Whois for Telephone Numbers
Gerry Christensen
Information and Communications Technology Expert: ICT Solutions, VoIP Policy, Business Strategy, Consumer Contact Regulations, and Telecom Intellectual Property
Whois for Internet Domains
WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase "who is") is a query and response protocol that is used for querying databases that store an Internet resource's registered users or assignees. These resources include domain names, IP address blocks and autonomous systems, but it is also used for a wider range of other information.
The above illustration is an example Whois result for the domain www.calleridreputation.com. There is a lot of information here and this is only a partial snapshot of the available data, which may be useful for a variety of purposes.
A WHOIS domain lookup is commonly used to gather information about a domain, such as the owner's contact details, registration and expiration dates, and the domain's name servers. This information can be useful for verifying domain ownership, investigating potential cybersecurity issues, or contacting the domain owner for business or legal reasons.
Whois for Telephone Numbers
What if the industry did something similar for telephone numbers? In today's networks, identity information is largely managed by telecommunications companies. This includes data such as telephone number porting status and information such as calling party name.
Just as domain users and registrars each have certain roles and responsibilities for Whois for internet domains, the same could be true for a Whois type database for telephone numbers. This would imply that current users of telephone numbers could have some level of control over information that is available and how it may be used.
Information registered and managed could include:
There is a variety of information that could be included in such a whois type database. Some information could be obtained through legacy sources such as "User Name" populated via Calling Name (CNAM) information.
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How could Whois for Telephone Numbers be Useful?
Certain information, such as Telephone Number Type, is something that most consumers would not mind sharing, and could help call recipients make an informed decision. For example, knowing that a phone call is from a Mobile Number may provide some level of assurance that the calling party is a human being.
Other data could be useful, such as Company Name, allowing called parties to make more informed decisions about businesses in which they may want to transact.
Whois for Telephone Numbers Data Integration for Better UX
Data from Whois for Telephone Numbers could be integrated with mobile OS to allow for rendering on the smartphone UI. This could facilitate an improved UX for consumers as they could view information associated with the calling party number.
Additional authentication information, such as Attestation level available via STIR/SHAKEN, could be used to further qualify inbound calls as safe or not. For example, asserted User Name would not be trusted if A-level Attestation is not present.
As there is very little time to consider much when deciding to answer a phone call, perhaps the best implementation would involve some type of terminating service application (such as the OTT-based Google Voice), which would temporarily hold incoming calls (from the calling party's perspective) while the called party considers available information.
Whois for Telephone Numbers could Supplement Branded Calling
Today, branded calling is largely controlled by companies that have invested resources in developing the means for companies to register their information (name, logo, reason for call, etc.) as well as outbound authentication to ensure that no branded call treatment is associated with a potential spoofed telephone number.
While some businesses (brand owners) will take advantage of branded calling (such as the above illustrative example) other businesses may simply want to take advantage of future improvements in UI/UX, authentication/validation, and various data elements (within a prospective Whois for Telephone Numbers database) to enable called parties to be better informed.
In both cases, information that is available in the notional Whois for Telephone Numbers database could be useful for a variety of applications, including branded calling services.