Caller ID Intermittent

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 11, 2007 Posts: 3

I have noticed that Caller ID with name works intermittently - In both directions. I can receive a call from someone and only get the number one time and then they can call back and I'll get both the name and number. Sometimes it's the opposite - first time - name and number, second time only the number.

The same also holds true with me calling someone. They might get my name and number, sometimes just the number.

Of course, calling Vonage Tech Support is useless. I had one person (Sudhakar) flat out tell me Vonage does not provide Caller ID with name when both the website says it does and I get some calls with Caller ID with name. The guy just could not get past the script.

So if any one has any thoughts/answer, I would be most grateful. Thanks for your help.

Louis James

Posts: 1327 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1327

When I call people only my number shows up (I never transferred my number to Vonage). When I receive a call I get the name and phone number.

Posts: 227 · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:45 pm Post subject: Name delivery on CID

When a call is delivered to the recipient's telephone carrier, the calling number is delivered via the SS7 network. The recipient's carrier may supply a name for display with the number, but to do so, the terminating carrier must perform a database lookup to translate the calling number to a name. Different terminating carriers look this information up in different databases.

When I call a Cablevision (Optimum voice) subscriber from my Vonage line, the recipient gets my name. When I call a Verizon subscriber from the same Vonage line, the recipient gets my number in both the number and name fields. Before my line was ported from Verizon to Vonage, Verizon subscribers got my name mis-spelled, while Cablevision subscribers got it correctly.

I'm not sure where Vonage performs this lookup on inbound calls, or how/when they update the name databases used by other carriers who terminate calls from Vonage. But I believe these are the variables that cause the effects reported in this thread.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 11, 2007 Posts: 3

DLevenson wrote:

When a call is delivered to the recipient's telephone carrier, the calling number is delivered via the SS7 network. ....

While the how/where/when is interesting, the issue remains that it's intermittent. According to Vonage's tech support, they don't supply CID with name. Yet, some people claim to see my name in the CID "sometimes".

When I receive calls, "sometimes" i get CID with names, and "sometimes" I don't. Amazingly, on the same day - even the same hour.

Vonage's response: Your phone equipment. The same equipment that with other carriers does receive CID with names and even with Vonage.

What's even more amazingly is that one tech went as far to say that Vonage does not provide CID with or without name. I guess his script was old.

I wonder - is there a service where I can list myself? Thanks for the comments.

Louis

Posts: 830 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 830

This probably the best explantion thus far (from the http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic22229.html thread):

alchemy wrote:

An email reply from an Advanced Operations Tier 2 tech says that Vonage changed in February to using a Sonus gateway for some of its calls, and that Sonus uses the VeriSign CNAM database to get the Caller ID Name. It would appear that the VeriSign database lacks a lot of real-name information that the previous (whoever it was...) CNAM database had. Unlike Cox, which is willing to go in and manually update the NAM field in the database they use (its not VeriSign) if it was not updated correctly when an update was received in the past from the carrier that the number belongs to, the Vonage techs state they will not manually update the Verisgn database (possible for Verisign CNAM database customers to do), or instruct Sonus to do so. Maybe Vonage will dump Sonus? I hope so. I have yet to see anything that VeriSign can do competently.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 11, 2007 Posts: 3

Now that's information! And if Vonage is unwilling to update the information, then we are basically stuck with bad CID information. To add more information, I just found the following article:

http://www.xchangemag.com/webexclusives/69h27153841.html

Since more of our calls are from non-vonage customers (you don't really think the whole world has gone to Vonage yet - at best maybe 20%), most of the calls use CID from the outside world. That means Vonage is paying a pretty penny (literally) for each of the CID names. It seems this has boiled down to a money thing.

Oh well, while it makes more sense that CID is not working correctly, at least we know.

This is my first posting on this forum so I'm wondering if our Vonage friends monitor this. Maybe they'll provide some more insight. Ed56, thanks for that post.

Louis

Posts: 830 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 830

ljjames wrote:

To add more information, I just found the following article:

http://www.xchangemag.com/webexclusives/69h27153841.html

So as Paul Havey would say "the rest of the story"

If it is not in Verisign's DB, Vonage may not want to spend the money for the additional lookup. Makes sense, but S**ks

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jan 23, 2008 Posts: 11

It still doesn't really answer why a call can show a name but 5 minutes later a call from the same line shows the town. Same with cell phones, sometimes it shows the town sometimes the state and the wor cell phone.

Posts: 830 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 830

Rickp wrote:

It still doesn't really answer why a call can show a name but 5 minutes later a call from the same line shows the town. Same with cell phones, sometimes it shows the town sometimes the state and the wor cell phone.

The quote from the ther forum was "changed in February to using a Sonus gateway for some of its calls", which could explain when the call goes through the Sonus gateway, you get incomplete data, at other times it may go through another gateway with more complete information. Just guessing, but may be the answer.

Posts: 66 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2006 Posts: 66

Rickp wrote:

It still doesn't really answer why a call can show a name but 5 minutes later a call from the same line shows the town. Same with cell phones, sometimes it shows the town sometimes the state and the wor cell phone.

I used to have the problemsw you describe, plus many other problems until I switched ISP's. I am now using RoadRunner and have not had any problems since I switched last year.