Free Caller Registry: register your business numbers, then fix what gets them labelled
14 min readForm and carrier pages read 2026-10-22
For the owner or ops lead whose customers say your calls show up as spam: what the Free Caller Registry is, who runs it, how to fill it in, and what to do when a label stays. Every claim comes from the registry's own form, the engines' and carriers' published pages, or the FCC's rules, read on 2026-10-22.
Trying to stop calls to your own phone? You want the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov, not this one.
The short answer
The Free Caller Registry is one free web form that sends your business details and outbound numbers to the three analytics companies whose scores sit behind most carrier spam labels in the US: First Orion, Hiya and TNS. It is worth the ten minutes it takes. It is also only the first step, and the form says so itself.
Who runs it and which phones it reaches
The big three mobile networks do not score calls on their own. Each works with an analytics engine that weighs complaints, call patterns and caller ID data; the network then shows a label on the called phone or, for the worst scores, sends the call to voicemail. The registry site lists three engines under “Brought to you by”, and each one confirms on its own site which network it works for.
| Engine | Network it labels for (its own words) | Its own free tool |
|---|---|---|
| First Orion | T-Mobile. Its own press release calls it “T-Mobile’s analytics engine” | Business Number Registration with Watchlist: tags on T-Mobile in the previous 24 hours, and why |
| Hiya | Mobile networks that use Hiya’s spam labels, “including AT&T”, by Hiya’s account | Number Registration and a Caller Reputation report card |
| TNS | Verizon, whose own page names “TNS/Cequint” as its robocall analytics vendor | Reached through the registry and Verizon’s feedback form |
So one form reaches the engines for all three big US mobile networks. The registry does not say which other carriers its engines serve. The terms give one contact per engine for questions: FCRsupport@firstorion.com, freecallerregistry@hiya.com and communications@tnsi.com.
How to register, field by field
The form runs in three steps after an email check. Gather the list first: every number that places outbound calls, which team uses it, and roughly how many calls each places in a month. Inbound-only lines do not need it.
| Step | What the form asks | How to fill it well |
|---|---|---|
| Before step 1 | Business email, verified by a code sent to it, plus a short text check | Use a mailbox on your company domain that someone reads: each engine replies there |
| Step 1Business | Name, street address, city, state, ZIP, website | Match your website and phone bills: Hiya and First Orion both say they verify a business before its numbers count |
| Step 1Contact | Contact name, phone and the verified email | A person who can answer an engine’s follow-up questions |
| Step 1Calling habits | Call purpose (12 choices, from Attorney / Law to Telemarketing) and outbound calls per month (bands from 1 - 100 to More than 50,000, or I don't know) | Pick the purpose a recipient would recognise. If you sell on the call, that is Telemarketing |
| Step 1Optional | What customers have told you about how your calls are labelled | Name the label and the network, with dates. It is the form’s only free-text field |
| Step 2Numbers | Up to 20 ten-digit US numbers, digits only, or an upload (one per line, .xlsx or .txt under 100 KB, template provided) | Only numbers that place outbound calls. Filing a number twice adds nothing |
| Step 3Terms | You call on your own behalf, the data is accurate and the numbers are not used for unlawful calls | Each engine then sends its own acknowledgement and any next steps |
The calling-habits answers are the part to get right. Engines score what they see on the network (Verizon's vendor weighs complaints and calling patterns), so a purpose of “Informational” on numbers that place sales calls helps no one. Keep a copy of what you submitted, dated, with the number list: it is the record you will point to when you ask for a review.
What registration fixes, and what it does not
Registration puts your business on record with the engines. It does not override how they score the calls themselves. The registry's own terms are blunt about it:
“The registration of phone numbers does not guarantee redress based on analysis that each call protection provider does independently. Free Caller Registry is not to be used as a replacement for caller reputation monitoring services.”
| What you want | Does registration do it? | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Who is calling | Yes. Each engine gets your business name, address, website and contact | Nothing on the called phone changes because of it |
| Why you call | Yes. Your declared purpose and monthly volume go on file | An engine still scores the calls it actually sees |
| A wrong label | It gives the engine context when it reviews your numbers | No guarantee: each engine decides independently |
| Your name on screen | No | Registration data is not used for Caller ID Name; that is CNAM or paid branding |
| Watching your numbers | No | Not a replacement for monitoring; use the engines' free dashboards or a paid service |
| Filing again | No | A second submission of the same number adds nothing |
Hiya says the same of its own registration: it “reduces the risk of spam or nuisance labels, but it doesn't completely prevent them”, because carriers also weigh how people respond to your calls. Hiya puts verification at about 24 hours in most cases, then a few more days for changes to reach carrier systems.
