If you use the Google Phone app to take your calls, you’ll soon receive a very useful feature called “Verified Calls.” The app will tell you why a business is calling while the phone is still ringing (before picking up the call).
Read: Tesla cars aren’t great quality, it turns out
Eagle-eyed techies have spotted a Google support page where the tech giant goes into detail about the new Google Phone app feature. It expands on Google’s long-run efforts to make phone calls from unknown numbers (including robo-calls) less annoying, like with automatic call screening and spam detection.
Verified Calls only come from businesses that have opted to be included in the service and have gone through Google’s approval process. The business will be able to send the dedicated Verified Calls server the number they will be using to call, the number they will be calling (you), and the reason for calling, such as “Scheduling your internet installation” or “Your food delivery.” This information will then be displayed in-app when your phone starts ringing.
According to company, this Google Phone app feature will be switched on automatically. It will only work if your phone number has been linked to your Google account, though. Of course, you also need to have the Google Phone app installed on your device, which still has some notable devices missing from its list of compatible devices. Samsung phones can’t use the app as of yet, for example.
This feature can be switched off if you are concerned about privacy, although such a person probably wouldn’t link their phone number to their Google account in any case. Google says that it won’t “collect or store any personally identifiable information after verification.”
Would you use such a feature to more easily screen incoming calls? Let us know in the comments below.
