Are directory listing and caller ID identity linked?
January 4, 2013 5:12 PM   Subscribe

With AT&T landlines, is your directory listing (i.e. what's in the phone book) necessarily the same as what people see on caller ID?
posted by tomwheeler to Computers & Internet (5 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
It depends whom you're calling and where they are. I have AT&T in Tennessee. My mother also does, in New York State. People here see my name and number. My sister, in Georgia, sees my name and number. My mother sees "Tennessee" and my number.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 12:21 AM on January 5, 2013


The answer is, it depends. I have an AT&T landline in Virginia; family in California and Massachusetts see my number, others in Tennesee and North Carolina see name AND number. I suspect the difference has less to do with either mine or the receiver's carriers than with the receiver's physical telephone and its capabilities.
posted by easily confused at 3:25 AM on January 5, 2013


I suspect the difference has less to do with either mine or the receiver's carriers than with the receiver's physical telephone and its capabilities.

This, and whether the landline subscriber has added CallerID to their service package. Yes, AT&T still charges extra for CallerID on their landline service.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:38 AM on January 5, 2013


Are you asking about how your name appears in the phone book versus how it appears on the bill?

While I do only have an initial in the phone book, I don't have AT&T and I don't have long distance service on my phone (nor know anyone local with caller ID on a landline, though, again, no AT&T here), so I can't test.
posted by hoyland at 8:12 AM on January 5, 2013


Response by poster: hoyland wrote: Are you asking about how your name appears in the phone book versus how it appears on the bill?

No, rather how my name appears in the phone book (and when someone calls 411 for information) versus how it shows up on caller ID when I phone someone. Could I, for example, be listed as "T. Wheeler" in the phone book and 411, but show up as "Tom Wheeler" on caller ID when I phone someone?

Obviously it seems that this is a question I should ask AT&T, but their long-standing inability to accurately answer even the most basic questions leads me to believe I'd do better by checking here first.
posted by tomwheeler at 8:49 AM on January 5, 2013


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