What is caller Call Number Display (CND)?
These days, nearly half of all phone calls get ignored. This is especially true amongst teenagers, who prefer SMS and social media to phone calls as a means of communication.
There are several reasons why people have strayed away from phone calls, and one of the most common is spam calls. With marketers and scammers using frequent, random phone calls as a means of generating leads or finding the latest victim, Australians have become more diligent in screening calls.
In some cases, you might want to get around the screening habits of whoever you wish to call. Whatever your reason might be for wanting to black your phone number, you’ll have to enable caller ID in order to do so.
Thankfully, Telstra landline customers get caller ID at no charge as part of their home Telstra phone plan and/or nbn plan. Read on to find out how.
Pros of using caller ID
Using caller ID to block your Telstra landline number from being identified might sound sneaky. However, there are legitimate reasons why a caller would want to block their phone number.
Perhaps there’s an emergency, but you know the person you’re calling for assistance might ignore your call. To get around that, you can block your number from being identified by the person you wish to call.
But most people just wish to block their phone number for privacy reasons – for instance, to prevent the person you’ve called from having your phone number and calling you back. This might prove handy if you’re calling a marketer or company that usually initiates random, telemarketing calls to generate leads. Calling them back might be a mistake if your phone number is visible, so you might want to block your number to protect your privacy and prevent further calls.
How to set up Caller ID on Telstra landline?
Telstra offers their landline customers an unlisted service option. This feature can remove your Telstra home phone number from the White Pages and Telstra Directory Assistance.
But Telstra’s unlisted service option also allows you to enable Caller ID on your home phone in order to block your number from being displayed when you call someone.
Telstra home phone customers have two caller ID options:
- Block your number from being identified on a call-by-call basis, or
- Block your number from being identified permanently
Thankfully, setting up caller ID on your Telstra landline is simple, regardless of which option you choose. Here’s how:
- Caller ID on a call-by-call basis
Dial 1831, followed by the phone number you wish to call, and your number will be blocked for that particular call only. - Caller ID on a permanent basis
To block your number permanently, you’ll have to contact Telstra at 13 22 00. A Telstra representative will walk you through your options.
Note that if you block your number permanently using Telstra caller ID, you will have to unblock it on a call-by-call basis whenever you want your phone number to be displayed and identified by the person you’re calling.
- To unblock your phone number on a call-call-basis after enabling permanent Caller ID, simply dial 1832, followed by the number you wish to call.
And here’s a final tip: If you’d like to confirm that your caller ID is still enabled and your phone number is permanently blocked, dial 127 220 to hear an announcement telling whether or not caller ID is active.
Summing up
It’s entirely up to you if you have a preference for not showing the person you are calling that it was you who called. Just consider their feelings. It might be frustrating for someone to have no way to return a missed call because they were unable to identify the caller’s phone number. It could even be scary if it happens repeatedly.
Remember, any connection you make during a call on a Telstra landline engages the HLR (High Level Relay), which stores a great deal of information about you. Records are kept. Working backwards, Telstra will be able to determine who you called, when, to within a small radius where the call was made from, and which phone made it. Caller ID can be useful, but stay within common sense rules of decency if you must use it.