Deter SPAM

Due to the nature of their business, ChaseData customers legitimately generate large volumes of calls in the attempt to qualify their leads and follow up; this level of activity may cause spam filters to confuse these legitimate efforts with actual spam and flag the involved telephone numbers. To help alleviate this side effect, the ChaseData solution is now providing a feature that limits the use of Caller ID numbers in terms of occurrence and time periods; it’s called Deter SPAM.

Before this feature was introduced, a Caller ID number was selected for a call without consideration to how often it had been used. With this feature, the usage of Caller ID numbers is taken into account under a number of conditions to reduce the probability of the number being confused with spam.

Refer to the following picture for a view of My CallerID.

Figure 1

Now, to better understand the new capabilities, let’s go through the before and after scenarios.

Before Deter SPAM

Foremost, let’s summarize the fields (columns) in My CallerID, not considering Deter SPAM:

My CallerID fields not including Deter SPAM
Phone	Number that will be used to display as Caller ID
Local Presence	Switch that indicates whether this number is available to be used as Caller ID for numbers-to-be-called with the same area code (NPA)
Adjacent Areas	Indicates whether this number is available to be used as Caller ID for numbers-to-be-called that are in areas nearby. It is similar to State, but it uses a geographical determination; an adjacent area is considered one that geographically borders with it.
State	Indicates whether this number is available to be used as Caller ID for numbers-to-be-called that are in the same State. The determination of State is done internally by the system and is based on NPAs (area codes); one or more NPAs are part of a State. If this field is set to All States, then the number can be used as Caller ID for a number-to-be-called from any State
Campaign	Indicates whether this number is available to be used as Caller ID for numbers-to-be-called that are in the specified Campaign. If this field is set to All Campaigns, then the number can be used as Caller ID for a number-to-be-called from any Campaign
Subcampaign	Indicates whether this number is available to be used as Caller ID for numbers-to-be-called that are in the specified Sub-Campaign. If this field is set to All Subcampaigns, then the number can be used as Caller ID for a number-to-be-called from any Sub-Campaign
Added On	Date and time when this record was added
Active	Switch that indicates whether this number is available at all as Caller ID.

As stated, before the Deter SPAM feature, the system would select the Caller ID to be displayed, as follows:

1. Check Default Caller ID in Campaign Settings

1. If there is a Default Caller ID in Campaign Settings, use it as the Caller ID and skip to 4
2. If there is no Default Caller ID in Campaign Settings, proceed to Analyze Matching Criteria

2. Analyze Matching Criteria - the numbers in My CallerID are looked up to find matches to a selection criterion (the match is based on the to-be-dialed number); selection criteria is an ordered list, which is worked from top to bottom until one selection criterion is a match for one or more numbers in My CallerID; refer to the table of selection criteria (rules) further below

3. If one or more numbers match a selection criterion, use one of them as the Caller ID and skip to 4; When multiple numbers in My CallerID match a corresponding criterion, these numbers are used in a random fashion as the Caller ID
4. If no number matches any selection criteria, proceed to Check Default Caller ID in Default Settings

3. Check Default Caller ID in Default Settings

2. If there is a Default Caller ID in Default Settings, use it as the Caller ID
3. If there is no Default Caller ID in Default Settings, no Caller ID is available

4. Make call, if permitted.

The following picture provides a graphical representation of the decision logic.

Figure 2

With Deter SPAM

First and foremost, let’s summarize the additional fields (columns) in My CallerID that Deter SPAM introduces:

Additional My CallerID fields for Deter SPAM
Spam Check	Switch that indicates number should be included in Automatic DID Swaps, which replaces number with another one in the same or neighboring area code, if an indication is obtained that it was flagged (by an external entity).
Deter SPAM	Switch that indicates whether this number is to be considered under Deter SPAM rules and conditions. Campaigns that are enabled with Deter SPAM can only use as Caller ID a number with this switch set to ON; Campaigns that are not enabled with Deter SPAM can only use as Caller ID a number with this switch set to OFF
Used Since	Indicates the date-time when the number was used as Caller ID in the current cycle; a cycle starts when the number is used the first time, and again after the number was locked and is available again.
Used (times)	Indicates the number of times that the number has been used as Caller ID in the current cycle; a cycle starts when the number is used the first time, and again after the number was locked and is available again.
Total Usage	Indicates the cumulative number of times that the number has been used as Caller ID in all relevant cycles.
Locked On	The Lock Period Start. When Deter SPAM is ON, this indicates the date and time when this number started being disallowed to be used as Caller ID, i.e. the start of the lock period. It is cleared when the lock period ends; it is also cleared when Deter SPAM is set to OFF
Locked Until	The Lock Period End. When Deter SPAM is ON, this indicates the future date and time when this number is to go back to being allowed to be used as Caller ID, i.e. the end of the lock period. It is cleared when the lock period ends; it is also cleared when Deter SPAM is set to OFF
Locked (times)	The Lock Occurrences Count. When Deter SPAM is ON, this provides the number of times (count) that this number has gone into a lock period, i.e. being disallowed to be used as Caller ID. It is cleared when Deter SPAM is set to OFF.

