Why Doesn’t My Company Name Show on Caller ID?

 
 
This article will give you an overview of how the company name is set for outgoing caller ID, including a description of the process and why, sometimes, it doesn’t show up for the person you are calling.
 
Our Talkroute engineers collaborated on this post to provide valuable insight into how caller ID works, and what you can do to make sure your caller ID name is accurate.

 

CNAM (Caller ID Name)

Firstly, the CNAM is the name that shows up on the receiving party’s caller ID when you call a number. When your call comes in on the phone of the person you dialed, their carrier retrieves the CNAM record, and displays your name on the receiving phone’s caller ID.
 
The CNAM has a 15-character limit, so a name exceeding this length will be cut off in the displayed caller ID.

 

The Neustar Database

Neustar is a privately-owned company that houses the largest database of updated CNAM information for registered phone numbers.
 
Neustar basically has a monopoly on CNAM record services, as they are the central registry for CNAM; therefore, any caller ID name originates in their database.

 

Here’s how it works:

 
1. When you register a new or previously used number, your carrier must submit your name, or company name to Neustar, so that their central record has the updated CNAM.
 
2. If you port your existing number from one carrier to another, the new carrier must submit the updated CNAM to Neustar. Some carriers do this automatically when you port-in your number, and some do not. If you’re not sure, contact your carrier and make sure they have updated your CNAM record.
 
3. Once your carrier has updated your CNAM, your outgoing caller ID will display your company name on the receiving phone.

 

…but here’s the catch:

There is no central governing body that forces carriers, across all networks, to pull your updated CNAM record.
 
So, carriers can basically play by their own rules, which means that some carriers have the wrong CNAM for your number because they haven’t dipped Neustar for the correct one.
 
If you know that your carrier has updated your CNAM record with Neustar, and you find out that the wrong, or missing name has showed up on a phone that you dialed, then that phone’s carrier has not dipped Neustar for your current CNAM.

 

Let’s recap. Here are the reasons your company name doesn’t show up on caller ID:

 
• Your carrier has not submitted your CNAM to Neustar.
• The carrier of the receiving phone number has not pulled your updated CNAM.

 
Unfortunately, the CNAM registry is largely unregulated, causing occasional errors in caller ID information. It is certainly disheartening when you find out that your business name is not showing up when you call someone, but as long as you make sure your carrier has updated your CNAM record, it will generally display properly across most networks.

 

Talkroute regularly updates CNAM for all users.

For Talkroute users, there’s no need to worry about whether your caller ID name will be correct because our engineering team updates the CNAM record with your company name as soon as you register a new Talkroute number, or when you port your existing number from another provider.