Identify Callers from Contacts

Caller ID match lets your users see a familiar name in place of a bare phone number when a stored contact calls in. This page explains how the matching works and how to turn it on.

What Caller ID match does

When a call arrives, Cloud Voice can compare the incoming number against your saved contacts and show the matching contact’s name on the ringing device. This works across every endpoint type, including the Cloud Voice App, desk phones, and softphones.

Cloud Voice draws names from two sources:

• Company Contacts: Available to extension users who have permission to view or manage the shared company directory. To grant that access, see Set up Contact Visibility.
• Personal Contacts: Available to every extension user, using their own private contact list.

Match priority

A single number can exist in more than one directory at once. When that happens, Cloud Voice picks the name to display in this order, from highest priority to lowest:

1. Mobile phone directory / IP phone directory
2. Personal Contacts
3. Company Contacts

Set up Caller ID match

1. Sign in to the PBX web portal and go to Contacts > Company Contacts.

2. On the Company Contacts page, click Options.

3. Select how incoming numbers should be matched:

   • Do Not Match: Show the incoming Caller ID exactly as received, with no name lookup.

   • Exact Match: Show the contact name only when the incoming Caller ID is identical to a saved number.

   • Match the last {number} digits: Compare the trailing digits of the incoming Caller ID against saved numbers.

     • When the incoming Caller ID has the same number of digits as the value you set, or fewer, the name appears only on an exact match.
     • When the incoming Caller ID is longer than the value you set, the name appears if the trailing digits match a saved number.

     Note

     The default is 7 digits. To change it, enter any value from 4 to 31.

     Caution

     Setting a small number of digits makes matching looser. If two unrelated callers share the same trailing digits, the name of the wrong contact can appear on the ringing device. Match as many trailing digits as your incoming numbers reliably contain.

   Tip

   Use Exact Match when your saved numbers are stored in exactly the format the carrier delivers (common for internal or short-code numbers). Choose Match the last {number} digits when the carrier adds a country code or a leading prefix, since those extra digits would otherwise break an exact comparison (see the +012345678 case in the example below).

4. Optional: To disregard symbols and letters when comparing numbers, select Ignore Symbols and Letters.

5. Click Save.

Example

Suppose the contact Dora, with the number 12345678, is saved in Company Contacts, and a call comes in from her.

• Do Not Match: The name “Dora” is not shown.
• Exact Match:
  • Incoming Caller ID 12345678 shows “Dora”.
  • Incoming Caller ID +012345678 does not show “Dora”.
• Match the last 9 digits:
  • Incoming Caller ID 12345678 shows “Dora”.
  • Incoming Caller ID 15212345678 does not show “Dora”.