Branded Calling is Reshaping the Customer Journey

Executive Summary

Customer trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. With 9 in 10 smartphone users1 in the U.S. and robocall fatigue high, traditional voice communication faces serious challenges. However, First Orion’s branded calling solutions are reshaping how companies connect with customers at each stage of the journey—awareness, consideration, purchase, service, and loyalty—and unlocks benefits across key industries.

In this paper, we:

  • Highlight how branded calling creates transparency and trust
  • Address the effects of spam and scam labels
  • Present solutions for challenges at each stage of the customer journey
  • Demonstrate branded calling’s industry-specific impact

The Problem: Customers Aren’t Answering

Approximately 87% of consumers2 admit they avoid answering calls from unknown numbers. This means critical sales, service, and support opportunities are missed daily. Despite investing heavily in digital marketing, businesses overlook one of the most personal engagement tools available: the phone call.

Customers Still Want Phone Calls

Even in the digital-first era, customers value phone calls for their immediacy, human connection, and ability to handle complex or urgent issues. Nearly 95% of hospitality consumers say branded phone calls are important to their experience, and over two-thirds prefer a call for urgent matters like travel changes or fraud alerts.3 In financial services, 48% of consumers favor phone calls over email for urgent issues, and 54% specifically trust them for fraud-related matters.4

Voice communication fosters trust because live tone and dialogue convey authenticity far beyond text. When integrated into the customer journey, especially during consideration, service, and loyalty phases, branded calls ensure timely, trusted contact, leading to higher engagement and satisfaction. This human touch bolsters first-call resolution, a metric that directly uplifts customer satisfaction and reduces operational costs.

Enter Branded Calling: Transforming Touchpoints Across the Journey

Branded calling solutions such as INFORM® and INFORM with Logo, change everything. See the features of both:

INFORM
  • Personalized, 32-character display can include business name/or reason.
  • Reaches all major U.S. Carriers and over 21.5 million Canadian subscribers.
  • Display is shown in the call log.
  • Programmatic scheduling enables easy use across different departments, use cases, and users.
INFORM with Logo
  • Logo, and on some devices, the call reason
  • Call Authentication is included and required to brand calls
  • All outbound logo calls have A-level attestation
  • Available for devices on all major U.S. Carriers
Download the Whitepaper
First Orion co-founder and President/CFO Jeff Stalnaker, named to AY Magazine's 2026 Men of Distinction.
July 8, 2026

First Orion’s Jeff Stalnaker Named to AY Men of Distinction

First Orion co-founder and President/CFO Jeff Stalnaker has been named one of AY Magazine’s 2026 Men of Distinction, an honor recognizing Arkansas leaders whose accomplishments, leadership, and service have made a lasting impact on the state.
Read More
First Orion named a 2026 Visionary Spotlight Award winner for Business Technology by ChannelVision Magazine.
June 30, 2026

First Orion Wins 2026 ChannelVision Visionary Spotlight Award

ChannelVision Magazine has named First Orion a 2026 Visionary Spotlight Award (VSA) winner for Business Technology, recognizing the combined power of SENTRY® Call Blocking and INFORM® Branded Calling for restoring trust in voice communications and improving answer rates for legitimate business outreach.
Read More
First Orion named the 2026 Most Admired Company in Telecommunications by Arkansas Money & Politics (AMP).
June 16, 2026

First Orion Named AMP 2026 Most Admired Telecom Company

First Orion has been named the 2026 Most Admired Company in Telecommunications by Arkansas Money & Politics (AMP), an award given to only one company per industry in the state for excellence in leadership, innovation, financial performance, brand strength, talent, and community impact.
Read More