When we introduce Deter SPAM, we enable it at two levels:

1. First, we must enable Deter SPAM as a feature; when we do that, we must also specify the Campaigns for which Deter SPAM is enabled/active -we could simply indicate that it’s for the whole account, meaning all Campaigns.
2. We must also individually enable with Deter SPAM each number in the list of My CallerID that we want to be included in the selection process for relevant Campaigns that have Deter SPAM enabled/active. To be clear, if a Campaign has Deter SPAM enabled, only those numbers in My CallerID that also have Deter SPAM enabled will be considered in the Caller ID selection process.

As a result:

1. Only numbers with Deter SPAM enabled are used for Campaigns with Deter SPAM enabled

1. Only numbers with Deter SPAM disabled are used for Campaigns with Deter SPAM disabled.

When we use Deter SPAM, we effectively filter the My CallerID list before we apply the matching criteria.

Figure 3

The process starts when a call is to be made (dial out), at which time the Campaign determines what entries (caller ID records) in My Caller ID are to be parsed to find one that best meets all conditions and criteria; if the Campaign has Deter SPAM enabled (ON), then only those entries (caller ID records) in My Caller ID that also have Deter SPAM turned ON, if any, will be considered as the caller ID for the call; conversely, if the Campaign has Deter SPAM disabled (OFF), then only those entries (caller ID records) in My Caller ID that also have Deter SPAM turned OFF, if any, will be considered as the caller ID for the call. So, basically, at this first step we (conceptually) divide My Caller ID in two sets and pick the one that interests us.

When we have our set, we compare every entry (caller ID record) against an ordered matching criterion set, which we will represent in this document as a Matching Criteria Table, and assign each caller ID record to one row of that table; the row assigned is the best match, which is the first row, from top to bottom, that matches.

Then, for each set of caller IDs that match the same row in the Matching Criteria Table, which we will call Matching ROW, we select only one by applying a priority rule (if Deter SPAM is ON) or randomly (if Deter SPAM is ON). At this point we should have one or more Matching ROWs with a single entry (caller ID record) each; if it is more than one row, we apply an additional priority rule if Deter SPAM is ON.

The steps are as follows:

1. Check Default Caller ID in Campaign Settings. IF there is one defined:

1. Use the campaign’s Default Caller ID as the Caller ID (proceed to 3).

2. ELSE (no Default Caller ID)

2. Check if Deter SPAM is enabled as a feature and active on the Campaign in question, or if Deter SPAM is enabled system-wide (for the group/account) (refer to Figure 3). IF enabled and active for the campaign:

1. IF at least one entry (Phone) in the My Caller ID list has Deter SPAM enabled:

1. Using those entries (phones) enabled, find the best match(es) against the Matching Criteria Table from top to bottom (1 to 20); a match is when an item meets all conditions in the row; the best match is the first row that produces a match.

1. IF more than one entry generates a best match for a given Matching ROW, select only one for that Matching ROW by applying the following priorities:

1: Least Usage within current cycle, per value for Used (times).

2: Least Total Usage, per value for Total Usage.

3: Least Lock Count, per value for Locked (times).

4: My Caller ID list order.

2. IF there is more than one Matching ROW (with one entry per row), select only one by applying the following priorities:

1: Least Usage within current cycle, per value for Used (times).

2: My Caller ID list order.

3. Caller ID is ready to be used for calls (proceed to 3).

2. ELSE (no phone has Deter SPAM enabled)

4. No Caller ID is to be used (proceed to 3).

3. ELSE (Deter SPAM not enabled/active)

3. IF at least one entry (Phone) in the My Caller ID list does NOT have Deter SPAM enabled:

7. Using those entries (phones) enabled, find the best match(es) against the Matching Criteria Table from top to bottom (1 to 20); a match is when an item meets all conditions in the row; the best match is the first row that produces a match.
8. IF more than one entry generates a match, select only one randomly.
9. Caller ID is ready to be used for calls (proceed to 3).

4. ELSE (no phone has Deter SPAM not enabled)

8. No Caller ID is to be used (proceed to 3).

3. Make call, if permitted, using the appropriate Caller ID (if available).

Figure 4

The following pictures provide a couple of basic graphical examples of the decision logic.

