CNAM Mapping Made Simple

Consumers like to know who’s calling them before they decide whether to answer a ringing phone. Calls from unfamiliar sources could be time-wasters — the verbal equivalent of spam email. Carriers help customers identify callers by providing caller ID, a published standard for identifying call origins.

Originating carriers include caller ID information when calls are initiated. It’s up to receiving carriers to associate a caller ID with a caller ID name, or CNAM. In the US, carriers can do this by querying a line information database (LIDB) — a public repository that associates phone numbers with names.

Plivo makes CNAM mapping easy

Plivo lets you specify a CNAM record for any and all of your phone numbers and publishes it for you to the LIDB, so all carriers can report your company name along with caller ID number information. 

To map a CNAM for your organization to one or all of your Plivo phone numbers, go to the Phone Numbers page of the Plivo console. Tick the phone numbers you’re interested in providing a name for, then click on the Choose Action dropdown and choose Add CNAM. Enter a name (up to 15 characters) and click Submit CNAM. The numbers’ CNAM status on the console will change to “In Progress” while we submit the information to an LIDB. Within a short time the numbers’ status will change to show whether your submission was a success, partial success, or a failure.

Plivo makes the CNAM mapping process as quick and easy as possible; the less time you spend mapping, the more time you can spend bringing value to your customers. 

Credibility through CNAM

Call recipients are more likely to answer a name they recognize. The CNAM you provide should fairly represent your organization and give credibility to the call. You can use your business or brand name, but CNAM can be no more than 15 characters long, including spaces, and special characters are not supported.

CNAM builds trust with the carriers as well. When you register your name you make sure it’s accurate, and carriers will be less likely to filter your calls as spam. 

CNAM isn’t the only tool available for making sure people know who’s calling them. Within the last year the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has directed US carriers to implement STIR/SHAKEN, a framework that represents how confident a service provider is in that the number’s owner is truly the one placing the call. That means call recipients should receive caller IDs along with the word “verified” directly below it when calls from the numbers they purport to be. Unverified calls might have their caller IDs spoofed, meaning the caller is pretending to be someone they aren’t, usually for no good purpose.

Between CNAM registration and STIR/SHAKEN attestation, your call recipients can be confident that calls from your organization are really from you, and should be more willing to engage with your business. 

Don’t wait

Head over to the console and start mapping your CNAM to your numbers now.