Image: Jack Wallen
Verified Calls is Google’s way of amplifying caller ID in such a way that you can quickly tell if a caller is a legitimate business or not. With this feature now available, businesses can sign up to use Verified Calls which makes it possible for them to better inform you why they are calling. In other words, you won’t even have to answer the call to know why that legit business is trying to contact you.
For users, it’ll help make it easier to avoid spam calls and make it possible to immediately verify if a call is from a company they trust. For businesses, this new feature can increase call answer rates and could help build trust between you and possible clients/consumers.
What you’ll need
The feature started rolling out to Android in September and is only available for the Google Phone app. If your device works with stock Android you should be good to go. However, if your Android phone of choice is a Samsung (or from another manufacturer that uses a different phone app), you’ll need to install the Google Phone app from the Google Play Store. Without the Google Phone app, you cannot make use of this feature–one that many will eventually be considered a must-have.
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How to enable the Verified Calls feature
To enable the Verified Calls feature, open the Phone app and tap on the menu button in the upper-right corner. From the popup menu, tap Settings. From the list of options, tap Spam And Call Screen (Figure A).
Figure A
In the resulting window, tap the On/Off slider for Verified Calls until it’s in the On position (Figure B).
Figure B
And that’s all there is to enabling the Verified Calls feature. You might not notice much of a change at first because not every business has enrolled in the Google Service. But, as privacy continues to be more and more important to consumers, services and features like Verified Calls will become the de facto standard for businesses and consumers.
Eventually you should start seeing more information on your incoming call screen to show not only that it’s a verified business calling, but why that business is trying to contact you. If you’re a business, looking to enroll in Verified Calls, check out the official Google site for more information.
