---
title: "Carrier blocks"
description: "A blocked call no longer looks the same as no answer."
---
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# Carrier blocks
[Open original guide with interactive examples →](/originals/carrier-block-detection/)
## Watch the walkthrough
A narrated tour of this guide, about two and a half minutes. Turn on captions with the CC button. The numbers on screen are example data. Prefer paper? [Download the SOP as a PDF](/originals/carrier-block-detection/public-media/carrier-block-detection/carrier-block-detection-sop.pdf).
**The short version** Open **Number Rotation** (dock → **More**). On the **Human dialing** tab, the **Blocks 7d** column shows confirmed carrier blocks for each of your numbers over the last seven days. On the **AI voice** tab, a red line under a number's status shows the same thing for your AI caller pools. Hover the number to see which carrier blocked it and its dispute link. There is nothing to switch on.
## Why it matters
Carriers run spam filters on calls. When a filter blocks your call, the homeowner's phone never rings. Until now, that call came back looking exactly like an unanswered one: _busy_ or _no answer_. Your team kept dialing, the number kept getting flagged, and it looked like the lead was ignoring you.
**What you used to see**No answer, busy. Nothing to tell you it was the carrier.
**What you see now**Blocked by carrier: the carrier's name and a link to dispute it.
**Why that helps**You stop wasting dials on a burned number, fix it, and your answer rates reflect your leads, not your numbers.
## How it works
After a call that didn't connect, we ask the phone network why. When a carrier blocked it, the network returns the carrier's own reason, which names the blocking carrier and where to dispute it. This covers three kinds of calls. Pick one to follow it.
**Your team's calls** **Built-in AI calls** **AI campaign calls**
Checks run about an hour after a call ends, because the carrier's report takes time to arrive. A call is only counted after we confirm, with your own phone account, that it really was your outbound call from your number.
## Reading the Blocks column (Human dialing)
1. Open the dock, click **More**, then **Number Rotation**.
2. Choose the **Human dialing** tab.
3. In **Today's dials per number**, look at the **Blocks 7d** column.
Example dataThe Blocks 7d column on the Human dialing tab.
—No unconnected calls from this number have been checked in the last 7 days. Not a zero: we simply have nothing to report yet.
noneUnconnected calls were checked and no carrier blocked any of them. The number is clean.
2Confirmed carrier blocks in the last 7 days. Hover it for the carrier and the dispute link.
Example dataHover the red count to see who blocked it.
**Only real blocks are counted.** A call counts as blocked only when the carrier explicitly said it blocked the call and gave its reason. A plain decline or a busy line is never counted as a block.
## AI caller pools (AI voice)
1. Open **Number Rotation** and choose the **AI voice** tab.
2. Choose your pool. Each caller number shows its state, today's use and its 7-day results.
3. A number with carrier blocks shows a red **"N carrier blocks · 7d"** line right under its status. Hover it for the carrier and dispute link.
**Numbers with carrier blocks.** At the top of the AI voice tab, this list shows every number your AI calls went out on that a carrier blocked in the last 7 days, even numbers that aren't in any pool: the number, the carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and others), blocks out of calls checked, the date of the last block and the dispute link. It only appears when at least one number has a block.
Example dataCarrier blocks under a caller number's status in an AI caller pool.
## What to do when a number is blocked
1. **Stop dialing from it for now.** Every extra call from a blocked number deepens the label. Don't keep retrying the same people from it.
2. **Pause or park the number.** On the SMS tab of Number Rotation, **Park** takes it out of texting and agent call rotation. If you use Caller ID Intelligence, you can also **Pause** it there. For an AI caller pool, choose **Configure** on the number and set it to **parked**.
3. **File the dispute.** Use the carrier's link from the tooltip. Each carrier runs its own review; it can take a few days to a few weeks.
4. **Check your numbers are verified.** Make sure your numbers are registered and signed with your phone provider (call verification, often called STIR/SHAKEN, and Voice Integrity registration). Ask us if you're not sure.
5. **Watch the column for a week.** When new checks come back as **none**, bring the number back gradually.
**Don't swap numbers to escape a block.** Moving the same calling pattern to a fresh number usually gets that number blocked too. Fix the cause first: verification, call volume per number, and who you're calling.
## Phone Health: every number in one place
**Contact Center → Phone Health** brings every number you text or call from into one page: texting, your team's calls and AI calls. Nothing to switch on.
