Harnesses Expertise and Toll-Free Industry Leadership Role to Advance Key Initiatives, Strengthen Trust in this Critical Communications Channel
BRIDGEWATER, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–iconectiv today announced that the company’s Director of Regulatory and Industry Relations Sarah Halko has been appointed co-chair of the ATIS SMS/800 Number Administration Committee (SNAC), where she will lead critical industry initiatives focused on restoring and maintaining consumer trust in toll-free voice and messaging communications. Halko will serve a two-year term effective May 2025 until May 2027 in a role that was previously held by iconectiv Senior Account Director Mike Gilbert.
As part of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), SNAC supports initiatives that ensure the integrity and reliability of toll-free communications. With more than 42 million in use today, toll-free numbers play a key role in consumer engagement and remain a vital communication tool for businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions and healthcare providers. However, the proliferation of robocalls, SMS spam and fraudulent schemes has significantly eroded consumer trust, making it necessary for the industry to collaborate on thwarting nefarious activities while maintaining trust in this vital communication tool. SNAC’s work includes guiding database administration, enabling SMS capabilities and advising the FCC on matters related to toll-free service.
As co-chair of SNAC, Halko brings nearly a decade of regulatory affairs experience including leading iconectiv’s efforts to ensure full regulatory compliance by developing strategic initiatives that uphold compliance standards while preserving customer satisfaction, collaborating with external regulatory bodies and contributing to the development of operational and procedural standards across the organization.
«Toll-free numbers have long stood as a cornerstone of trusted consumer communication,” said Halko. “As stewards of this vital channel, we have a shared responsibility to uphold its integrity. I am committed to working alongside SNAC members to safeguard the trust consumers place in these communications and to ensure this channel remains credible, secure and effective.»
iconectiv is a leader in the toll-free market via its TruReach® Toll-Free 8MS® cloud-based solution, which is relied upon by more than 100 service providers and Responsible Organizations (RespOrgs) for toll-free provisioning, messaging enablement, least-cost routing and continuity planning.
In addition to its toll-free number leadership position, iconectiv is on the offense in combatting telecommunications fraud—including efforts to stop robocalls, SMS phishing (smishing) and callback scams like “wangiri.” iconectiv is the U.S. Secure Telephone Identity Policy Administrator (STI-PA) for the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework, which is aimed at improving trust in voice and messaging ecosystems.
About iconectiv
Your business and your customers need to confidently access and exchange information simply, seamlessly and securely. iconectiv’s extensive experience in information services, digital identity and numbering intelligence helps you do just that. In fact, more than 5K customers rely on our data exchange platforms each day to keep their networks, devices and applications connected and 2B consumers and businesses protected. Our cloud-based information as a service network and operations management and numbering solutions span trusted communications, digital identity management and fraud prevention. For more information, http://www.iconectiv.com/. Follow us on X and LinkedIn.
Contacts
Media Contacts:
Sharon Oddy, iconectiv
+1-908-809-2268
soddy@iconectiv.com
Casey Bush
Global Results Communications
+1-949-608-0276
iconectiv@globalresultspr.com
