Written by
Molly Weis, VP of Marketing & Comms
Mary Gonzalez, Brand & Content Manager
Published on
November 11, 2022
Updated on
August 15, 2025
Recent changes made by the carrier-partnered analytics engines have caused an increase in calls with clean reputation now being displayed with the ‘call intent’ category instead of displaying a caller name or phone number (with no name).
Call Intent was defined in the FCC Robocall Strike Force Report published on October 26, 2016. Numeracle’s founder and CEO, Rebekah Johnson, was one of the authors of the call intent categories.
While these categories have been around for years, a change in protocol through the analytics provider or the carrier has caused an increase in the display of these labels in the last 90 days.
When the carrier ecosystem doesn’t know who you are (by name), in some cases, they have begun to display the intent of your calls to provide greater transparency into who is calling.
When analytics providers register phone numbers, one of the registration fields is the call intent. If you use a phone number to make sales calls, ‘Telemarketing’ is call intent assigned to those calls. If you are making calls to remind patients about a doctor’s appointment, ‘Healthcare’ is the assigned call intent.
Terminating carriers and call analytics agents handle call intents differently than call reputation labels like Scam, Scam Likely, Potential Spam, or Fraud. The main difference is that solution providers can remediate these warning labels. Since the new update, carriers have yet to offer remediation or the ability to change call intent labels.
Number reputation and call intent are not related.
This update does not impact every call, on every number, across every device and network, every time. So far, the display of call intent has proven to be situational and inconsistent.
The analytics engines pushing data to the terminating service providers didn’t display this call intent field in the past unless users had explicitly turned on the display for it, depending on the network and device-level apps installed. With the recent updates, the call intent label is displayed in some cases in lieu of the caller name if a caller name can’t be referenced from a CNAM database.
Call intent labels could cause issues for legal callers with clean number reputation whose customers, subscribers, patients, etc., may be confused by the new display of the call intent label (where displayed) and unsure of whether or not to answer.
The carrier is responsible for name display. There is currently no methodology to determine precisely which numbers have, or might be, delivered with intent labeling.
This does not impact subscribers of Numeracle’s Smart BrandingTM solution.
Thus far, this has impacted a relatively small number of Numeracle customers, but should you be affected, we recommend the following courses of action:
Numeracle is actively engaged with our terminating carrier and analytics network for updates or changes to this new configuration to improve transparency and control over where and when intent categories may be displayed in lieu of caller name or phone number (minus name).
Numeracle customers experiencing this problem are encouraged to submit a support request ticket at support@numeracle.com.
Non-Numeracle customers may submit a contact request, and we’d be happy to provide insights and recommendations based on your current call display strategy.
Updating your Caller ID Name (CNAM) isn't always instant because of how phone companies share this information. When you change your CNAM with your phone provider, they send this update to central databases. However, different phone companies that receive your calls might use different versions of these databases or update them at different times, which can cause delays.
Another reason is that the phone company receiving your call decides what name shows up. Some companies might not always look up the latest name for every single call, possibly using an older saved version instead to save time. Also, not all types of phone numbers, like some toll-free numbers, fully support name display.
To make sure your CNAM updates, double-check that the name you want is within the character limit (usually around 15 letters) and follow standard formatting. If you've waited a while and it's still not right, the best step is to contact your phone service provider directly. For businesses seeking more reliable and consistent brand name display beyond traditional CNAM, solutions like Numeracle's branded calling services offer enhanced control and visibility.
To register your CNAM (Caller Name), contact your telephone service provider and request your desired caller name be associated with your phone number. The provider will submit this information to the appropriate CNAM databases. Note that CNAM registration does not guarantee universal display, as each carrier may update their databases at different intervals and may have their own formatting requirements. For greater control and consistency, consider solutions like Numeracle’s branded calling, which goes beyond CNAM limitations.
While Caller ID Name (CNAM) offers a basic level of caller identification by displaying a name, branded caller ID presents a significantly more advantageous solution for businesses seeking to enhance their communication. Branded caller ID goes beyond a simple text display, allowing for the inclusion of branded assets. This richer visual and contextual information fosters greater trust and recognition with recipients, leading to higher answer rates compared to calls identified only by a potentially truncated name through CNAM.
Although it may involve a higher cost, the enhanced branding, like Numeracle’s Smart Branding solution, increased trust, and improved call engagement offered by branded caller ID make it a far more effective strategy for businesses aiming to make a strong and reliable impression with their outbound communications.
While Caller ID Name (CNAM) offers a basic level of caller identification by displaying a name, branded caller ID presents a significantly more advantageous solution for businesses seeking to enhance their communication. Branded caller ID goes beyond a simple text display, allowing for the inclusion of branded assets. This richer visual and contextual information fosters greater trust and recognition with recipients, leading to higher answer rates compared to calls identified only by a potentially truncated name through CNAM.
Although it may involve a higher cost, the enhanced branding, like Numeracle’s Smart Branding solution, increased trust, and improved call engagement offered by branded caller ID make it a far more effective strategy for businesses aiming to make a strong and reliable impression with their outbound communications.
