Overview
Branded Calling is a set of Voice Trust Products that enable our customers to provide a Display Name, Logo and Call Reason to mobile handsets when outbound calls are made from Twilio owned phone numbers.
What You Need To Know
Branded Calling
Stir/Shaken
- Trusted Calling with STIR/SHAKEN - US Only
Voice Integrity
Calling Name
Analytics
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the differences between Enhanced and Basic Branded Calling?
Enhanced Branded Calling is the next generation of Branded Calling, it supports Business Name, Logo and Call Reason on select Mobile Devices in the US
Basic Branded Calling Business Name delivery only on select Mobile Devices in the US.
Here are the supported Networks for Branded Calling.
| Region | Type | Country | Network | Product status |
| US | Basic | United States | T-Mobile, Verizon | Public Beta |
| US | Enhanced | United States | T-Mobile, Verizon | GA |
Which Branded Calling Capabilities are we currently supporting?
Basic Branded Calling only supports Display Name. Whereas, Enhanced Branded Calling supports Display Name, Call Reason and Logo.
What are the prerequisites for Branded Calling?
Here are the Basic Requirements for each Branded Product. There is additional information required to apply for Branded Calling that differs between the products.
Enhanced Branded Calling
- Required
- Approved Business Profile
- Recommended
- Stir Shaken Bundle
- Voice Integrity Bundle
- CNAM Bundle for US numbers
Basic Branded Calling
- Required
- Approved Business Profile
- Voice Integrity Bundle
- Recommended
- Stir Shaken Bundle
- CNAM Bundle for US numbers
Display Names must be associated with the legal business name (or DBA) in the Customer Profile.
If a customer would like to use different Display Names, they must use a separate Branded Calling Trust Product bundle per Display Name. Multiple Branded Calling Trust Product bundles can be associated with a single Trust Product bundle. A phone number cannot be assigned to multiple Trust Products of the same type.
How do I onboard Branded Calling?
You can onboard either using the Twilio Console or the API. In the Twilio Console, on the Branded Calling Trust Product page, click Register branded calling and follow the instructions.
For more information onboarding, please refer to Public Docs here: https://www.twilio.com/docs/voice/branded-calling/us-enhanced
Where is Branded Calling supported?
- United States
What is the Carrier/Handset Coverage?
For Basic and Enhanced Branded Calling the Name will display on most smartphones without any issue.
For Enhanced Branded Calling the Logo and Call Reason are not supported across all devices. These are rendered by the terminating carrier on select mobile handsets.
As for carriers, Twilio is integrated with T-Mobile and Verizon and we are working on integration with AT&T.
Basic Branded Calling Display Name character limit
- Verizon - Max 15 chars
- T-Mobile - Max 32 chars
Enhanced Branded Calling Display Name character limit
- T-Mobile and Verizon - Max 35 chars
Call Reason Character Limit
- Call reason: Maximum 64 characters
Display Name and Call Reason Requirements
The Display Name should match the official legal name or brand name or DBA name linked to the business profile (either Primary or Secondary). It is also acceptable to use as the Display Name the legal name/DBA name of the business together with a name of the department or similar e.g. : Twilio Support / Twilio Inventory etc.
In addition to matching the legal name, the display name must:
- The Display name must follow the Twilio AUP
- The Caller Display Name shall not be fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading to a Consumer and shall not endorse violence, contain profanity, or contain hate speech.
- The Display Name shall not contain SHAFT content even if this is part of the legal name. Examples of SHAFT content are:
- Sex
- Hate
- Alcohol
- Firearms
- Tobacco
- The Display Name shall never contain the following:
- FBI
- Social Security Administration
- Government
- Police
- Medicare
Call Logo
The Call Logo must be provided and formatted as follows:
- 32-bit BMP file sized 256x256 pixels - hosted on a public URL, or
- You can upload your logo in Console
I have created an Enhanced Branded Calling bundle but I am not seeing branding when I make outbound calls?
Please make sure that your:
- Bundle status is ‘Approved’
- Your Phone Number is assigned to the Bundle and it is ‘Provisioned’
- Your Phone Number is assigned to a STIR/SHAKEN profile
Confirm the following on the receiving mobile device:
- Confirm the receiving mobile device is running a supported software version; please refer to the supported device list below.
