BT and EE Adopt Hiya AI-based Customer Call Protection Service

Customers of UK broadband ISP BT (including EE) look set to benefit from improved protection against SPAM and fraud calls, which reflects the fact that they’ve just become the first major telecoms provider in the country to adopt Hiya’s AI-based voice security solutions – Hiya Protect – in conjunction with Ericsson.

Until now, the Seattle-based Hiya has tended to focus more on the USA and Europe, where they already provide a similar service to AT&T, MasMovil and Telenor etc. According to Hiya’s own research, some 29% of calls in the UK are spam and 50% are fraud – representing the highest rate across Europe. As a result, it’s becoming harder for UK consumers to get the calls they want to receive.

In fairness, most of the major UK broadband ISPs, phone providers and mobile network operators have already implemented technical measures to tackle Nuisance Calls, but these aren’t always 100% effective. Indeed, BT and EE claimed last year that their existing Artificial intelligence (AI) powered firewall was being used to block 1 million international scam calls a day (here).

The new Hiya Protect service seems likely to complement or replace that. Consumers can use the service through their provider, Samsung Galaxy devices, or the Hiya App. However, there are multiple ways to implement it (e.g. network integrations via SIP and API, app integration via SDK, device integration via their APK and multiple APIs), but the press release only mentions plans for a “direct integration” with Ericsson’s systems.

“Carriers that choose Hiya Protect for spam and fraud call protection report fewer customer complaints, increased brand reputation, and improved customer satisfaction and overall NPS. Powered by AI technology that allows carriers to recognize and stop new and emerging scams in real-time to stay a step ahead of fraudsters, Hiya Protect satisfies regulatory requirements and exceeds carrier demands for subscriber voice call protection,” said the announcement.

Hiya President, Kush Parikh, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“Telecommunication carriers around the world are challenged to build trust for voice calls. The need to eradicate fraudulent calls, clearly label nuisance calls, and provide better labeling of unidentified calls outside of the address book has never been greater.

Consumers deserve certainty in knowing who is calling when they pick up the phone. BT and EE are leading the way in the UK by implementing the most advanced voice security platform to fight the growing problem of spam and fraud calls, while helping legitimate calls get through.”

Just to be clear, EE is doing all of this integration at the network-level, which means that it will be a seamless change for consumers, and we’re told that there will be no additional charges for it.