Problem with Incoming Caller ID Since Upgrade

I recently upgraded to 1.2.x (not quite sure which version, whatever it is I downloaded it on 1/30/06.)

At the time of the upgrade, I had a Nufone toll-free number going into my IVR. Extension 2000 rang the Cisco phone on my desk, and the caller id came through just fine. The caller ID came through whether or not the caller was blocking their caller id.

As soon as the upgrade was in place, the caller ID now says “unknown” in both fields (name and number), if the caller id is blocked by the calling party. If it is unblocked, it functions normally. I tested this by using a blocked PSTN line and dialling *82 to block and unblock test calls. I made no changes to the dialpan after the upgrade.

As a test, I changed the dialplan so when the extension was dialled it would dial the Cisco, a Sipura SIP phone at another location, and an iaxy at another location. When the call comes from a blocked line the incoming caller id on both SIP devices says “unknown”, but the iaxy has the proper caller id.

By way of illustration, the following line in the dialplan results in the iaxy displaying the caller id, and the 2 sip devices displaying “unknown”:

exten => 2000,1,Dial(SIP/2000&SIP/2100&iax2/iaxy2,15).

I also know that nufone is delivering the caller id because I have some alternative routings in the dialplan for that incoming number based on the caller id of the calling party and the system does the proper routing based on the incoming caller id, even when the incoming caller id comes from a blocked line.

Also, strangely, I can watch a call ring on my desk and say “unknown” for caller ID, and go to voicemail. When I get the voicemail email it has the proper caller id.

Finally, I have a teliax toll-free number that goes into the same IVR, and the caller id is passed to the SIP devices without trouble. I want to utilize the nufone number, however, because the call quality is better (not to mention 1 cent per minute cheaper than teliax.)

Any idea how I can get the caller id to show on the SIP devices for the nufone incoming line?

this is NOT your fault. i’ve had this happen with two asterisk-based VOIP providers, voicepulse and exgn. apparently (still don’t know why), if the CID is blocked, their asterisk replaces the null CID name and number with ‘asterisk’ or ‘unknown’. i gave up on trying to get them to change their software and added some juju to my extensions_custom.conf to look for that and replace it with null again (it was irking not just for the reason you gave but because it breaks zapateller and privacy manager…)

My problem is a little more strange - since it is an 800 number, even if the caller blocks the CID it comes through. And, in fact, my Asterisk is receiving the CID info, as my iaxy will display it (even when blocked), as will the voicemail message. What won’t display the CID is any SIP device.

Even stranger - if I change things around for a test and manually set the CID name for the incoming call to “foobar”, if the caller ID of the call is not blocked by the sender then the SIP device will show “foobar”, if it is blocked, then the caller ID will show as “unknown” on the SIP device, even though I manually set the caller id in the dial plan immediately before the dial statement. Of course, in both cases, the iaxy and voicemail email will show “foobar” for name CID as well as the correct CID for the number.