Automatic Number Identification (ANI)

What is Automatic Number Identification (ANI)?

Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is a telecommunication service that helps the recipient of a phone call capture and shows the phone number of the phone that originated the call and is mostly used for billing purposes.

 In the past, call center staff will manually order a toll call from the calling party number. Automatic number identification was initially developed by AT&T Corporation for inner long-distance charging purposes. It eliminates the need for call centers to manually request a toll call from the caller. The platform is sometimes sending multi-frequency digital tones together with a call. 

Why is Automatic Number Identification important?

Emergency room dispatchers usually use automatic number identification to save the caller from disclosing the details. If possible, it is useful for trying to identify the caller. For example, the 9-1-1 service to the public safety point of a telephone company typically contains the ANI feature.

Call centers that connect to ANI services will use them for a positive effect on customer care. With the necessary infrastructure in place, call center companies may direct calls depending on the distance. The call area code is used to identify the possible location of the caller, and the call is diverted to the team of agents who assist that zone.