1. In the dock, click **More**, then **Contact Center**, then **Phone Health** in the left rail.
2. Start with **Needs action**. It lists numbers a carrier blocked in the last 168 hours, numbers where more than 5% of texts were filtered (at least 25 sent), and numbers whose texts were rejected as unregistered.
3. For a blocked number, click **Dispute with carrier**, file it, then click **Mark disputed**. The row then counts blocks _since you filed_, so you can see whether the dispute worked. Click **Resolve** when the carrier answers.
4. Use **Carrier blocks by carrier** for reporting: confirmed blocks per day split by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, for 14 or 30 days. **Export CSV** downloads the same rows (day, number, carrier).
Days are UTC, and today counts only what has happened so far. A dash means there is no data for that column, not zero. Only owners, admins and managers can mark a number disputed.
## Verified caller ID (STIR/SHAKEN)
Carriers rate every call by how well the caller is verified. A call from a number registered to your verified business gets the top rating, called **A attestation**. Unverified calls get a lower rating and are more likely to be labeled "Spam Likely" or blocked. Registering does not stop every block, but it removes one of the most common reasons for them.
1. **Create a Business Profile** in your Twilio account's **Trust Hub**: legal business name, EIN, business address, website and an authorized contact. Review usually takes about a day.
2. **Create a SHAKEN/STIR registration** under that profile and add the numbers you call from. Review usually takes about three days.
3. **Optional: Voice Integrity.** This registers your numbers with the carriers' spam engines (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) so they know the calls are yours.
Want help? Ask your account manager. We can walk you through Trust Hub; you supply the business details, because the registration is in your company's name.
## Should I act? A quick check
Enter what you see for one number over the last 7 days.
Unconnected calls checked
Carrier blocks (the red number)
A guide, not a rule. One block in a quiet week can be a one-off; a pattern across several calls is a burned number.
## Setup and cost
**Nothing to set up.** Detection is on for every connected phone account, and new accounts are switched on automatically within a day of connecting.
The carrier's reason comes from Twilio's **Voice Insights** add-on, which Twilio bills to your Twilio account at about **$0.0024 per outbound minute** (check Twilio's current price list). If you'd rather not use it, ask us and we'll turn it off for your workspace.
Your outbound calling minutes per month
## Weekly routine (5 minutes)
1. Open **Number Rotation** → **Human dialing**. Scan **Blocks 7d** for red numbers.
2. Open **AI voice** and check each pool for red **carrier blocks** lines.
3. For any red number, follow [What to do](#act), and note the date you filed the dispute.
4. For numbers you parked earlier, check whether new calls come back **none** before bringing them back.
## Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Every number shows "—" | No unconnected calls have been checked in the last 7 days, or calls ended less than about an hour ago. | Wait an hour after calling. If it stays empty for a busy week, contact support: your phone account may need reconnecting. |
| A number you know is blocked shows "none" | Some carriers block without returning a reason. Those calls can't be confirmed as blocks. | Treat a sharp drop in answers as a warning sign anyway, and check the number's verification. |
| Calls from another dialer aren't included | Only calls placed through Channel Automation are checked. | Ask your other dialer's provider for its own carrier-block report. |
| Calls before October 8, 2026 show nothing | The carrier reports only exist for calls after the add-on was switched on. | Nothing to do; new calls are covered. |
| The AI pool's Reputation column is cut off | On a narrow window the pool table scrolls sideways. | The red carrier-blocks line under each number's status is always visible; or widen the window. |
## Questions
### Does this change who or when we call?
No. It only reports. Pausing or parking a number is always your decision.
### Does it cover AI calls?
Yes: calls from your built-in AI and from AI calling campaigns, as long as they use your own phone account.
### Who can see it?
Anyone in your workspace who can open Number Rotation. The data never leaves your workspace.
### What does "7d" mean?
The last seven days, counted back from now, not calendar days.
### Is a dash the same as zero?
No. A dash means nothing was checked. "none" means calls were checked and none were blocked.
### Can you dispute for us?
Yes, ask your Channel Automation team. The dispute link and the carrier's reason are all that's needed to start.
Channel Automation · Help · Last updated 2026-10-09.
Questions? Ask your account manager, or open **Help Docs** inside the app — the same guidance lives there.
Source: https://guides.channelautomations.com/numbers/carrier-block-detection/index.mdx