Somebody explain cell phone caller ID's to me

[Penguin]

When I get a call on my cell phone, if the number is not on my contact list, it just shows the number. However, when I get a call at home, the caller ID shows the number and a short text statement of who it is.


Why doesn't the cell phone caller ID also tell me who it is?

[SicEmBaylor]

I'm sorry to say we simply are not technologically advanced enough for something like that. Maybe someday...in the year 2000.

[3rdgensooner]

Because you touch yourself at night

[Penguin]

Ahem! To clarify, when I get a call at home, caller id shows the number and the line below it says who it is, i.e. "FBI - PERVERT DIVISION". When I get the same call on my cell phone, if the number is NOT on my contact list, it only shows the number and NOT who it is.


Explain!

[OUinFLA]

Ask the FBI, pervert.

[Penguin]

Since when does hiding in a porta potty with a camera get you labeled as a pervert?

[rekamrettuB]

Because your phone isn't programmed to do that.

[WichitaSooner]

It's actually a very good question... I don't have an answer... but it IS a great question.

[Curly Bill]

It's actually a very good question... I don't have an answer... but it IS a great question.

I thought so too, but I wanted someone else to say it before I chimed in. :D

[tator]

I've wondered this before too

[sooner_born_1960]

Evidently cells phones don't do that. Period.

[Pardner]

Google is cool...

On the telephone network (that is, between switches), all that is sent is ANI (which is not exactly the same thing, but close enough for this discussion, as the number part of caller ID) along with a flag telling the receiving switch whether the number is private or not. The receiving switch then sends the caller ID (if the block flag is not set) as a burst of modem data between the first and second ring to the caller ID device attached to your phone line, containing the digits of the phone number and the time (24 hr) and date (m/d only). (If the block flag IS set, it sends a code to tell the display to show that along with the time and date. That's where the "Private Number" comes from.) You can actually hear that modem burst if you subscribe to call waiting-caller ID when a second call comes in.

Caller Name Display is an extension to this. It is up to the receiving switch to do a lookup on the directory number it received to determing the name associated with it and to transmit that to the caller ID device as part of the signaling. The "name" never traverses the telephone network.

(It's hardly rare in the U.S./Canada. Most U.S. subscribers to "Caller ID" also have Caller Name Display (the name part) and think of that service as "caller ID." Numeric-only is extremely rare anymore. This is because while it is still technically two separate products, the phone companies sell it as one and will give you both if you call and ask for "caller ID" unless you specifically tell them you want number only. Outside the U.S. is is probably less common.)

Cellular networks handle the numeric + blocking flag in exactly the same way but they make no provision for caller name display at all. So the only way to get name is to put those numbers in the phone's address book. The phones themselves aren't even designed for it and would require replacement if they ever do add this to the cellular network (like numeric-only caller ID boxes had to be replaced when it was added on the PSTN.)

[Boomer.....]

I was thinking about this for a while and told my secretary to ask her daughter who works for AT&T as a call tech. Here's her response:


Yea we get that question a lot. Sprint has a feature for 5.00 a month that pulls the caller ID from the national database and shows it on the cell phone. Att has decided not to do that yet only because it's expensive one, and customer don't want to add the additional cost to their account for it to show the name. Landlines charge 5.00 or more as well. People don't wanna pay because most people who call their cell phone are programmed in the phone so the name pulls because it's preprogrammed in the phone. Landlines cannot program names like cell phones can so there is a greater need for the added expense via landline service then mobility service.

It's not that it cannot be done, it's that only about 5% of customers would actually pay extra for the feature. It's just not worth the expense. According to recent surveys and insider info from carriers who do have the feature.

I guess that makes sense.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Heh, AT&T Wireless. Good Times, Good Times.

The reason I was given was that TDMA didn't support it and with GSM it took too much bandwidth.

In a residential situation, bandwidth is never a question. You use 8KBPS of a twisted pair that can handle up to 1.5 MBPS of data (that excess bandwidth is where DSL comes from btw). So flowing data on the pipe is never that big of a deal.

In a cell situation, bandwidth is a big deal especially on near cap towers. They cut some transactions at the time and it looks like they never bothered bringing them back.

[olevetonahill]

When My phone rings and i dont recognize the # i let it go to voice mail. if they leave a message and I want to i will cll em back. If not they just wasted their time tryin to call me.;)

[rekamrettuB]

When My phone rings and i dont recognize the # i let it go to voice mail. if they leave a message and I want to i will cll em back. If not they just wasted their time tryin to call me.;)

Same here. If I don't have your number programmed into my phone...odds are I don't want to talk to you.

[nighttrain12]

When My phone rings and i dont recognize the # i let it go to voice mail. if they leave a message and I want to i will cll em back. If not they just wasted their time tryin to call me.;)

Same here and 90% of the time, they don't leave me a message.