Where Spam Likely and Scam Likely labels come from
“Spam Likely” and “Scam Likely” are what people type into a search box after a customer says your call showed up as junk. The words on the screen depend on the network, the phone and any call-blocking app the person installed. Verizon's own feedback form says it labels with “SPAM?” and that a call labelled differently, “e.g. SPAM LIKELY”, was not labelled by Verizon.
| Network | Labels it publishes | Engine behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon | Potential Spam, Potential Fraud, Robo caller, and SPAM? on home-phone caller ID | TNS/Cequint, named by Verizon |
| AT&T | Spam Risk labels by category (General spam, Telemarketers, Account services, Nonprofits, Political); Fraud Risk calls blocked by default in the ActiveArmor app | Hiya, by Hiya’s account |
| T-Mobile | Its own pages would not load for us; First Orion speaks of numbers “tagged as Potential Spam” on T-Mobile | First Orion, by its own account |
What the engines read
Verizon says its vendor considers “feedback from consumers (such as complaints filed and crowdsourcing data) as well as information about calling patterns, among other factors”. Hiya's help centre lists the usual reasons a business number gets flagged: many people reported it, its pattern matched spam (“high volume, short duration”), a previous owner of the number was flagged, or the carrier or number range was. None of these is about your paperwork, which is why registration alone cannot clear them.
Why is my number flagged? A quick check
Answer six questions about one number. The check lists the likely causes the engines and Verizon publish, the fix for each, and where that network takes a review request. It reads published guidance, not your number's actual score.
Why is my number flagged?
Likely causes and fixes
- 01People are declining, blocking or reporting the callsCheck who you call and when: consent on file, a fresh Do Not Call scrub, opt-outs honoured, and calls inside the recipient's local hours.Verizon's vendor weighs consumer complaints and calling patterns; Hiya names reports from many people.
- 02The engines have no record of your businessFile the Free Caller Registry form: one submission reaches First Orion, Hiya and TNS.The registry's terms: registration informs each engine but does not guarantee redress.
Where to ask for a review
Not sure yet: test first
Call a phone on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile from the number and note what each screen shows. A label on one network points at one engine; a label everywhere points at your calling pattern.
STIR/SHAKEN attestation in plain words
STIR/SHAKEN is the signature a phone company puts on a call to vouch for the caller ID. The FCC required voice providers to put it in place in their IP networks by 2021-06-30 (47 CFR § 64.6301(a)). The provider that originates your call decides how strongly to vouch for it, at one of three levels.
| Level | What the provider vouches for (FCC 20-42 ¶ 8) | Typical business case |
|---|---|---|
| Afull | The provider knows the customer making the call and that the customer is using its associated number | Your number, on a line your provider sold you |
| Bpartial | The provider knows the customer but not that the customer has the right to that number | Calls sent through a platform that cannot confirm the number is yours |
| Cgateway | The provider is only the point where the call entered its IP network | Calls from abroad or from a network without STIR/SHAKEN |
You do not set your level, and no registration changes it. The rule says the provider “makes all attestation-level decisions” even when a third party signs for it (§ 64.6301(b)(2)). Ask your phone provider or dialer vendor what level your calls carry. A B on numbers you own means whoever sends your calls could not confirm your right to them, and that is theirs to fix with you.
Calling habits that keep a number clean
Verizon publishes the practices it says legitimate callers follow to avoid spam labels, on any network. They line up with what Hiya lists as triggers, and with the law on caller ID for sales calls.
Answer rate is the habit most teams miss. A dialer that rings numbers nobody answers, or drops calls in a few seconds, produces the short, unanswered pattern that Hiya and Verizon both name as a spam signal. Scrub against the Do Not Call registry (our DNC scrubbing comparison reads the tools), keep calls inside the recipient's hours (the quiet hours checker does the time zones), and set the dialer's pacing so a person comes on the line. Our predictive dialer comparison shows which tools cap abandoned calls. Verizon also advises a 45-day rest before a number moves to a new purpose.
