Caller ID, Automatic Number Identification (ANI) /Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS)

Caller ID is made up of two separate pieces of information: the calling number and the billing (or subscriber) name where available. When an originating phone switch sends a phone number as caller ID, the telephone company receiving the call is responsible for looking up the name of the subscriber in a database and passing it through the network to the destination .

Automatic number identification (ANI) is a feature of intelligent networks that permits subscribers to display or capture the numbers of calling parties. ANI service was created for internal billing purposes for the carriers and large enterprise customers using inbound WATS, and is not related to caller ID services.

Also related to inbound WATS services is the Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS), the number that the caller dialed when accessing the service. With this information, the customer can have several toll-free numbers directed to DialTek and provide unique service based on each number dialed. DNIS can also be used to identify other call routing information. For example, the WATS service can be configured to send a specific DNIS number that is assigned to callers from geographic regions based on city, area code, state, or country.