Question about caller ID

I realize this is somewhat removed from the topic of the newsgroup, but I searched for another group and found none specific to my question type. Since this group is filled with knowledgeable people in electronics, I thought I might find an answer.

I have several cordless phones in my home hooked to my single phone line. They are both different models by the same manufacturer (AT&T and GE), and of course different brands. My question is why does the data listed for Caller ID differ from phone to phone? One will list the name of the person while another might only list the town along with the phone number. I thought the data was supplied by the originating phone company and therefore would be the same for each phone.

Just curious. Thanks.

Reply to
Ken
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That's correct -- it is and it should be.

Presumably different manufacturers select different CID items to display. Check the user manuals -- it might be possible to change what's displayed.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

This appears to be the case, but I see no mention in the user manuals as to how to select what is displayed. It is a little bizarre that phones made by the same manufacturer display different data when a call comes in. Of course they are probably "Contract made" rather than made by the name of the company on the phone.

Smitty Two seems to be somewhat correct in that at least one of the phones puts the name for caller ID as it resides in the directory (i.e. Johnny) in the phone. Others appear to use the listing as it appears in their phone company customer records (i.e. John Smith).

Reply to
Ken

Because you can't... The dsigner made that decision for you.

Which means nothing. Possibly designed by different branches of the same company. Though I am confused since you said one was a GE and the other was an ATT...

Good guess, that is what i'd think too.

Caller ID information varies by provider, country and other factors...

Reply to
PeterD

Just to clarify this point. I have two AT&T phones and two GE cordless phones, each different models.

Reply to
Ken

I always keep my Bell south (at&t) land line phone Unplugged, except for when I want to use it. Nobody here but little doggy

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and I.We have some stormy weather going on here right now.That LOUD clap of thunder scared the pants off of her. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Ah, understood now...

Reply to
PeterD

Caller ID in the UK appears to supply only the caller's number and world location if appropriate ie nothing on that score if the call comes from within the UK or "International" if not. If the caller has their number restricted with the phone company, it comes up "witheld". The only phone that puts up a name, is the big multifunctional one in the workshop, and that one only if the caller's name details are programmed into the dial memory, so that it recognises them. It's high time that legislation was changed to force cold sales calls to be identified in caller ID, as some of the companies are getting pretty clever at 'disguising' the number that they are calling from, so you pick the phone up to take what you think is a customer call, only to get " Hello sir, my name's Mandy-Lou, and I'm calling to let you know that your address has been picked to receive a free .... " at which point the phone goes gently (!) back down.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

The word withheld seems to come from the phone. One phone I have displays it, the other does not.

Pennsylvania allows customers to select "anonymous call reject" if you pay the extra money for caller ID. I don't know if any other place has it, but I sure miss it.

Geoff.

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 
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Reply to
Geoffrey S. Mendelson

Well, yes. I'm pretty sure that is the case, and that the phone does it as a result of reading some flag bit in the data stream that's been set by the phone company to tell the phone that it's not going to be supplied with number data.

You can opt for this feature also in the UK. The trouble is, many of the shops that I deal with withhold their number legitimately, because they don't want customers to get hold of that particular number, so by opting to reject all 'withhelds', you can also end up rejecting calls that you really do need to take. Some institutions like the police, for instance, also withhold their number, for obvious reasons. I don't know about where you are, but here in the UK, cold sales calling has now become such a nuisance, that sometimes, you can receive 10 or more calls in a day, often carrying on until 9 or 10 at night. This is presumably after some company that you have had legitimate dealings with, has sold off your details to an Indian call centre company. That's why I think that it's high time that people's privacy was restored, by making cold callers electronically identify themselves, so that a rejection filter can be set up for them alone, or at least, your caller ID can identify them, giving you the choice of whether or not you wish to pick up on the call.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

Where? That would be great.

We have the do not call list here, but it doesn't apply to political calls or charities so while it's not quite useless, it leaves much to be desired.

Reply to
James Sweet

There is a married Irish woman in Bognor Regis,England, married to that Irish guy.She has phoned me quite a few times before.I don't know if she has caller ID though.I am not going to ask her about that.She works at her home (via an IBM laptop computer WSCC gave her to use) for West Sussex County Council. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

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