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Everything you ever wanted to know about Caller ID


NOTICE: TO ALL CONCERNED Certain text files and messages contained on this site deal with activities and devices which would be in violation of various Federal, State, and local laws if actually carried out or constructed. The webmasters of this site do not advocate the breaking of any law. Our text files and message bases are for informational purposes only. We recommend that you contact your local law enforcement officials before undertaking any project based upon any information obtained from this or any other web site. We do not guarantee that any of the information contained on this system is correct, workable, or factual. We are not responsible for, nor do we assume any liability for, damages resulting from the use of any information on this site.
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| EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CALLER ID |
| A NIRVANAnet(tm) Infodose written by the visionary |
| Distributed via the NIRVANAnet(tm) text file distribution network |
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The FCC has now made almost all the US long-distance carriers deliver Caller
UD to your local phone company. If you pay the monthly fee (typically $6.00
to $8.00) for Caller ID and have the hardware to collect the data (local and
long-distance Caller ID), you can make it work for you.

There are still areas where you won't receive Caller ID yet. These areas are
covered by FCC waivers which will expire by June 1997. Those waivers were
extended to give some carriers time to upgrade their software and hardware to
handle it.

Caller ID is a service you buy from your local phone service provider whic
delivers the calling party phone number to you with each call. In other
words, it can tell you who's calling before you pick up the phone -- so long
as you don't pick up the phone before the second ring. It takes a special box
or phon to capture the Caller ID information delivered by your telco and show
it to you.

To protect the privacy of those who don't want their number delivered when
they place a call, they can dial *67 before dialing the phone number they
want to reach. This prevents their number from being seen by the hardware on
the answering end. Most phone companies offer a Continuous Caller ID Block
functio which prevents your number from ever being delivered. When the
continuous bloc mode is active, the caller can dial *82 to enable Caller ID
delivery for that call (allows the number to be sent to the answering party).

On the inbound side, some phone companies offer the trapping of 'anonymous
calls' (calls from blocked numbers). This is handy when preventing calls from
telemarketers. One of the first things a telemarketing company will do is
bloc their outbound numbers to prevent deliberately annoying inbound calls or
callbacks. When blocking anonymous calls, your telco, or a separate box, can
play a message telling the caller to enable Caller ID and call back. In CT,
this message is "The party you are calling does not accept Blocked Calls.
Please hang up and call again, without blocking your number, or press *82
before dialing to unblock your number."

There are several vendors of Call-Blocker boxes which will out-pulse the *67
as soon as you lift the handset offhook or open the line with a cordless
phone. Remember that blocking your number will not prevent some groups from
receiving your number from the Central Office. All emergency services like
911 fire and safety personnel WILL get your number, even if you have blocked
it with *67.

There are several 'flavors' of Caller ID around the world. Some providers
deliver the calling party digits as DTMF tones right after the first ring,
but most send the data using 1200 baud FSK modem carrier transmitted between
the first and second rings.

The first ring is used as the sync signal for the start of transmission. The
Central Office (CO) starts sending a string of the same character so the
receiver can sync, and then follows with the phone number and possibly the
caller's name as listed in the telephone company's database.

A little-known fact about ISDN BRI terminal adapters is that most of them
also output CLASS Caller ID -- as long as they support POTS jacks (most do).
They take the ISDN call setup information and generate Caller ID for any
devices plugged into their POTS jacks.

The weakness of Caller ID is that you are likely to corrupt the data if yo
pick up the phone before the start of the second ring. Since the Caller ID
receivers are simply receivers and not transmitters as well, they can't ask
fo re-transmission of the Caller ID information. You simply lose the data.
Some devices can be programmed not to audibly ring until the second ring.

Another Caller ID shortcoming revolves around call-waiting. Many telephone
companies offer call-waiting, but they can't send Caller ID information while
the phone is off-hook.

There is another form of Caller ID which uses a special phone that handles
the ADSI protocol. ADSI is the Analog Display Services Interface invented by
Bellcore. It uses a special phone with a 1200 baud FSK modem to receive data,
while the audio path is muted to the caller. This happens mid-conversation.

The data it receives is often equivalent to a "visual IVR" menu which you
will typically hear on the phone. Dial 1 for this. Dial 2 for that, etc.

ADSI arrived just before the World Wide Web boom and even though ASDI works
well and is in operation in come places, the cost of an ADSI compatible phone
($250.00 and up) has limited it's success. One of the most popular uses for
ADSI services was home-banking applications, but many are switching their
banking to the popular "Online Banking" format.

There are several nice features supported by ADSI, such as a decent displa
with programmable display messages and definable softkeys on the phone. It
usually supports a "waiting message" which is displayed to the second inbound
caller to ask them to hold while you finish your first call. Calls can also
be sent to voice mail or blocked through the display softkeys.

A common misconception about ADSI is that it must be supported by the phon
company. This is not true. It only requires an ADSI-enabled IVR system and an
ADSI-compatible phone for the caller.

Recently I've seen Caller ID boxes being used as much for Call Accounting
systems as for Caller ID data. Many of the better Caller ID boxes can detect
DTMF digits from either end, as well as Caller ID. Some boxes offer RAM
buffer and internal modems which allow them to be used as remote access data
collection devices.

Even though many of the voice boards out now include Caller ID as "standar
equipment" (or as a low-cost option), this generally will not work when a PBX
is involved. If the PBX picks up the call before the Caller ID is collected,
the data will be lost.

Unless the PBX supports Caller ID (the location where I work does, so I dial
out with 9, then dial back in, so that the receiving party doesn't know who's
calling, other than 'AT&T DID Call' (DID = Dialed In Direct)) you will have
to put a Caller ID box ahead of the PBX on the inbound lines and either
collect the Caller ID data via a serial connection, or through inband
signaling.

Two companies, Zeus and Nicollect, offer Caller ID boxes that collect the
data and then outpulse the phone number as DTMF digits once the line is
answered. They attenuate the caller's side audio before sending the digits so
they won't be blasted by the DTMF digits in their ears.

Other features found on some Caller ID boxes are: Duration Timing, First Ring
Suppression, and Blocked Number Lists. First Ring Suppression is importan
when you have over-eager people who answer the phone on the first ring. By
not passing the call through until the second ring, or until the Caller ID
information is collected, this is not a problem.

Blocked Number Lists are usually stored in the Caller ID box itself. Whenever
a call comes in from a number that is blocked, it either answers the call and
immediately drops it, or simply lets it ring without passing the call through
(the caller hears it ring and ring and ring all day, and the receiving end
hears nothing).

-The Visionary [email protected] [email protected]

Big Brother is watching you. You are watching Big Brother. You are Big
Brother... watching...

p.s. Just for the record (and many of you already know this of me), I object
to the use of CID, and it's many abuses. Every call I make from my house (VOX
or DTX) is prefaced with *67, and if the person I'm calling doesn't accept
blocked calls, I don't call them. Many a bbs has lost me as a user because of
this.

Other than my strong aversion to CID, all of the information in this message
is 100% factual. It's important to do research on things before you can
condemn them ;)
 
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