US caller ID from abroad: what the FCC's proposals would change

If your reps call US prospects from Manila, Bengaluru or Bogotá with a US number on the screen, nothing has changed yet. But the FCC has proposed marking every call that enters the US from abroad, and it has asked whether businesses should still be allowed to show US caller ID on those calls. As of October 2026, both are open proposals, so now is the time to understand your call path.

Here is what the FCC proposed, what it only asked about, and what an offshore team can check this quarter.

Two notices, one direction

The FCC has two open notices that touch calls from abroad:

Notice	Adopted	What it proposes for calls from abroad
FCC 25-76	28 Oct 2025	Mark calls that start outside the US; show an indicator on the phone; use foreign origin in call-blocking analytics; questions on banning US caller ID on those calls
FCC 26-32	20 May 2026	Stricter checks on the providers that hand calls to US carriers; questions on how those checks should apply to calls from abroad

Comments on FCC 26-32 closed on 10 Aug 2026, and reply comments on 8 Sep 2026. Neither notice has become a rule.

What the FCC proposed

FCC 25-76 contains three proposals that matter to a team calling from outside the US:

1. A flag on the call. Gateway providers, the carriers where foreign calls enter the US, would mark calls that originate outside the US. Intermediate carriers would pass the mark along, and the carrier that delivers the call would show the person an indicator whenever it knows, or has a reasonable basis to know, that the call started abroad.
2. Foreign origin as a blocking signal. Carriers that use analytics to block calls would have to include whether a call started outside the US as one of the factors.
3. A verified name next to any “verified” mark. Some phones already show a checkmark when a call received A-level STIR/SHAKEN attestation. The FCC proposes that a carrier showing that mark must also show verified caller identity information, at minimum a verified name. Originating providers would have to take reasonable steps to check that the name is accurate.

The third proposal is not specific to calls from abroad, but it changes what “trusted” looks like on a prospect’s screen. Our guide to STIR/SHAKEN attestation levels explains A, B and C attestation, and the CNAM registration guide explains how a verified name differs from the 15-character caller name most US phones show today.

What the FCC only asked about

The questions are where the bigger risk sits for offshore teams. The FCC asked whether it should:

• Stop US caller ID on calls from abroad. The notice describes a domestic business that has moved its call center offshore and shows a domestic number so people can call back. It asks whether that practice misleads people about where the call comes from, and how a ban would affect businesses with offshore operations.
• Create a designated area code for calls that start abroad, and require gateway providers to block foreign calls that show US numbers outside that code.
• Exempt roaming. It asks whether US mobile and internet-phone customers who travel abroad and call with their own US number should be treated differently.

None of these is a proposal yet. They are questions, and a later order could adopt one, several, or none.

Why the FCC is looking at this now

The notice says many unlawful calls start outside the US. It also quotes industry data on why a verified name matters to legitimate callers: TransUnion, as the notice quotes it, says people are up to 105% more likely to answer a branded call.

The second notice adds a gap in today’s call path. It cites TransNexus figures showing that the share of calls ending in the US that carry STIR/SHAKEN signatures fell from 49% in October 2024 to 38% in September 2025. FCC 26-32 proposes that most carriers block unsigned internet-protocol calls handed to them directly. Gateway providers are left out of that proposal, because they receive unsigned calls from foreign carriers and the FCC does not propose to block those.

The UK has already moved. Ofcom decided that from 15 Jul 2027, calls from abroad that show a UK mobile number will reach UK phones as withheld. Our article on UK mobile caller ID from abroad covers that change.

Where your calls start is the question to answer

Two teams can sit in the same office in Manila and look identical to a US prospect today. One uses a softphone whose calls are placed by a US carrier. The other uses a local provider that hands calls to a US gateway. The second is plainly the case the FCC describes: a call that reaches a gateway from a foreign carrier. How the first would be treated depends on what the final rule says a “foreign-originated” call is, and the notice asks how carriers can tell a call’s country of origin at all.

So the answer depends on your phone set-up, not only your office address. Ask your provider, and get the answer in writing.

A checklist for offshore teams calling the US

1. List every caller ID your reps show on US calls, and who assigned each number.
2. Ask your provider where each call enters the US network: on a US carrier from the start, or through an international gateway.
3. Ask which STIR/SHAKEN attestation your calls receive today, and who signs them.
4. Ask whether your calls carry a verified caller name, and what the provider checks before it sends one.
5. Track connects by caller ID and by calling site. If a foreign-origin mark appears, a drop on one site’s calls on one date will show it faster than a list review.
6. Read the next FCC order on these dockets when it comes out. The notices are WC Docket 17-97 and CG Docket 17-59.

Answer rates also depend on reputation. Our Spam Likely guide covers how labels get applied and removed.

How DialSavvy handles this

DialSavvy is the carrier for the numbers it gives you. We buy and set up local numbers for your workspace and file the registrations (business profile, SHAKEN/STIR, caller name and caller-ID registrations), as the telephony page describes. With local presence, every call shows a local number your workspace owns. The country coverage page lists the planned calling mode by country, with an as-of date.

If your reps call US prospects from outside the US, book a demo and tell us where they sit: we will walk through how your calls would be placed and which caller ID they would carry.