a news release, Bell Canada has developed new technology using artificial intelligence (AI) that could help the service provider block up to 120 million more fraudulent calls than they can currently block.

“Canadians rely on their phones to stay connected with family, friends, customers and colleagues, and customers at all carriers are justifiably frustrated by the volume of fraud calls they continue to receive,” Rizwan Jamal, president of Bell Residential and Small Business, said in the release.

“Our industry has made solid progress in combatting these scam calls, and Bell’s innovative new AI process would further dramatically reduce the number that get through to customers. We’re ready to take the next step, and while we welcome today’s decision by the CRTC to move the process forward, we eagerly await its approval to launch our trial,” he continued.

Currently, Bell, universal network-level call blocking, is blocking approximately 220 million scam calls every month.

This new AI technology uses defined sets of typical call characteristics and proprietary algorithms to analyze and identify scam calls, which will make it even better at blocking these kinds of calls.

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