Question

On outbound calls, is it possible for my Talk number from the United States to display a business name, instead of a phone number?

Answer

Yes, it is possible to display your business name instead of your Talk phone number, on outbound calls. Ensure the name has a maximum of 15 characters, including spaces, and no special characters. This functionality is only available to phone numbers based in the USA (+1 country code). It might work for some carriers in Canada, though it is not guaranteed.

CNAM is a feature from the public telephone network in the USA, which identifies an incoming caller by a business name associated with the originating phone number.

Note: There are CNAM services for non-US numbers, such as Hiya. Zendesk does not control these services. CNAM is available for Zendesk Talk for voice numbers. It is not available for Sell Voice, or SMS numbers.

Talk Voice numbers supports CNAM for customer outbound calls. To enable this, contact Zendesk Customer Support with the below information. Failure to have this information at your disposal results in delays in getting your query resolved.

Details to add with your query

  • Legal business name: the one associated with your Employer Identification Number (EIN) number.
  • CNAM to be displayed for the number.
  • Physical address: the one associated with your Employer Identification Number (EIN) number.
  • Business type: Corporation, Partnership, Sole Proprietor, Non-Profit, Co-operative, Limited liability company.
  • Your Employer Identification Number (EIN) number
  • Your business industry: technology, retail, ...
  • The regions where your business operates: EMEA, LATAM, AMER, APAC.
  • Your company website (URL).
  • Two authorized representatives. They must be the Director, VP, Corporate Counsel, GM, CFO, or CEO. Include the following information for each contact:
    • First and last name
    • Email address
    • Contact phone number
    • Business title and job position

Implementing CNAM takes one to two weeks. After registration, an additional one to two weeks may be needed to populate other carrier databases.

For mobile devices most commonly, US Carriers require the subscriber to opt-in. If the recipient does not have the CNAM feature or app enabled on their phone no CNAM will display even if a CNAM is properly set for number. For more information, see this article from Twilio Docs: Brand Your Calls Using CNAM (Public Beta). 

If you wish to register for both CNAM and Stir/Shaken, provide the same details listed above. For more information, see this article: How do I prevent calls to my end users from displaying as spam?

Disclaimer: CNAM registration is a best-effort scenario. We are unable to guarantee that your business name will display on all calls. Unlike CallerId, the callee external carrier looks up CNAM from a database.
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