TecTel Solutions
An Independent Consulting Group
Voice/Data/IT/Convergence


TecTel On-Line

Caller ID To The Rescue

By Mike Dailey

Caller ID has been available for home use for many years, but in the last few years Caller ID has become very prevalent in business applications. The first uses of Caller ID in business were driven by computer telephony integration (CTI). Most of the CTI applications were used in a call center environment linking the callers phone number to a database to automate a "screen pop" with the phone call at the agent’s desk. Most of the system installations that our firm has overseen are now using caller ID for all of the telephones. People are beginning to realize that the ability to know the caller’s phone number has many advantages for the typical telephone user.

Recent news articles are reporting that Caller ID is doing a great job of helping law enforcement agencies track down the "bad guys." Believe-or-not, some of the "bad guys" don’t seem to understand how Caller ID works! One article described an Ohio man who was sentenced to six months in jail for repeatedly phoning in sick to his job as a Hamiltion County janitor. After taking a month of paid sick leave, management checked the Caller ID which indicated he regularly called in from his other job across town.

One of our U.S. Federal Court Probation Office clients had a probationer call the Probation Office to complete a mandatory check-in from his "home location" only to find out the Probation Officer knew through his Caller ID that the probationer was not at home and was now in big trouble!

Many businesses are now installing caller ID just for the added security that it gives all of their telephone users. An efficient way to get caller ID on your PBX is to use ISDN PRI T1 trunks. ISDN PRI trunks are a digital connection that provides direct inward dialing (DID), call-by-call selection (two-way trunks) and caller ID.

If you require assistance with implementation of Caller ID, please contact Mike or Pam Dailey at (770) 458-3411 or email pdailey@tectelsolutions.com

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