Troubleshooting

Caller ID problems: wrong number, private calls, rejected, or spam

Short answer

Cloud SIP presents the caller ID your PBX sends, so most fixes are in the PBX. It must be a complete number you hold, in +E.164. Private calls send that number with Privacy: id. You can't use a 1300 or 1800 number as the caller ID. Names and spam labels come from the recipient's phone and apps.

Applies to
Cloud SIP, Phone Numbers
Works with
Any SIP PBX or SBC
Who can do this
Whoever manages your PBX and your Enfonica project

Check for a known incident first. If there is one, we're already working on it, and there's nothing to change on your side.

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On this page
  1. What are you seeing?
  2. How caller ID works on Cloud SIP
  3. Calls are refused because of the caller ID
  4. You want to make private calls, with your number withheld
  5. Forwarded calls show your number, not the original caller's
  6. You want to show a 1300 or 1800 number
  7. The person you called sees a different number
  8. The person you called sees a name, or "Spam" or "Scam"
  9. If nothing here fixed it
  10. What to send us
  11. Related

What are you seeing?

How caller ID works on Cloud SIP

Your PBX sets the caller ID, per extension or for the whole trunk. Cloud SIP presents it to the phone network as it arrives, and doesn't replace it with a default number. The one exception is a caller ID of anonymous, which Cloud SIP replaces with one of your project's numbers and keeps private. So when the caller ID is wrong or missing, the fix is almost always in the PBX.

Cloud SIP reads the caller ID from the P-Asserted-Identity, Remote-Party-ID, or From header, depending on which one your PBX sends. Every call on the phone network carries a real number, even a private one. A private call carries your number with a flag that tells the network not to show it.

Calls are refused because of the caller ID

Could not parse CLI

Cloud SIP refuses a call if its caller ID (CLI, or calling line identification) isn't a phone number that Cloud SIP can read. The call fails with 484 Address Incomplete. In Cloud Voice > Calls, the call shows the error message Could not parse CLI. The usual cause follows. For the rest, see SIP 484 Address Incomplete.

The caller ID isn't a complete phone number

This is the most common cause on a new trunk. The PBX is sending an extension number, a username, a name, or a number missing its area code, such as 255501234.

Check

Find the failed call in the Console. This is the cause if its From number isn't a full phone number.

Fix

In your PBX, set each extension's outbound caller ID, or the trunk's, to a number you hold in +E.164 (full international format with a plus), for example +61255501234.

You want to make private calls, with your number withheld

To withhold your number, send a number you hold as the caller ID, as usual, and add the SIP header Privacy: id. The phone network still carries your number, as every call must. It marks the number as private, so the person you call doesn't see it.

If your PBX sends the word anonymous as the caller ID instead, Cloud SIP chooses one of your project's numbers to carry, and the call is still private. To control which number is carried, send it yourself with Privacy: id.

Fix

In your PBX, keep the caller ID as a number you hold. Then turn on the PBX's option to send the privacy header for the extensions or calls that should be private. PBXs name this option differently, and some have limited options, so search your PBX's documentation for "privacy" or "Privacy: id".

Forwarded calls show your number, not the original caller's

When your PBX forwards a call, it makes a new outgoing call and chooses which caller ID that call shows. If the forwarded call shows your main number, a setting in the PBX is replacing the caller's number.

Fix

Check every place your PBX sets an outbound caller ID, including the trunk, the extension, the forwarding rule, and any outbound rule. One of them can override the others.

Often the better fix is to forward the call in Enfonica instead, which keeps the original caller ID:

  1. In the Console, go to Phone Numbers > My numbers, and open the number.
  2. Under Incoming call handlers, select Add.
  3. Select Phone Number, and enter the destination.
  4. Select Save Changes.

A flow in Flow can forward the call too.

You want to show a 1300 or 1800 number

A 13, 1300, or 1800 number can't be used as a caller ID. Under Australia's industry code for reducing scam calls (C661:2022), they aren't valid caller IDs. Cloud SIP refuses a call that presents one with 484 Address Incomplete, and the Console shows Call is invalid. If they did get through, scam detection on other networks would likely flag them.

Fix

Present a local or mobile number instead. Point that number's incoming calls to the same place as your 1300 or 1800 number, so that people who call you back reach the same team. For more information, see How do 1300 and 1800 numbers work?

The person you called sees a different number

Start with a test call to see the caller ID that Cloud SIP presented:

  1. Make a test call to your own mobile.
  2. In the Console, go to Cloud Voice > Calls, and find the call.
  3. Open its Outgoing leg, the one with transport PSTN. Its From number is the caller ID that Cloud SIP presented to the network.

Your PBX is sending a different number

Check

Compare the From number in the Console with what the recipient saw. This is the cause if they're the same number.

Fix

Change the caller ID in your PBX. Check the extension, trunk, and outbound rules, because any of them can set it.

The recipient's phone shows something else

Check

Compare the From number in the Console with what the recipient saw. This is the cause if the From number is correct, but one recipient sees another number or a name.

Nothing on your side needs to change. The recipient's saved contacts or caller ID app is changing what they see, as described in the next section.

The person you called sees a name, or "Spam" or "Scam"

Phone networks carry only your number, not a name. Any name a recipient sees comes from their phone, either a saved contact or a caller ID database such as Google's Phone app, Samsung Smart Call (powered by Hiya), or Truecaller.

A name from the number's past

Australian numbers are recycled. After a number is disconnected, it's held for at least six months before it's issued again. Caller ID databases can still show a name from a previous owner.

Check

Look at who sees the name. This is the cause if several unrelated people see the same unexpected name.

Fix

Ask each caller ID app or database to correct the listing for your number. To learn how for each one, see The wrong business name shows when you call. Corrections usually take days to a few weeks to appear.

The number has been labeled as spam

Caller ID apps and some networks label numbers as spam when people report them, even for calls they didn't answer. To learn how to check a number and what helps it recover, see Why does my number show as spam?

You'd like your business name to appear

Australian phone networks don't support branded caller ID, so a business name can't be sent with your calls. The recipient sees your number, plus any name their own phone or app adds.

If nothing here fixed it

Send us an example call with the details in What to send us. Include the caller ID you expected and what the recipient saw. We'll check exactly what Cloud SIP received from your PBX and what it presented to the network.

What to send us

Include these and we can find the call straight away.

  • The number that made the call and the number it called, in full international format (for example +61255501234).
  • The date and time of the call, with your timezone.
  • Whether the call was inbound or outbound.
  • The call ID, if the Console shows the call.
  • What happened: an error message, silence, a busy tone or a dropped call.
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