Incoming Call Authentication Using Matched Verification Codes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Customers are uncertain about the authenticity of incoming telephone calls from agents, as caller ID spoofing is prevalent, making it difficult to verify the legitimacy of the caller, especially in IP telephony environments.
Innovation Solution
A customer application is installed on customer devices to generate a customer-side verification code, which is compared with a business-side verification code generated by the business's servers, ensuring both codes match to authenticate the call's origin from a trusted business entity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If caller ID spoofing is used in IP telephony, then ease of operation for fraudulent callers is improved, but reliability of call authentication deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary authentication system that mediates between callers and callees. A verification module generates unique verification codes for each call attempt, which are transmitted through the communication network to the receiving device. This intermediary mechanism prevents direct spoofing by adding a layer of authenticated verification that both parties must complete, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and authentication reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary authentication actions before the actual communication occurs. The verification module pre-generates authentication credentials and establishes verified communication channels in advance. By conducting authentication procedures before the main communication event, the system ensures that only authenticated participants can engage in communication, thus maintaining reliability without significantly impacting operational ease.
2Reliability
If verification codes are generated and compared for each call, then reliability of call authentication is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication system implements self-service mechanisms where the verification module automatically generates, transmits, and validates verification codes without requiring manual intervention. The system autonomously manages the authentication process, including generating unique codes for each call attempt and automatically comparing them at the receiving end. This automation reduces the perceived complexity for users while maintaining high authentication reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The verification module is designed as a universal component that can handle multiple authentication scenarios across different communication channels. The same module generates verification codes for various types of calls and communications, providing a multi-functional solution that reduces overall system complexity by consolidating authentication functions into a single versatile component rather than requiring separate mechanisms for each communication type.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of verifying that incoming telephone calls to respective customers originate from a business entity known to the customers that includes: receiving data transmitted from a customer application on a first customer device that notifies of a triggering event occurring; generating a business-side version of the verification code for use in association with the first authentication attempt; generating, by the first customer device, a customer-side version of the verification code for use in association with the first authentication attempt; generating a user interface showing the customer-side version of the verification code; and transmitting the generated business-side version of the verification code to a first agent device for authenticating that the first telephone call originates from a first business entity by enabling a comparison verifying that the customer-side version and the business-side version of the verification code are equal.


