Definition
CNAM, short for calling name delivery, is a telephone network service in which the receiving carrier looks up the name registered to a calling number and displays it on the recipient’s phone.
How it works
The name is not carried in the call. When a call arrives, the receiving carrier may query a CNAM database with the caller’s number and show whatever name is registered there, usually limited to about 15 characters. Different carriers use different databases, so the same number can display one name on one phone and nothing, or only a city, on another.
For that reason CNAM is a matter for the carrier network. Nobody controls exactly what a given recipient sees, and no call tracking product can guarantee it.
Where it touches an agency
CNAM concerns outbound calls, where your agency dials a client or prospect and you would like your agency name to appear. Tracking numbers are used for inbound calls, so CNAM is largely beside the point for them. Related but separate is STIR/SHAKEN, which authenticates that a caller’s number is genuine rather than supplying a name.
What VereTel does
VereTel tracks and forwards inbound calls. It is not an outbound calling service and does not manage caller names. If caller name display matters to your agency, that is a conversation with your own phone carrier. Forwarded inbound calls are described in call forwarding.
Sources
- FCC: Caller Identification Information in Successor or Replacement Technologies (DA 11-1089) (read September 29, 2026)
- OnSIP: How Caller ID Works, CNAM, Spoofing and Caller Authentication (read September 29, 2026)