Figure 5 – Example 1

Figure 6 – Example 2

It is important to emphasize that if Deter SPAM is enabled as a feature, but there are no numbers in My CallerID also enabled with Deter SPAM, there will be no match and therefore no Caller ID available. Conversely, if Deter SPAM is not enabled as a feature, but all numbers in My CallerID are enabled with Deter SPAM, there will be no match and therefore no Caller ID available.

My CallerID Number Selection Criteria

As we previously stated, before Deter SPAM is to be taken into consideration, each number in My CallerID is first analyzed against the number-to-be-called to determine which numbers, if any, meet a criterion to be considered as Caller ID for the number-to-be-called. The following list provides an ordered list of criteria, which is applied from first (1) to last (20) until one criterion is met.

Order	Campaign	Sub-Campaign	Area Code	State	State by NPA	Local Presence	Adjacent Areas
	Campaign of the Contact record against Campaign field of the My CallerID number	Sub-Campaign of the Contact record against Sub-Campaign field of the My CallerID number	Area Code (NPA) of the Contact record against Area Code (NPA)  of the My CallerID number	State of the Contact record (via mapping of its area code) against State field of the My CallerID number	State of the Contact record (via mapping of its area code) against State  of the My CallerID number via mapping of its NPA (area code)	ON = selected OFF = not selected	ON = selected OFF = not selected
1	same	same	same			ON
2	same	same	adjacent				ON
3	same	same		same		ON
4	same	same			same	ON
5	same	same				OFF
6	same	all	same			ON
7	same	all	adjacent				ON
8	same	all		same		ON
9	same	all			same	ON
10	same	all				OFF
11	all	all	same			ON
12	all	all	adjacent				ON
13	all	all		same		ON
14	all	all			same	ON
15	all	all				OFF
16	same or all	same or all	same			ON
17	same or all	same or all	adjacent				ON
18	same or all	same or all		same		ON
19	same or all	same or all			same	ON
20	same or all	same or all

Matching Criteria Table

Enable Deter SPAM as a Feature

The previous sections describe how numbers are selected from My CallerID to be used as the Caller ID for a call, but we also mentioned that we need to enable Deter SPAM as a feature, as well, so those numbers in My Caller ID that are enabled for Deter SPAM get treated accordingly.

To access the Deter SPAM feature configuration we click on the configuration/settings icon next to the Deter SPAM column in My CallerID. Refer to the following picture.

Figure 7

This pops up a new window with the following items or areas:

Deter SPAM Feature Configuration Options
Enable/Disable switch	Turns the feature ON and OFF
Maximum Usage Duration	The number of minute or day units that a number in My CallerID that has Deter SPAM enabled can be used as Caller ID, after which it is Locked (not allowed to be used anymore as a Caller ID until unlocked again); this duration is absolute (time runs independent of whether a pause in calls occurs)
Days/Minutes	The Days/Minutes selector switch for Maximum Usage Duration indicates the unit of time to be utilized. Refer to explanation and examples below for how Days and Minutes are counted.
Blocking Duration	The number of days that a number in My CallerID that has Deter SPAM enabled and has been Locked, stays in the Locked state
Days/Minutes	The Days/Minutes selector switch for Blocking Duration indicates the unit of time to be utilized. Refer to explanation and examples below for how Days and Minutes are counted.
Maximum Usage Attempts	The number of times that a number in My CallerID that has Deter SPAM enabled can be used as Caller ID, after which it is Locked (not allowed to be used again as a Caller ID until unlocked again); this is compared to the number’s Usage (times) field.
Active for the whole account	Indicates whether to enable Deter SPAM for all Campaigns; when Whole Account is disabled, only those Campaigns manually selected (moved to the Active List, see below) are enabled for Deter SPAM; when Whole Account is enabled, all Campaigns are moved automatically to the Active List
Campaign lists (not-active and active)	Two Campaign lists side by side; the one on the left (Not Active List) lists all available Campaigns in the system that are not enabled for Deter SPAM; the one on the right (Active List) lists all Campaigns that are enabled for Deter SPAM.

Refer to the following picture.

Figure 8

It is important to understand how Days or Minutes are counted when used for Maximum Usage Duration and Blocking Duration. The important considerations being the following:

6. Days are accounted for as calendar days, and not as 24-hour periods, therefore a day is accounted for no matter at what time in the day usage or blocking starts the first time in the cycle.
7. The very first day in the cycle starts anytime between 00:00 and 23:59.
8. All other days that follow start at 00:00.
9. All days end after 23:59.
10. Minutes are counted without special considerations.

The following example use cases demonstrate how Days are used when selected as the option for Maximum Usage Duration and Blocking Duration:

Figure 9

The following example use cases demonstrate how Minutes are used when selected as the option for Maximum Usage Duration and Blocking Duration:

Figure 10

Go ahead on an try it! Feel free to consult with ChaseData Support if you have questions.