TNS uses big data, machine learning to foil robocalls

Transaction Network Services (TNS) has been around for decades, and as one of the largest independent providers of inter-carrier call signaling and routing, it's an established player in telecom. But it's that long-time positioning that's helping it compete in the wild, wild west of the robocall detection business. This week, the company announced that its Neighbor Spoofing feature is enabling wireless carriers to protect their subscribers from the robocall tactic that uses local area codes or other means to make the consumer think the call is originating in their local area. The thinking is, if a call matches or closely matches their area code, they're more likely to trust the call is real and pick up. Carriers will use messages like "Potential spam" or "Likely spam" to let their customers know when a call is coming from a bad number so they don't pick up.