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NAFCU along with several trade associations earlier this week wrote to the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)/ Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Forum NNI Task Force (Task Force), the governing body that regulates call network providers, urging for additional clarity when callers receive a SIP Code 603 notification. 

SIP Code 603 was designed to signal to callers, like credit unions, that a call recipient declined a call, but the notification does not distinguish between instances of actual recipient declinations and more common network-level call blocking.

Credit unions often make automated calls to notify members of important, timely information. Carriers are responsible for reviewing certain call data that crosses their networks and helping tamp down on potentially unlawful robocalls; some carriers allocate heavy resources to determine the lawfulness of call traffic, while some decline to carry potentially unlawful calls altogether.

Unfortunately, blocking all calls that are potentially, but not confirmed as, unlawful calls, is not helpful for credit unions trying to relay important information to their members. When credit unions receive SIP Code 603, the notice offers very little detail on why the calls were blocked, who chose to block the call (the recipient or the carrier), and what can be done to mitigate it being marked as unlawful for the future.

The group urged the Task Force to develop an “an enhanced version of SIP Code 603 (SIP Code 603+) that would allow the caller to distinguish between a 603+ Code that indicates the called party declined the call from the receipt of a 603+ Code that signals that the Voice Service Provider blocked the call.” 

NAFCU continues to advocate for additional clarity and guidance to help credit unions better reach their members.