The Rising Challenge in Contactability
For years, collections has depended on outbound phone and text outreach to connect with customers, confirm balances, and negotiate repayment. But consumers face a growing flood of unknown numbers, spam calls, and bulk SMS - often creating frustration and missed connections.
Apple’s answer in iOS 26 is simple: put control back in the consumer’s hands by letting them screen, silence, or filter communications from numbers not saved in Contacts.
How iOS 26 Call and Message Screening Works
Apple’s official support documentation highlights three new layers of control:
1. Call Screening
- When enabled, calls from numbers not in Contacts are answered in the background.
- The caller is asked for their name and reason for calling before the consumer’s phone rings.
- Consumers can also choose to silence these calls, sending them straight to voicemail.
2. Call Filtering
- Calls from unknown numbers are routed into a separate Unknown Callers list, outside the main Recents log. Users need to manually select which unkown callers to remove from the list.
- Calls flagged by carriers as spam or fraud are silenced, sent to voicemail, and moved into a Spam list.
3. Message Filtering
- Texts from senders not saved in Contacts go to an Unknown Senders folder in the Messages app.
- These are hidden from the main messages view unless the consumer marks the number as known.
Implications for Collections Teams
The early impact has been measured but noticeable:
- Press-1 campaigns are no longer effective
- Slightly lower RPC rates as more calls are screened or filtered.
- Increased reliance on voicemail when calls are sent directly to silence.
- Reduced SMS visibility as texts from unsaved numbers flow into the Unknown Senders folder.
As adoption grows, these patterns may become more pronounced. Importantly, Apple has not provided exceptions for third-party number sanitation or branded call providers in its official documentation - meaning even “clean” numbers may be subject to screening or filtering.
Common Questions
Will Press-1 campaigns still be effective?
Press-1 campaigns will be much less effective because many calls from unsaved numbers never ring through or get intercepted by the screening prompt. They may still work in limited cases (e.g., with warm leads who’ve saved your number), but overall answer and transfer rates will drop noticeably.
What happens if we pay for phone number sanitation with a provider like Hiya, First Orion, or Number Sentry?
Paying for sanitation helps keep your numbers clean, verified, and less likely to be flagged as spam, which improves trust and call delivery. It won’t bypass Apple’s iOS 26 screening, but it increases the chance your calls look legitimate and get answered.
Will branded calls make it through call blocking / call screening?
Branding doesn’t exempt you from screening, but it makes your call stand out and boosts answer rates.
How is Krew adapting to iOS Screening?
Collections organizations can respond in practical ways:
- Caller ID & Labeling – Ensure outbound numbers are accurate and consistent to reduce the risk of being flagged by carriers.
- Dialing Strategies – Adjust cadence, time-of-day, and channel mix to account for higher screening and filtering.
- Voicemail Drops & SMS Follow-Ups – Optimize scripts and templates to encourage callbacks or opt-ins when live contact is less likely.
- Monitoring Contactability – Track RPC rates and channel performance daily to quickly adapt as adoption increases.
The Road Ahead
Apple’s move with iOS 26 is part of a broader industry trend: giving consumers more autonomy over how and when they are contacted. For collections, this means RPC may become harder to achieve through traditional one-channel dialing alone.
But the outcome doesn’t need to be negative. By combining respectful outreach, omnichannel engagement, and transparent caller identity, collections teams can continue to connect with customers - even as platforms like iOS reshape the contact landscape.
The bottom line: Collections teams now need to urgently refine outreach strategies to maintain strong RPC rates. Failure to do so will likely impact contact and liquidation rates.
