ANI Question

[Phizzle]

I'm looking to get blocked ANI information (we fall under the definition of a Public Safety Agency and Community Disaster Response). I'm working w/ our LEC (Sprint) w/ very little response or assistance. My basic question is a simple one - Can we or can we not get blocked ANI information send to our 24/7/365 call center? Also, when I say blocked, I mean by the customers request to the phone company. We need to be able to see that number in a crisis situation. The Sprint folks are telling me that it can't happen - period. Any thoughts or folks that have tried this?

Thanks!

 

[Dexman]

If the calling party does not want their phone number to show up on caller ID displays, there isn't a whole lot that can be done to find out who the caller is.

The only work around that I know of would be to get a toll-free number and have callers use it since originating phone numbers are passed when you call a toll-free number.

 

[Phizzle]

It is a toll-free number, basically, we need similar information to what 911 is getting (though we don't need to locate the person, we only need it in case of a crisis situation, we can give it to 911).

Thanks,

 

[Dexman]

It is a Toll Free Number? It's my understanding that originating ANIs cannot be blocked when a TFN is called.

 

[Phizzle]

I think they can pursuant to FCC regulations that requires carriers to respect a caller's request that their number not be revealed. This, however, does not apply to those calling "emergency numbers", which we can qualify. I've finally got past the "legal" issues (I think) w/ Sprint, however, now, all of a sudden, it's a technical issue w/ them. I'm just looking for some advice on what the real answer is - can I get the number or not?

Thanks again.

 

[jgideon]

If i'm reading this correctly, callers are dialling a toll-free number that rings to your location. In this case you should already be receving ANI or CPN for 99% of your calls (there are still a few locations that still only privde npa/nxx to 8xx numbers, but not many).

Are you trying to get the _number_ or the full name of record and location?

Are the calls being delivered to you on a dedicated facility or via switched trunks?

You don't say if Sprint is your LEC or IXC.

Are the calls in question originating from a single region, or are they national?

To my knowledge, there is no 'national' PS/ALI database. Each PSAP contracts with a single entity (usually a LEC) who manages the data transfer between the LEC and CLEC databases to the PSAP's provider.

When I did this (years ago)to be able to _transmit_ a avlid number to a PSAP from behind a PBX the LEC was Illinois Bell, and the location data was actually sent to a 3rd party in Colorado to be uploaded into a database that was eventually transmitted to the County PSAP. The PSAP had custom systems and equipment (telephony and database servers) that then did the lookup.

 

[jgideon]

Okay, I didn't read closely enough. Sprint is a LEC.

What kind of trunks are you using? If they're 'plain' T1's (wink/ground) then it is a technical issue usually. Most LEC's aren't tarrifed for (let alone able to configure) transmission of ANI on in-band signalling trunks to PBX's. What kind of PBX are you using?

 

[jgideon]

If the trunks are PRI, the Calling Party Number (not ANI) is usually transmitted with the call all the way to the end equipment (i.e. your PBX) and it's up to your PBX to respect or ignore the 'privacy' flag. If the callers dialled your toll-free number, then there should not be any privacy flag. Are the calls coming in to your equipment via Sprint 'local' switched facilities, or dedicated trunks to your ld provider?

 

[Phizzle]

Whew - lot's of questions, but thanks for the help! Kinda muddy water right now - currently, the lines are plain analog lines on a Samsung iDCS 500, however we are looking at switching to VoIP soon (probably using Cisco hardware, but nothing set in stone yet), in which case they will probably switch them over to T1 (which is what we use for the rest of the building - non-emergency). However, I haven't got this far in the discussion w/ Sprint, only, "can't happen" (the person I'm talking with doesn't know what kind of equipment/lines we are using).
This will not be national, but regional. We'll have to deal w/ at least 3 LECs that I know of. We are only wanting the 7 digit number, nothing else, to pass along to the 911 center in the event that the caller is experiencing an emergency situation. Currently, if their number is blocked there isn't much we can do.

 

[Phizzle]

Forgot - calls are coming in via switched facilities - talking w/ Sprint to see if we can get on onto a dedicated trunk that will pass such info - so far no luck (no in denial, just no answers) go figure.

Thanks,

 

[jgideon]

Okay... I'm still un-clear as to what the caller is dialling--if it's a toll-free number, then you should be able to get ANI/CPN without any involvement from the LEC other than provisioning the lines with CallerID (The difference between ani and cpn is a whole other discussion, and a personal pet peeve--happy to go there if you like...)

If the analog lines are CallerID capable, and callers are dialling a toll-free number, then you should be fine--you just have to be using a 8xx carrier that actually forwards the ANI or CPN, and you may need to talk to them about which you want to receive. Most all of them do, but a few of the tier2/3 may not always use trunks capable of transmitting CallerID, so that should be checked/verified.

If your 'trunks' to the outside world are ISDN-PRI, then you should be good on 'both' fronts, wether 'switched' from the LEC or dedicated from an IXC. toll-free calls being delivered to a switched number should also provide CPN/ANI. direct-dialled calls to a switched number being delivered on a PRI should also have CPN/ANI delivered, however, most PBX equipment is configured to 'respect' the privacy flag. You would need to discuss with your equipment vendor if the PBX can be configured to ignore the privacy flag. (Every other local carrier I've dealt with has always passed the call setup message to the PBX intact without stripping CPN/ANI information, however, I've never worked with trunking from Sprint as a LEC.)

The other way to ensure that you get the data is to use CAMA trunking (the old fashioned way), but they're very expensive (hundreds per trunk per month), and I've never actually used them for 'incoming' calls, only outgoing. And they're very old technology. If I understand your purpose correctly, this need is for occasional calls, not mission critical calls, so you don't want to spend that much $$ on that type of trunk.

In almost all cases you're better off going to PRI, but if that is cost prohibitive, you could see if BRI is an option.

Does that help?

 

[jgideon]

Might be easier to kick some of this around by phone... is there a way to send private messages? I know we aren't supposed to post email addresses....

 

[Phizzle]

The caller is dialing a toll free number, and since we are designated as a community disaster response center it would be considered mission critical calls.
You information does help, at least I have a little more knowledge of the ANI 'stuff' and have more ammo while talking to Sprint.

Thanks!

 

[jgideon]

Calls to a toll-free number should always deliver ANI or CPN if the 'ring-to' line has CallerID (whether dedicated or switched.) You'll have to talk to the 8xx provider to find out if they transmit ANI or CPN as CallerID when sending calls for switched termination. If your callers are small business/residential, ani and cpn are almost always the same. The only time there _could_ be a difference on your display is if the call originates from a PBX with PRI trunks, in which case the 8xx carrier should receive both ANI (usually a single number used for billing) and CPN (the acctual 10 digit diallable number for the calling station, a.k.a. DID) and they have to send you only one of those two.

Good luck!

 

[Phizzle]

Thanks - finally talked to someone technicall (from a different LEC actually) Basically, what they are saying is that if a caller has requested that their number be blocked, it doesn't come to us and can't (w/out a dedicated trunks and PSAP equipment) because the ANI information terminates at the switch that receives the call and sends it out locally. So, for now, unless we want to build a PSAP from scratch (for about 8 counties) we're out of luck. Thanks so much for the info!