Caller ID (Caller Identification)

Caller ID (Caller Identification) is a critical call center technology for both inbound and outbound call centers. In inbound call centers, caller ID is fundamental for identifying inbound callers, routing incoming phone calls to the appropriate call center reps, and providing the relevant information about the callers to agents, enabling them to deliver efficient and personalized customer experience.

In outbound call centers, Caller ID plays a crucial role in increasing Call Answer Rates by displaying consistent and recognizable information that prospects or customers will see on their caller ID. It helps improve the efficiency of outbound calling campaigns and increase call conversion rates.

What is Caller ID in Inbound Call Centers?

In the context of inbound calls, call center Caller ID is an essential telephony feature of a business phone system that helps call center agents identify inbound callers or the geographic location of a person calling a company.

When existing customers are calling, the Caller ID technology will match the phone number with the customer’s record in the CRM system and route the call to the most appropriate agent based on the call center software’s call routing settings.  

How Does Inbound Caller ID Work?

Caller ID is involved in identifying and routing incoming calls to agents within an inbound call center. When a company’s customers initiate calls, they are typically routed to the available agents based on IVR inputs and predefined call routing rules. Once an agent accepts the call, the Caller ID information is displayed on the agent’s screen.

That enables agents to identify callers and access all the available information about the customers (such as the history of their previous interactions) in the call center’s CRM system, which allows them to handle customer calls efficiently while delivering personalized service.

What is Caller ID in Outbound Call Centers?

When it comes to outbound calling, caller ID enables outbound call centers to present a consistent and recognizable identity (a phone number or a name associated with the organization) when calling prospects or customers to increase Call Answer Rates and successful connections.

Since a low Call Answer Rate is a common challenge for outbound call centers, especially those running cold calling campaigns using auto dialer software, caller ID has become a critical feature in the outbound call center environment.

How Does Outbound Caller ID Work?

Outbound caller ID enables outbound contact centers to display specific phone numbers or names on the recipient’s phone display when making outgoing calls to potential customers.

When a prospect receives a call, they will see a company’s caller ID, which can be either a caller ID number (CID) or a caller ID name (CNAM). Some of the most common types of caller ID used in outbound calling practices are:

Local caller ID

Leveraging local caller ID is an efficient way to increase Call Answer Rate and improve the efficiency of your outbound calling campaigns. With local presence dialing enabled in the outbound call center dialer software, prospects or customers will see a number with the local area code on their caller ID, which significantly increases the chances of the call being picked up.

Research from Software Advice found that people are four times more likely to answer phone calls from local numbers. The key benefits of using local caller ID in a contact center are:

• Reduced number of declined or ignored calls
• Increased call answer rates
• Improved efficiency of cold calling campaigns
• Increased call conversion rates

Dynamic caller ID

Using dynamic caller ID is a more flexible approach to customizing your outgoing caller ID. It allows choosing whether you want to display a local number, a toll-free number, or a customized number on a per-call basis depending on a specific outbound calling campaign, a target audience, or other factors. Like local caller ID, dynamic caller ID is a valuable feature that helps maximize Call Answer Rates and outbound calling success.

Trusted caller ID

Trusted caller ID involves a verification process to enable companies to deliver a branded caller ID experience to prospects and customers. It ensures that the displayed phone number or name associated with an organization is legitimate and verified, which helps build more trust and credibility and prevents calls from being blocked or mislabeled as spam. Trusted caller ID is gaining more importance for outbound calling, considering that most people are unlikely to accept calls from unknown callers.

FAQs

What is caller ID spoofing?

Caller ID spoofing means deliberately falsifying caller ID information to make it appear as if the call is coming from a different number (e.g., a local phone number) or a trusted business name. It is often used by scammers and telemarketers to increase call answer rates, though it’s considered an unethical practice and shouldn’t be used in contact centers.  

What are Caller ID DIDs?

DID stands for Direct Inward Dialing in the call center context, while DID numbers are virtual numbers that allow routing calls to a business’s existing phone lines. Caller ID DIDs are phone numbers that are used as the outgoing caller ID when making outbound calls to prospects or customers. DID numbers can be purchased from VoIP call center service providers, such as VoiceSpin, that can deliver DID numbers from almost any country in the world.