When a label is wrong: each network's route
Fix the habits first, then ask. Hiya tells businesses to review their calling practices before reporting, and Verizon links its best-practice list from its form. Each network publishes its own route.
| Network (engine) | Register and watch | Ask for a review |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T (Hiya) | Hiya Number Registration, free; its Caller Reputation view shows spam status and a report card | A one-time review through Hiya Support when registration has not solved it |
| Verizon (TNS) | The Free Caller Registry reaches TNS | Voice spam feedback form: up to 50 numbers, shared with the analytics vendor; may not change the label |
| T-Mobile (First Orion) | Business Number Registration, free; Watchlist shows tags from the previous 24 hours and why | Ask through the First Orion portal or FCRsupport@firstorion.com |
Blocking has a firmer rule than labelling. A carrier that blocks calls on analytics, or uses caller ID authentication to decide how to deliver them, must give callers a way to complain:
“Each terminating provider that blocks calls pursuant to this section or utilizes caller ID authentication information in determining how to deliver calls must provide a single point of contact, readily available on the terminating provider's public-facing website, for receiving call blocking error complaints …”
It must give a status update within 24 hours and may not charge for a good-faith complaint. A blocked call also returns a code to your provider (SIP 603+ under § 64.1200(k)(9)), so ask your provider or dialer vendor to report those codes per number. The TCPA compliance checklist covers the calling rules the engines expect you to follow anyway.
When free is not enough
Registration and the free dashboards cover a business with a handful of numbers. Two things push you to pay: wanting your name or logo on the screen, and running more numbers than you can test by hand.
Branded calling puts a vetted name, logo and call reason on the called phone, and reputation monitoring checks your numbers across networks for you. Our branded caller ID comparison reads seven services for what each registers, shows and monitors. If you also text customers, the 10DLC guide covers the registration carriers require for business texting, a separate system from this one. Sort out the label before you buy branding; the comparison explains how labels and branded displays interact.
This guide reads the engines' and carriers' published pages and the FCC's rules; it is not legal advice.
Questions callers ask
Is the Free Caller Registry really free?
Yes. The form costs nothing and asks for no card. It takes up to 20 numbers typed in, or a file for more. The engines behind it sell paid services too: branded calling, reputation monitoring and managed fixes. Those are optional.
How long does registration take to work?
The registry itself publishes no timeline. Each engine sends you its own acknowledgement. Hiya says it verifies a business and its numbers within about 24 hours in most cases, then takes a few more days for changes to reach carrier systems. Test from phones on each network a week after you file.
Will registering remove a Spam Likely label?
Not by itself. The form's own terms say registration does not guarantee redress, and Hiya says registration reduces the risk of a label but does not completely prevent one. If people keep declining, blocking or reporting your calls, the label can come back. Registration gives the engine your side of the story; your calling pattern is what it scores.
Will my business name show on caller ID after I register?
No. The registry's terms say neither the engines nor their carrier partners use registration data to deliver Caller ID Name. Hiya says the same of its own registration. The name comes from CNAM, which your phone provider sets, or from a paid branded-calling service.
Can an agency or call centre register numbers for its clients?
Not through this form. It is for businesses calling on their own behalf, and the terms rule out service providers, BPOs and third parties. An agency goes to each engine directly. First Orion offers a registration API for high volumes, for T-Mobile only.
Is this the same as the Do Not Call list?
No. The National Do Not Call Registry, run by the FTC at donotcall.gov, is where consumers list their own numbers to cut telemarketing calls. The Free Caller Registry is the reverse: businesses list the numbers they call from, so that analytics engines label those calls fairly.
Should I just switch to new phone numbers?
Rarely. A fresh number has no history, and a recycled one can carry a previous owner's flag, which Hiya names as one reason numbers get labelled. If the calling pattern that earned the label stays the same, the engines score the new number on that same pattern. Fix the pattern, register, then ask for a review.
Sources
- Free Caller Registry, registration form and termsfetched 2026-10-22
- Verizon, voice spam feedback formfetched 2026-10-22
- Verizon, best practices guidance for calling partiesfetched 2026-10-22
- Verizon, robocalls and spam callsfetched 2026-10-22
- Hiya, Number Registration (product page and FAQ)fetched 2026-10-22
- Hiya, Caller Reputationfetched 2026-10-22
- Hiya Support, reporting calls mislabeled as spam (updated 2026-06-08)fetched 2026-10-22
- First Orion, Free Number Registrationfetched 2026-10-22
- First Orion, Watchlist launch (press release, Oct. 13, 2026)fetched 2026-10-22
- AT&T, ActiveArmor service termsfetched 2026-10-22
- 47 CFR § 64.6301, Caller ID authentication (eCFR, current as of 2026-10-20)fetched 2026-10-22
- 47 CFR § 64.1200(k), call blocking and redress (eCFR, current as of 2026-10-20)fetched 2026-10-22
- 47 CFR § 64.1601(e), caller ID for telemarketing (eCFR)fetched 2026-10-22
- FCC, Report and Order FCC 20-42 (Mar. 31, 2020), STIR/SHAKEN attestation levelsfetched 2026-10-22
- FCC, Reassigned Numbers Databasefetched 2026-10-22
- FTC, National Do Not Call Registryfetched 2026-10-22