A team effort by management, engineering, and marketing at Reliance Connects in Oregon has successfully retained landline customers while protecting them from unwanted telemarketers and scammers.

According to Central Office Manager Tom Ackerman, Reliance faced a significant challenge that has now been effectively addressed with the help of the APMax TCM Call Screening service. Despite the industry’s expectations for relief from telemarketers and robocallers through the STIR/SHAKEN initiative, Ackerman noted that they were losing landline customer revenue of about $30 to $40 per month due to the constant influx of unwanted calls. As a result, many customers decided to cancel their landline phone service to escape the nuisance.

To Charge or Not to Charge

There were significant discussions within the Reliance departmental teams about charging a monthly add-on fee for the Call Screening service. Ultimately, the decision was made that the additional revenue from raising prices by a few dollars per month was not worth the higher overall revenue generated from the landline service. The Reliance Connect service, branded as Call Manager, is offered to customers at no cost.

Ackerman reports that the results have been positive, with customers commenting that it is nice to have control over who calls their phone numbers. The other benefit for the Reliance staff is knowing that some of their most vulnerable older subscribers will have another line of defense against telemarketers who specifically prey on this group of consumers.