News:

On Tuesday September 6th the forum will be down for maintenance from 9:30 PM to 11:59 PM PDT

Main Menu

Outbound caller-id name

Started by Carrageenan, March 01, 2017, 06:10:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Carrageenan

My current provider provides outbound caller-id name e.g. "John Smith". My Obi200 with GV plus Callcentric setup ($1.50/month free inbound phone number) has outbound CNAM "Los Angeles, CA." I want called people to see "John Smith. (555) 123-4567" instead of "Los Angeles, CA. (555) 123-4567."

When you ported your landline number to T-Mobile then finally Google, did your outbound caller-id name become your name? If not, do you know a solution? I have not ported my number to Google, because I am afraid of losing my caller-id name.

SteveInWA

Caller ID name (CNAM) is not sent with the call, as is caller ID number.  Instead, the called party's telephone service provider attempts to look up the name in a database of numbers matched to names (known as a LIDB).  There is a cost associated with feeding and "dipping" into the CNAM databases.  Google doesn't feed its users' names into the databases, so, when the called party's telco attempts to look it up, it won't get a result.  As a "better than nothing" alternative, most telcos substitute some generic information, known from the rate center (local calling exchange) of the telephone number.  For landline/VoIP numbers, this is typically a city and/or state name.  For mobile numbers, it is either some useless phrase like "WIRELESS CALLER", or a city or state name.

Shorter answer:  your called parties will not see a custom CNAM when you call them, if you either get a freebie number from Google's pool, or you port in a number.  On occasion, the former CNAM information lingers in the LIDBs, but it is usually purged after some time.

Carrageenan

Thank you. I cannot think of anything else to ask.