Verified Calls and Trusted Brands: How Numeracle is Building Business Identity for Telecom
On today’s episode we spoke to Rebekah Johnson, Founder & CEO of Numeracle. This was a fascinating conversation about Rebekah’s journey starting Numeracle in 2016 to bring trust back to business communications by tackling robocalling and spam in the telecom ecosystem.
We talk about how Numeracle became an early identity issuer in telecom through the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN protocols which have now rolled out to subscribers of carriers like T-Mobile and how she overcame the classic chicken-and-egg problem of launching before carriers were ready. We also discuss how the business identity ecosystem compares to consumer digital identity, and what companies should do when they know a new standard is coming (like eIDAS 2.0), but it’s not here yet.
We finish by exploring modern AI’s impact on communications, including how to preserve trust when automated agents or AI-powered voice calls are part of the conversation.
You can learn more about Numeracle at numeracle.com and connect with Rebekah on LinkedIn.
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Video and key takeaways from the Rebekah Johnson
You can watch the full video interview on our YouTube channel, or review the key takeaways below:
Key takeaways
- Business Identity is Here and Working
Numeracle has created a system that ties verified brand data to outgoing calls. For T-Mobile users, these calls now display a logo, name, and call reason and can’t be spoofed. - Standards Take Time but Vision Takes Patience
Rebecca shares what it’s like to build ahead of industry adoption. Her advice to founders: stick to the vision, but stay flexible in how you get there. - AI is Raising the Stakes
As robocalls become more sophisticated with AI voice cloning, the need to verify not just what is calling you, but who or what organization is behind it, becomes urgent. - Chicken-and-Egg Problems Are Ever Present
Despite devices and carriers moving slowly, Rebecca was able to sell verified identity as a reputation solution first before any standards were fully in place.
Robocalls No More. Reusable Business Identity is the Next Frontier.
Rebecca’s original vision was rooted in consumer identity but her experience showed that business identity offered a more direct path to adoption and impact. In a world where companies want their calls to reach users—and users want to know who’s calling—business identity becomes both the carrot and the stick.
And while the current use case is telecom, the implications reach far beyond: verified business identity could be foundational for everything from messaging and email to future consumer-to-business data sharing models.
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