[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] very strange

[Ken Pogran]

My last position, before I retired a few years back, was with a small 
software company right here in Lexington that built database systems for 
the major phone companies that handled the provisioning of data for 
Caller ID systems (among other things). (Disclaimer: We only provided 
the software, and had no involvement with content!). So I know a few 
things about this.

Caller ID, and in particular Calling Name, is a huge muddle in the 
industry right now. If we go back 20 or 30 years, to when telephony was 
dominated by the landline telecom giants, Caller ID was very orderly, 
and very accurate. Each of the Regional Bell Operating Companies 
(RBOCs), and the largest independents, operated giant Line Information 
Databases (LIDBs) that were queried by the telephone switch delivering 
Caller ID information (particularly "Calling Name") to a called 
subscriber. This was landline only; cell phones, at the time, had no 
mechanism to deliver Calling Name. Interestingly, the phone carrier 
completing a call paid the operator of the originating line's LIDB for 
each call's "dip" to obtain that information. The LIDB operators could 
afford sizeable support staffs to ensure the accuracy of their data.

More recently the picture has become muddled:

  * Some phone providers, particularly some VOIP providers (but also
    some competitive landline carriers) don't dip the originating
    carrier's LIDBs, but instead save money by obtaining Caller ID
    information from competing database providers that don't charge per
    dip.  These providers don't get the Calling Name info from the
    originating carriers, but instead compile it from other commercial
    sources, such as published directory listings. Nonetheless, some of
    these competing database operators claim their listings
    aresomehowmore accurate than the databases maintained by the large
    telecom carriers themselves.
  * Some wireless carriers (such as Verizon) allow a subscriber to
    associate Calling Name  with their number, and the provision that in
    LIDB. Otherwise, there is no Calling Name string associated with
    their numbers.
  * Some wireless carriers (AT&T used to do this; don't know if they
    still do) put entire blocks of their numbers in LIDB with the
    Calling Name string "Wireless Caller".
  * The giant RBOCs have lost interest in scrupulously maintaining the
    accuracy of their Caller ID databases, having pared to the bone
    their staff supporting that activity.
  * Wireless carriers don't dip LIDB for Calling Name.  Most cell phones
    will display a Calling Name if there's one in the phone's Contacts
    app associated with the calling number.

More and more VOIP calls include Calling Name info provided from the 
originating end of the call. Some phones and wireless carriers carry 
calls as VOIP (so-called "Voice over LTE", or "VoLTE") when they can, 
rather than as conventional circuit-switched calls. Combined with 
industry initiatives ("SHAKEN" and "STIR") to certify call origination 
data, this will eventually lead to accurate Calling Number and Calling 
Name information, and the elimination of calling number spoofing.  BUT, 
the industry has no will and no budget, to retrofit the 1980s technology 
that runs the legacy landline telephone system.

All of that said, I can think of several different scenarios that could 
lead to what John's observed, depending on the particulars of the situation.

I could envision a future LCTG "Potpourri" discussion on this topic, if 
there's enough interest.

Ken Pogran

Ted Kochanski wrote on 8/24/22 9:53 AM:
> John, et al
>
> There are at least two possible elements involved in the "Name" 
> associated with a phone number on a received call
>
> Phone calls have associated with the call Metadata which is broadcast 
> by the call originator's phone
> Phone systems transport the metadata to the receiving phone -- 
> although the phone system operators such as Verizon may offer the 
> originator the ability to block the data from being transmitted for a fee
> the originator can use these two to Spoof where a call has originated 
> from --  -- that is why some Spam call seem to come from your own 
> phone or a phone in the neighborhood
>
>  Most home phones and/or phone systems often used to provide local 
> wireless service with "landlines" have their own database of call data 
> -- sometimes this is what is sent  and received over the POTS network 
> and sometimes this is something entered into locally by the operator 
> of the local phone system -- such as "my friend sam's cell"
>
> The source of your problem could be the network -- most likely it is 
> the phone receiving the data and associating the name
>
> Hope that helps
>
> Ted
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 23, 2022 at 9:48 PM john rudy <jjrudy1 at comcast.net 
> <mailto:jjrudy1 at comcast.net>> wrote:
>
>     I have a cell phone with the number 781-718-8334. When I have
>     called my cousin’s home and Cynthia’s two home lines their phones
>     say Karen Roberts with my correct phone number.  When I call their
>     cell phones the name comes up correctly.
>
>     Any ideas?  I’m happy to do more experimenting, preferably where
>     someone has both a cell and landline.
>
>     I have no idea who Karen Roberts is or why that name should be
>     associated with my cell phone.
>
>     When I call from my landline I have no problems.
>
>     John
>

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