Outbound Caller ID
Learn more about caller ID services and how you can update your outbound caller ID information.
Written by Adrian Angwenyi
Updated at June 2nd, 2025
Table of Contents
Caller ID helps people identify an incoming caller by displaying the caller's name and phone number on their device. The caller ID that is shown to consumers when they receive a call is managed by both sending and receiving carriers.
More Info: If you are an admin using a web portal to manage your SpectrumVoIP phone system, you can check the caller ID settings in place for your users.
• Stratus Admin Users: To learn how you can update the outbound caller ID settings for users, read this guide.
• Enswitch Admin Users: To learn how you can update the caller ID settings of telephone lines and phone numbers, read this guide.
If your outbound caller ID settings are correct but callers are still seeing the wrong name for your caller ID, please contact our technical support team by emailing support@spectrumvoip.com.
CNAM names are limited to 15 characters including letters, spaces, and punctuation.
If you suspect your phone numbers are wrongly being flagged as “Spam Likely”, please read this article.
If a different name is appearing than intended and you have already confirmed that the name has been updated in our platform by our support team, then the receiving carrier will need to be reached out to next to update the information that they use for their customers. This is not something SpectrumVoIP is able to assist in as it is an update to another phone carrier.
Outbound Caller ID Information
Outbound Caller ID Information comes in 2 parts: the Caller ID Number and the Caller ID Name.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please keep in mind that this article is NOT referring to 911-emergency number Caller ID.
E-911 Caller IDs are only used when dialing 9-1-1 from your SpectrumVoIP provided phones/softphones.
911 Numbers can only be updated by our technical support team.
You can dial 9-3-3 from your SpectrumVoIP phones to confirm your current 911 caller ID number and address information.
We suggest doing this from each device, including softphones, as each device is able to have different 911 caller IDs if needed.
If anything needs to be updated, please contact our support team by calling (469) 429-2500 or emailing support@spectrumvoip.com to get the correct information for your device.
Caller ID Numbers
The Caller ID Number is the number that is used to identify the caller of the phone call. This number shown is frequently used as a callback number by callers so that they can return important calls. The Caller ID Number shown to your customers can be modified for each individual user or the entire account.
Note: If you would like to update the caller ID number shown for outbound calls, you can contact our support team by calling (469) 429-2500 or emailing support@spectrumvoip.com to get the correct information for your device.
Stratus Admin Users: To learn how you can update the outbound caller ID settings for users, read this guide.
Enswitch Admin Users: To learn how you can update the caller ID settings of telephone lines and phone numbers, read this guide.
Most all phone carriers will validate legitimate calls by making sure that the Caller ID number is a valid number. This is a typical check to block blatant spam calls from numbers like "000000" or "111111".
Caller ID Name and Limitations
The Caller ID Name (sometimes referred to as CNAME or CNAM) is the name that is associated with a Caller ID Number. This is the name that appears on your phone when an inbound phone call reaches your phone device.
This is harder for phone carriers to control for multiple reasons. The primary reason is that the Caller ID Name has to be applied by the inbound carrier (the side receiving the phone call). This means that even if everything has been set up by the phone carrier of the phone that places the call, the receiving carrier will still need to be the one to allow for the Caller ID Name to appear on the receiving phone.
There is a national database called the CNAM Database. The CNAM Database is a national database used by many national carriers, including SpectrumVoIP. The database hosts a list of phone numbers and their associated Caller ID Names. Companies, such as SpectrumVoIP, will use the database to help gather caller ID Name information for their inbound calls.
Note: Because the CNAM Database is a 3rd party organization, requests have to be made to update the information in the data by phone carriers. These requests can be made by emailing support@spectrumvoip.com to request that specific numbers have their CNAM Database entry updated.
CNAM names are limited to 15 characters including letters, spaces, and punctuation.
Not all phone providers use a database such as the CNAM Database. Some cell phone carriers may not include the use of a caller id name database in their service plan. The most a cellular carrier might do is provide information on the Rate Center (geographical information such as the city or region) of the number that is calling.