- Verify that the appropriate feature toggle is enabled:
- iOS: Ensure the 'Carrier Call Identification' toggle is enabled under Business Call Identification settings.
- Android: Ensure the 'Verified Business Call' toggle is enabled under Enriched Calling or Phone settings.
- Check whether the device is using a VPN; if so, disable it.
- If the device has two active SIMs, confirm the call was placed to the primary SIM’s MSISDN. Logo download will not occur if a brand calls the secondary SIM. This is expected behavior due to data limitations on the secondary SIM profile.
Following are further guidelines for Enhanced Branded Calling on Verizon:
- Verizon will not deliver the Logo and Call Reason to some capped/metered data plans. Only Name will be delivered.
- Verizon does not support the Name + Call Reason (N+C) use case. Only Name will be delivered when Logo is not present.
- Verizon will deliver Logo to devices Purchased for/from Verizon only. Verizon will deliver Name only to Bring Your Own including MVNO devices.
- Android: requires Pre-installed Call Filter App version 18.3
- Call Filter advice of risk setting takes precedence.
If you still don’t see branding, please submit a ticket with your Support Team
Can I update the Display Name once the Branded Calling has been set up and approved?
There is no way to update the Long or Short Name, “Call Reason” or “Logo” for an existing bundle. Please submit a new branded calling profile with the updated information and delete the old branded calling profile once the new profile is approved to avoid any downtime with Branding.
Phone numbers will need to be un-assigned from the old profile before they can be assigned to another profile. To avoid downtime, customers are recommended to create a new profile first and then assign their PNs to the new profile after it’s Approved before deleting the old profile.
Deleting the profile will automatically un-assign all assigned Phone Numbers to it - and they will lose branding, unless they are re-assigned to another profile.
Deleting Branded calling profiles from the Console is not allowed at the moment, please contact Support or your TAM for assistance.
However, profiles can be deleted using the API.
How is Branded Calling different from CNAM?
Twilio recommends branding on both Branded Calling and CNAM to improve answer rates. CNAM is generally available on landlines, while Branded Calling is available for recipients of mobile calls.
Want to know more?
CNAM stands for Caller ID Name. CNAM is a legacy feature in the United States public telephone network developed in the 1990’s that identifies an incoming caller by a personal or business name associated with the originating phone number (or Caller ID). Branded Calling addresses two decades long challenges with the CNAM system.
Data inconsistencies: CNAM involves the terminating carrier looking up the name associated with the originating phone number at the time it receives the call to display it on the terminating handset. However, the terminating operator acquires the name data from any of 8 decentralized CNAM databases for a fee, creating a perverse incentive to minimize costs and resulting in data integrity issues (e.g. frequent problems with stale, inconsistent data).
Consumer reach: CNAM is often bundled in landline service but it is typically offered as a premium service in mobile offerings. Since mobile phones natively display contact list names at the time of receiving a call, consumers find limited value in purchasing CNAM. For this reason, CNAM penetration among mobile users is believed to be less than 20%. Branded Calling currently reaches around 53% of US mobile users (VZW + T-Mobile), and will reach 99% of US mobile users once AT&T distribution is secured in 2024.
Branded Calling resolves the shortcomings of CNAM by transmitting display name from the originating operator to the terminating operator in real time ensuring accurate branding. It puts the originator in control of their branding. Branded Calling also reaches all mobile handsets where most consumers receive their calls.
What costs are associated with Branded Calling?
- $0.12/call is list price.
How soon does Branded Calling start working once customers are onboarded?
After submission of the Branded Calls bundle, Twilio will review and approve the customer for Branded Calls typically within 7 days . The next step is for carriers to register the number for branding on their systems which can be immediate but allow up to 24-48 hours if carrier partners have additional processing that needs to be done.
Is Branded Calls HIPAA Eligible?
No, Branded Calling is not a HIPAA Eligible Service. The Branded Calling product only has access to the Customer business information for Display Name verification. The information only pertains to the customer, not End Users so normal use of the product should not contain PHI. The End User component (End User phone number) would be addressed under Programmable Voice. As always, our Customers should determine whether their specific use of Twilio products would trigger any additional legal requirements and compliance obligations.