On roughly January 18, VOIP.MS apparently began using a different
database (more fully: LIDB [line information database]) for CNAM
(caller ID name) lookups for inbound calls to VOIP.MS DIDs.
They used to use the best (and probably most expensive) LIDB,
which is run by Verisign. This is the one used by ILECs and better
providers nationwide. It has the most complete records, properly
formatted.
The records in the new LIDB are inferior: for about 20 percent
of lookups, no name is returned (despite the presence of names
for those numbers in the Verisign LIDB); and many of the
names returned are truncated like this:
PROPER CNAM: Catherine Helmer
TRUNCATED CNAM: Catherine H
VOIP.MS's new LIDB is probably cheaper for VOIP.MS. It's the same
one used by Kall8 in their online call-detail records for toll-free DIDs.
For Kall8, this is forgivable: they don't provide phone lines of any type,
just call forwarding, so Kall8's end users' lines (whether SIP, POTS,
cellular, and so on) do their own CNAM lookups (if any), and thus
Kall8 users, by choosing their line provider, also choose -- indirectly
-- a LIDB provider, of a quality that suits them. So the inferior CNAMs
in Kall8's online calling records are probably a non-issue for most
Kall8 users.
VOIP.MS, on the other hand, has used the Verisign LIDB for all
the years that I've had VOIP.MS service. If they have indeed
switched to an inferior LIDB, they're charging the same $0.008 per
lookup, which displeases me on two levels: I don't want the inferior
LIDB and if I have it anyway, then I don't want to pay the same as
for lookups from the superior Verisign LIDB.
Possible reasons that I can imagine for the LIDB switch:
(A) VOIP.MS switched to save money, perhaps in the wake of a
price increase for access to Verisign's LIDB. Maybe VOIP.MS
thought, "Well, no one really cares much anymore about CNAM,
so let's switch and see what happens. If there's an outcry, we
could easily switch back", or
(B) VOIP.MS has switched LIDBs temporarily for technical reasons
and intends to switch back to the Verisign LIDB, or
(C) the LIDB switch occurred not at VOIP.MS itself, but rather
at their upstream provider (Vitelity / Onvoy), and is beyond the
control of VOIP.MS.
I may misunderstand LIDBs and CNAM lookups. Please correct
me if necessary.
Does any of you know what might be going on?
How might I (or we) cajole VOIP.MS into switching back to the
better Verisign LIDB?
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