Important CLI Changes

Edited by Tom Rogers

2 July 2021
Calls | System | Update

Have you just swapped out your answerphone for an AI version, or is the AI actually built into your telephone system?

AI agents are genuinely useful for handling out of hours calls and overflow when no one answers but let’s be honest, your old Panasonic Easa-Phone KX-T1416DBE from the early 80s did that job too. Perhaps it lacked today’s AI polish but it worked.

So the real question is, why bolt modern technology onto an old process just to end up doing the same thing? Shouldn’t we expect more?

The “Bolt-On” Trap

Putting AI on the outside of your phone system can still bring benefits although it does have some real drawbacks.

First, the upside. Whether it’s fully integrated or simply bolted on, AI can be deployed quickly, which lets telephone providers say, “Look, we’ve got AI.” It ticks the box fast. Some so called integrations aren’t integrations at all, they just divert calls externally when no one answers, routing them to another company’s number and calling it a “telephony integration.”

We would like to inform you of the changes our upstream carriers are making with regards to sending calls to mobile networks. We are making this announcement as these changes will affect you.
 
As of 1st August 2021, a new origin-based surcharge will apply to calls that are being delivered to UK mobile networks from numbers originating overseas. You may be thinking this does not affect you, however, there is a section in the price list from the upstream carriers stating the surcharge for an invalid CLI. This is the section in the price list we are most concerned about. The reason for this is because there is a £2.00 per minute surcharge for calls made to mobile networks with an invalid CLI.
 
We are all aware of what the CLI is (Calling Line Identity), but what is a PAI?
This is the P-Asserted-Identity. PAI is used as an underline number provided for carrier to carrier information, to identify what number is calling the called party, even if they have withheld their number. If a call is made from a hosted handset and it is displaying a UK Ofcom registered geographic number in its CLI and its PAI, this should be charged as normal.
 
For example:
 A hosted handset is making a call to a mobile and they are withholding their number. They have the PAI number being displayed to the carrier which is a UK geographic number within their customer setup and is reachable (if the carrier needs to trace the call back). This call is fine, and should be charged as normal.
 
However, if a call is taking place and only has a non-geographic number, international number, mobile number or no number at all, then either the international surcharge rate will apply, or the invalid CLI charge at £2.00 per minute.
 
In addition to this, some carriers such as Vodafone are also saying that if a CLI is being displayed, but they think the origin is different from what is being displayed, they have the right to apply the charge they think it should be. We are unsure how they plan to implement this, but as they are one of the biggest UK networks, we do have to listen.
 
So, what do we need to do, and what should you do?
 
Firstly, NTA will be performing a dry run of outbound calls to see which customers will be most affected by these surcharges. Then, at the beginning of next week, you will be able to run a report to identify which customers will need adjustments made.

Please contact our sales and support teams for more information.

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