What does a voice carrier ask a new customer?
A voice carrier’s Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements come down to five things: legal entity and ownership, physical address and website, a traffic description, consent and calling practices, and the numbers and network endpoints in use. Koda Voice reviews all five at onboarding because its Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD) certification and STIR/SHAKEN attestation depend on knowing who is behind each call.
This article covers each KYC request, why a VoIP carrier asks it, and how to answer all of it in one round. Koda’s onboarding questions cover the same ground; the full list is summarized on the robocall mitigation page.
Why do voice carriers run Know-Your-Customer checks?
Voice carriers run KYC checks because federal rules make the originating carrier answerable for the calls it places on the network. Under 47 CFR § 64.6305, a voice service provider must certify in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Robocall Mitigation Database that all calls it originates are subject to a robocall mitigation program, and its filing must commit it to respond within 24 hours to traceback requests from the FCC, law enforcement and the industry traceback consortium. The same rule lets other providers accept calls directly from a domestic voice service provider only if that provider’s filing appears in the database.
The consortium is the Industry Traceback Group (ITG), which tracebacks.org states the FCC first designated in July 2020 and has re-designated each year since. A traceback asks a carrier to name the customer that handed it a specific call, and a carrier that cannot answer cannot keep the commitment in its filing. Every question below protects that listing. The RMD article shows how to look one up.
KYC also decides attestation. Under the SHAKEN standard, ATIS-1000074, a signing provider gives Full (A) attestation only when it has a direct authenticated relationship with the customer, can identify the customer, and has established a verified association between the customer and the calling number. The attestation levels article covers A, B and C in detail.
What documents and details does VoIP carrier KYC require?
VoIP carrier KYC requires a fixed set of documents and details, usually collected on one form or checklist.
| What the carrier asks for | What to send | Why the carrier asks |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity and formation record | Certificate of formation or incorporation, state and entity type, any trade names | Agreement, traceback answers and call signing all attach to one legal name |
| Ownership and an authorized representative | Signing officer’s name and title; ownership if the formation record does not show it; sometimes that person’s government-issued ID | A named person is accountable for the account |
| Physical address | The operating street address; if the mailing address is a suite or mailbox, say so and give both | A mailbox with no explanation is a red flag |
| Website | The domain the business operates under | The business on the form must be the business the public can see |
| Tax identification | Employer Identification Number (EIN) or the equivalent for your entity type | Ties the account to a real taxable entity |
| Contact persons | Technical, billing and compliance contacts with direct numbers and email | Traceback and outage questions need answers in hours |
| Prior voice providers | The providers you used before and any blocking, labeling or enforcement history | Why you left your last carrier is part of the traffic profile |
Why does a carrier ask what your calls are for?
A carrier asks what your calls are for because the traffic description predicts how the account will behave once it is live. Expect four questions.
- What sends the calls. The phone system, contact platform or software product that will originate calls, and whether you run it or a vendor does. If it is a SIP trunk into your own phone system, name the system.
- Where the calls go. Domestic or international destinations, the states or metro areas that carry most of the volume, and whether called parties are businesses or consumers.
- How much, and in what shape. Expected monthly minutes and calls, busy hours, average call length and the outbound-to-inbound ratio. A range beats false precision.
- The business behind the calls. What the company sells, who it calls and why. “Appointment confirmations for a dental group” describes a normal day. “Marketing” does not.
Consent and calling practices follow from the fourth answer: how you obtain consent to call, how you honor do-not-call requests and how the platform keeps calls inside lawful hours. The federal window is set by 47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1): no telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time at the called party’s location. Koda’s acceptable-use policy sets out what traffic the network accepts, and these answers are checked against it.
What proves you are authorized to use a phone number?
Authorization to use a phone number depends on where the number comes from, which sets what the carrier needs before it can establish the verified number association that Full (A) attestation requires.
| Where the number comes from | What the carrier needs | Attestation level once the ATIS-1000074 conditions are met |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers the carrier provisions to you | Nothing beyond the KYC file; the carrier assigned the number | Full (A): customer verified, number association verified |
| Numbers you port to the carrier | A letter of authorization and a recent bill or account record from the current provider | Full (A) once the port completes |
| Numbers held elsewhere that appear as your caller ID | A bill, account statement or letter from the provider that serves the number | Partial (B) until the carrier has established a verified association with the number; Full (A) after it has |
Koda provisions local numbers and ports existing ones; either route settles number authority at onboarding. Numbers that stay elsewhere need documents.
Which red flags slow down or stop onboarding?
Red flags are the answers that open a second round of questions or end the review. The common ones:
- A mailing address with no operating address behind it, and no explanation.
- A legal name that differs from the formation record, the website or the domain registration.
- A traffic description with no platform, no destination and no business, or a volume that does not fit the business described.
- Caller-ID numbers the applicant cannot show authority for.
- A use case the acceptable-use policy prohibits, such as prerecorded or artificial-voice calls to consumers without the required consent.
- A request to skip KYC or to send traffic before the review is complete.
The first four are fixed with a document or a candid sentence, and the file can be resubmitted. The last two end the review: a prohibited use case is not approved by adding documents, and a request to send traffic before the review is complete is declined. A failed review means the carrier will not originate your traffic; ask which of the two outcomes applies before looking for another carrier. Each extra round adds time, so the length of a KYC review is set by the number of rounds, not by the size of the carrier.
How do you prepare a one-page traffic profile?
A one-page traffic profile is the fastest route through KYC because it answers the questions before they are asked.
- Identity. Legal name, entity type and state, tax ID, operating address, website, and the signing officer’s name and title.
