atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Telecom Service & Providers Caller ID Question

From my cell phone, I call my home phone which is providee A. My name comes up on CID.

From my cell phone, I call my work phone which is provider B. Cellular Call comes up.

I call provider B and ask them why my name doesn't come up on their CID when it can come up on provider's A's network? Provider B said the information passed on has nothing to do with them but the cell phone company. But how can Provider A receive it?

My question is, is Provider B really at fault and just didn't update their CID database with cellular information?

I take it that cellular provider B is Verizon Wireless, correct? They don't send end-user name information. I have been complaining about it for years. Please complete the information in your profile and perhaps we can assist you further.

Actually it is AT&T

They work fine for land lines. But AT&T denies fault.

Yes...I mean no...well, sorta...

When the local exchange carrier (LEC) receives the CID number from your cell phone provider, it looks up the number in a third party CNAM database. Different LECs use different calling name database services.

So, BellSouth may be using the Verisign database and Verizon may be using the Syniverse database (just for example, I really don't know). If the Verisign CNAM database has been updated with your name/number then BellSouth CID subscribers will get your correct name. If the Syniverse database just identifies your number as a Cellular Call, Verizon CID subscribers get "Cellular Call" on their screen when you call.

The same thing happens to me. If I call a customer, from my cell, in Gainesvlle (BellSouth) they can see my name. If I call a customer in Ocala (Sprint) they get "Florida Call" just as they would with any other Alltel cell phone. Annoying, isn't it?

So, it may be that AT&T hasn't updated with all of the CNAM database providers, or it may be that some CNAM providers just don't care about cell phone numbers because they get changed so often. I don't know. I do know that life is too short to try to get this info changed!

I'm sure someone else may be able to shed more light on this than me. They may also correct some of my terminology.

-Larry

Verizon wireless to a verizon landline here in NY shows up "NY Wireless".

Most calls from anywhere else in the country other than local NYC just show up as the state name on our CID.

Thank you nfcphoneman, this is a big help. Yeah, it's probably a waste of time trying to get AT&T to update. I figure i can call them every few weeks for awhile and see what happens. I already sent a support email in.

another factor is billing... someone has to pay for the CNAM lookup, and not all carriers have billing agreements with each other....