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Caller ID application True caller Today, it blocks between 38 and 40 billion unwanted calls annually for its more than 374 million users. Now, in hopes of getting more people to log in to its premium levels, it’s leveling up its filtering technology. The new “Max” update for premium Android subscribers uses AI to block every call that doesn’t come from an approved contact, or that the AI determines may be spam, TechCrunch has learned, even if they’re not already on Truecaller’s list. Database. Previously, bans and other measures were guided by how numbers were included in that database, as well as proactive screening of the individual.
Update is for Android only: Apple doesn’t allow Truecaller (or other caller ID services) to check callers’ spammer status to automatically block calls on iOS. Thus, Truecaller has a more basic service for iPhone users that relies on CallKit.
These moves come at a critical business moment for the company. In the fourth quarter, Truecaller It saw revenue decline 4% year over year, on sales of $41.52 million. Meanwhile, in India – Truecaller’s largest market with 259 million users – the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Recently suggested The caller ID service is similar to Truecaller, to be implemented via everyone Telecom networks in the country, in an attempt to better handle spam. Currently, this proposal has been witnessed opposition For privacy and technology reasons, but if implemented, it would pose a direct competitive threat to Truecaller.
The new feature underscores how Truecaller believes there may be a banking opportunity for people tired of the insidious ways of spammers – even if the fix may come at the expense of missed calls from unknown numbers and non-spammers that may actually be welcome.
Truecaller also builds on existing interest in all things AI: caller ID and spam protection are two core features of Truecaller, and it’s betting that any reservations about AI can be outweighed by curiosity about how well it accomplishes Truecaller’s main mission. With premium subscriptions also increasing in the process.
The app’s premium tiers range from $9.99 per month to $99.99 per year, depending on factors such as the number of users included.
The new feature is also an indication of how Truecaller is approaching ways to bring in more proactive automation – and thus expect less proactive engagement from the users themselves. Truecaller always presents subscribers with a list of all calls it can potentially block, which includes international, hidden, and unknown numbers not included in the user’s contacts. But to get the best results from the app, users must participate and edit their own lists. Now, everything flagged as inappropriate will be blocked by default.
“It’s something that, at least, some people have asked for — people who understand the app well,” Kunal Dua, vice president of search at Truecaller, said in a phone call.
This isn’t Truecaller’s first AI feature: it provides Artificial intelligence assistant Screens calls to determine why the caller is calling the user. (Other non-AI features include cloud telephony and call recording.)
The Max-powered AI has been in the works for a while. Truecaller has tested “dozens of algorithms” across its marketplace to identify spam numbers, and each of these machine learning algorithms also learns from user feedback, Dua said.
But it will take a major shift at Apple to roll out the service to iOS users. Last year, Truecaller introduced live caller ID support for iOS, although this is more limited and requires iPhone users to go through the live caller ID setup process.
It will be interesting to see how users react to the comprehensive nature of the feature as it may occasionally make mistakes. The app currently warns users that the feature “may prevent legitimate business activities.” However, the system is expected to improve over time as it obtains more spam call data, Dua said.
“Obviously, we do our best to differentiate between spam and legitimate companies. But there can be certain instances where some legitimate companies may temporarily [blocked]”,” he said. “We like to believe that this is temporary before our community, before our AI algorithms can determine that this is a legitimate business… We have a great deal of confidence that if we call someone a spammer, There is a very high probability, 99.999 times out of 100.”
Users can unblock a number if it is misclassified as spam by machine learning algorithms, which also helps in training the AI.
After updating the Truecaller app to version 13.58 or later, users can find the new spam blocking feature by going to Settings > Blocking.
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