Cell Phone Caller ID Problem

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Hi Everyone,

I have been told, by a few people, that my old name appears on their caller ID displays when I call them from my cell phone. This despite the fact that I have long since changed my name on my cell phone account. Damn it. lol Have any of you encountered a similar problem? If so, what did you do about it? The people who tell me about this problem seem to be using a carrier other than mine, so it would appear that my carrier couldn't - or wouldn't - do anything about it. Is this something that can be corrected? Do I need to get myself a new phone number or a new carrier with the same phone number?

I just don't want to call a potential employer and have my old name pop up on their caller ID display!

Any advice is appreciated!

Hugs,
Lisa

Perhaps a change of carriers

That would make me quite cranky. I had that happen the other day with the IRS and I am not sure what happened. My name change was nearly 6 years ago and is quite legal.

Hmmmm

Khadijah

Most Caller ID Displays

Puddintane's picture

Show the number. not the name, because that's what the phone company usually passes on, although some offer the subscriber name as well. The called party (or their local carrier in some instances) may have your old number entered in their local address book under your old name, so the old name shows up because they haven't changed it in their own address book. Cellular phones are the usual suspects, because they always have an address book available, and will take the incoming caller ID number and paste in the local name for the convenience of the individual being called, but the actual location of the subscriber name varies between systems.

Some cell phone carriers don't transmit caller ID at all, even though the origination switch offers it, because the cell phone carriers are too cheap to buy the (extra cost) Group D or PRI trunk circuits required to pass along the Caller ID or ANI signal.

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

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Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Perhaps, but does not explain all cases

My therapist and one of my friends have both only known me post-transition and with the new name, so it wouldn't explain why they are seeing my old name. That might explain some cases, though!

Ceers,
Lisa

It's difficult to account for every case..

Puddintane's picture

...because there are many ways of pasting this information together. To save money, some carriers don't subscribe to the entire CNID (Calling Number ID) signal, and construct an artificial CNID by joining information from a purchased database to the bare ANI (Automatic Number Identification) signal. This is all done by computers these days, and there are as many ways of gluing this information together as there are switch programming teams.

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

I've seen this problem

I've seen this problem reported on by "consumer reporters" in local newspapers and on local TV stations. Typically it's a case where someone moves and gets a new number (or gets an additional line), which was previously in some other name.

The old owner's name shows up on some other carrier's caller ID, often for years. It seems that the system for exchanging caller ID information among carriers is very haphazard. There is no central database, there are many carriers, and the data exchange often goes through third parties.

You probably have to keep after your carrier, and give them specifics about which other carriers have the wrong information. Your friends who get the wrong name displayed can also try to get it fixed by their carrier. Hopefully you can get carrier A to actually talk to carrier B and fix it.

Kris

Kris

{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}

I'd have to go back and

Brooke Erickson's picture

I'd have to go back and check the specs, but I'm not positive that Caller ID (which, btw, is *not* the same thing as ANI) even carries the name.

If it doesn't (or if some carriers are cutting corners by not getting it from the originating carrier & central office) then they'll be getting it from a reverse directory database. And those can be *years* out of date if they aren't local to you.

So, in essence, there's nothing you can do except changfe your number.

Brooke brooke at shadowgard dot com
http://brooke.shadowgard.com/
Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world
"Lola", the Kinks

call display vs contacts linking

If these people have your old name in their phone with your existing number... their phone likely matches your number to their contacts listing.

Next time you visit one of these people... check their contacts... its likely they didn't think they needed to switch over.

Dayna.

ps. In north america... cellphones don't send names... only #s for call display. The other end matches that to the contacts list.

Thanks for commenting but...

...as I explained before, the last two people who reported this are people I never gave my old name to. Therefore, my old name is not in their contact list.

Best,
Lisa

Some Advice

While this will not help Mona, those who have yet to begin the long and sometimes twisting transition trail, here are a few things you can do to ease the process I did that has helped tremendously to keep problems like this from cropping up.

1. When picking you new name, use the same initials as your old one. I know this will be rejected out of hand by most folks, but hear me out. When I was a commanding officer, there was a great deal of paper work I needed to sign. So I saved time by using my first and middle name initials.

2. In time, whenever I I applied for credit cards, I had my first and middle name initials along with my last name. Since I do business using my old name, I sign everything this way, even official documents and contracts. I have never had any problems. I have purchased houses, cars and filed taxes this way for years without any problems.

3. If you opt to stay with your old initials, signing up for everything like phone service or credit cards using your first and middle name initials. Since so much of the credit system is automated and inner linked these days, (all credit reporting is handled by three companies), your abbreviated name will cause no hick ups.

Even if you do not change your name, this approach will not cause any problems.

Regardless of what you do, I wish those who venture forth the best of luck.

Nancy Cole

Nancy_Cole__Red_Background_.png


~ ~ ~

"You may be what you resolve to be."

T.J. Jackson