In a nutshell: A lot of people don't even answer incoming calls from numbers they don't recognize these days, but it would help to know who is calling and for what reason. Thanks to an upcoming feature called Verified Calls in Google's phone app for Android, you'll soon know why businesses are trying to contact you before answering.
Android Police spotted a Google support page explaining how Verified Calls work. To be a partner in the program, businesses will need to share their phone number, the number of the person being called, and the call reason, such as" scheduling internet installation" or "food delivery time," with Google. This will be saved in a dedicated Verified Calls server before the information is sent to your Google phone app.
When a business calls you, your device will check the incoming call information against the stored data. If there's a match, the app will show a Verified Call message along with the business name, logo, and reason for the call.
Google says that once the call is over, your phone number and the call reason will be deleted from its servers "within minutes."
Not every business can become a Verified Caller. Each one must first pass a verification process by Google before its information can be added. The search giant says that all verification data sent between Google, the business, and your device is done so using a Transport Layer Security (TLS) encrypted network.
Verified calls will be enabled by default on the Google phone app, though users can opt-out using an option under Settings > Caller ID and Spam.
There's no word yet on how many businesses have signed up for the Verified Calls program, which sounds like it could be a useful feature for those who don't want to ignore every phone call they receive.