Definition
STIR/SHAKEN is a set of technical standards under which originating carriers digitally sign a call’s caller ID and terminating carriers verify the signature, so that recipients and their carriers can trust the number shown.
How it works
STIR and SHAKEN are two standards whose names stand for Secure Telephone Identity Revisited and Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs. When a call starts on an IP network, the originating carrier attaches a signed certificate saying how well it knows the caller and the number. The receiving carrier checks that signature. The FCC requires voice providers to implement it in the IP portions of their networks, and it is used alongside call blocking and labeling.
It is a carrier-network matter. Businesses do not switch STIR/SHAKEN on; it is done by the carriers, and only for the parts of a call that travel over IP.
Why an agency should care
The effect an agency notices is on calls it makes: numbers that are not properly authenticated are more likely to be labeled “Spam Likely,” and prospects do not pick up. For inbound calls it matters less, but it does affect how a call reaches you when it is forwarded.
What VereTel does
VereTel does not implement STIR/SHAKEN; its carrier does. VereTel forwards calls at the carrier rather than in its own software, which is designed so that the caller’s original authentication information travels with the forwarded call. VereTel does not guarantee how any other carrier or phone will label a call. See call forwarding and CNAM, the separate caller name service.
Sources
- FCC: Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication (read September 29, 2026)
- FCC: TRACED Act Implementation (read September 29, 2026)