- Contacts. Technical, billing and compliance contacts with direct numbers and email.
- Traffic. What sends the calls, where they go, expected volume and its daily shape, average call length.
- Business. Two or three sentences on what the company does and why it calls people.
- Consent and hours. How consent is obtained, how do-not-call requests are honored, how calling hours are enforced.
- Numbers. Which numbers will be used as caller ID, where each came from, and which documents show authority for them.
- Technical endpoints. Signaling and media IP addresses, preferred codecs, DTMF method, and IP allow-list or SIP digest authentication. See Koda’s network page.
Attach the formation record, the officer’s ID if requested and any number-authority documents. Update the page whenever the facts change.
What happens after onboarding?
Approval starts the relationship; it does not end the vetting. A carrier typically does four things.
- Monitors traffic against the profile. Answer-seizure ratio, average call duration, failure codes and complaint signals, per customer and per route. Drift from the described profile produces a question.
- Expects an update when material facts change. A new platform, line of business or block of numbers, a large step in volume, or a change of ownership.
- Passes traceback requests through. The 24-hour commitment under 47 CFR § 64.6305 means a customer may get a same-day question about a specific call.
- Enforces the acceptable-use policy. Warning, suspension or termination.
What if you are a carrier or reseller yourself?
A carrier or reseller applying for service adds one section to the KYC file: its own registry identifiers. Because 47 CFR § 64.6305 lets providers accept calls directly from a domestic voice service provider only if its filing appears in the Robocall Mitigation Database, an RMD listing is a gate, not a preference. Expect to be asked for the FCC Registration Number (FRN), the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Form 499 Filer ID, the Operating Company Number (OCN) assigned by the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), and the RMD listing; each will be looked up. The carrier verification checklist is the same test in reverse.
How this applies to Koda Voice
Koda Voice LLC runs a Know-Your-Customer review at onboarding, publishes an acceptable-use policy, monitors traffic quality and cooperates with industry traceback. Those four practices are the program behind Koda’s listing in the FCC Robocall Mitigation Database since July 2026, summarized on the robocall mitigation page.
Koda’s KYC process runs in four steps.
- One conversation. The Know-Your-Customer review starts with one conversation covering the ground this article follows: entity and representative, address and website, traffic description and consent practices, prior voice providers, number authority, technical endpoints. Start from the contact page with a traffic profile attached, or write to sales@kodavoice.com; compliance@kodavoice.com handles KYC documents for carrier partners and traceback requests.
- One review. An engineer reads the file, checks the traffic description against the acceptable-use policy, and replies with any open items.
- Credentials and test calls. On approval Koda issues trunk credentials, by IP allow-list or SIP digest, and test calls run before production traffic.
- Production with monitoring. Live traffic is monitored against the profile per customer and per route, and Koda expects an update when the facts in the file change.
Koda is registered with the FCC and USAC as an interconnected and non-interconnected VoIP provider, holds OCN 583H from NECA, and is an authorized STIR/SHAKEN service provider with the STI Policy Administrator (STI-PA), iconectiv, under Service Provider Code 583H, with an STI certificate from an approved STI Certification Authority. Calls originated on Koda’s network are signed under Koda’s own Service Provider Code, not a reseller’s certificate, as the STIR/SHAKEN page explains. Attestation follows the STIR/SHAKEN framework: A when the customer is verified and authorized to use the number, B when the customer is verified but number authorization can’t be confirmed, C otherwise.
Koda is a new carrier, founded in 2026, and that shapes the KYC conversation: the review is engineer-to-engineer rather than a self-serve form, the engineer who reads the traffic profile is the one who builds and tests the trunk, and the network has no legacy traffic to explain. Koda keeps a Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) policy with annual certification; questions about how onboarding documents are handled go to privacy@kodavoice.com.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Why does a VoIP provider need KYC?
A VoIP provider needs KYC because federal rules make it answerable for the calls it originates. Under 47 CFR § 64.6305 the provider certifies in the FCC Robocall Mitigation Database that its originated traffic is covered by a mitigation program and commits to answer traceback requests within 24 hours. Both commitments require knowing who each customer is.
What documents do I need for SIP trunk onboarding?
SIP trunk onboarding documents are the same as any carrier KYC file: the formation record for the legal entity, the name and title of an authorized officer (sometimes with government ID), tax identification, the operating address, and proof of authority for any caller-ID numbers you bring. Add the technical endpoints so the trunk can be built from the same file.
Can I use a P.O. box or virtual office address for KYC?
A P.O. box or virtual office can appear on the file as a mailing address, but a carrier will also ask for the address where the business actually operates. Give both, say which is which, and the mailbox stops being a question. A mailbox with no operating address behind it is a red flag on its own.
What determines how long carrier KYC takes?
The length of a carrier KYC review is set by how many rounds of questions it takes, not by the size of the carrier. A complete file, meaning formation record, operating address, a specific traffic description, number-authority documents and technical endpoints, can be reviewed in one pass. Missing or vague items add a round each time.
Will I have to re-verify with my carrier later?
Re-verification happens when the facts in your KYC file change: a new platform sending calls, a new line of business, a new block of caller-ID numbers, a large step in volume, or a change of ownership or control. Carriers also compare live traffic against the profile you gave them, so unexplained drift produces a question first.
What happens if I fail a carrier's KYC review?
A failed KYC review means the carrier declines to originate your traffic. An incomplete file can be completed and resubmitted; a mismatch between the stated business and the stated traffic needs a candid explanation; a use case the carrier's acceptable-use policy prohibits will not be approved by adding documents. Ask which of the three applies before looking for another carrier.