From The Verge: Google has officially announced a new “Verified Calls” feature for its phone app, which is designed to give more information when a business is calling you. Compatible calls will show a company’s name, branding, a small badge to show that it’s verified, and a reason for its call.
The feature is coming to the Google Phone app, which typically comes preloaded on Pixel and Android One phones. However, Google says it will now be available to download on a “limited” set of additional phones running Android Pie and higher, including flagship handsets from Samsung and LG. Compatible phones will be able to grab the app from the Google Play Store and then set it as their default phone calling app.
Depending on how businesses use it, the verified calls feature could be enormously helpful, not just to let you know who’s calling (helping avoid spam calls), but also to make it clear when it might be necessary to drop everything to pick up their call. For example, you might want to pull over to take a call from your bank about a possible fraudulent transaction, but decline a marketing call from the same business.
According to Google, the feature also benefits business because people are much more likely to pick up a call that’s verified. Although the company wouldn’t share specific numbers, it said that it’s seen a significant increase in the likelihood of customers answering calls during trials of the feature. (It confirmed a pilot in Brazil back in June.) Google also says it found an increase in consumer trust after releasing its Verified SMS feature last year. It’s important that there are incentives for businesses to use these features since verified calls rely on them proactively supplying information to Google for the feature to work.
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