Does Caller ID require a subscription?

Question

For land line use. My phone company charges an extra $10 for features that are all available in some phones-- does built-in Caller ID still require a subscription?

Answer 1

you have to pay the phone company for caller id.    

Answer 2

When you buy a phone with the "Caller-ID" feature built-in, it wont work unless you pay extra to the phone company for the service.  I understand your frustration and I consider it a rip-off as well, but that's the way it is.

Answer 3

Depends. Some phone services, like my cable provider, includes it in the basic package, and no additional charge. Some services like AT and T offer "a la carte" charges and that would include Caller ID for an add'l charge.

In the end, the cable company still builds in the extra expense, but you don't see it as an extra charge.

Answer 4

Landline based phone services (PSTN) almost always require you to pay extra montly fee to have Caller-ID enabeld, unless you are paying for a higher priced package that includes caller-ID.... it's a money grab.  It's a monopoly that they get away with.

I say this because, Caller-ID information is, by default, transmitted with ALL telephone calls.  Thus, theoretically all you need is a telephone that is Caller-ID capable and you can see caller-ID whenever someone calls your phone.

But, the telephone companies Block Caller-ID, and then want you to pay them a monthly fee to "Unblock" the Caller-ID information that already exists on every telephone call.

Every VoIP phone service that I have used and tested that allows incoming phone calls to my VoIP phone numbers (DID) displays Caller-ID information....... for free.  And I have used about a dozen different VoIP services.  It is FREE because it cost them nothing to not block the Caller-ID information that exists already.  Any service that charges extra money for Caller-ID is just "maximizing" their profits.

Unfortunately, the PSTN (public switched telephone networks) landline phone companies have a monopoly and we have no choice but to pay for Caller-ID if we want them to "Unblock" it when using their services.

This is just another reason why I like VoIP.  VoIP provides most of the features for free that the PSTN operators charge an arm and leg for.

Answer 5

Yes, phones with built-in CID require a subscription from your service provider.  Prices vary from provider to provider.  Most providers bundle services for convenience and also offer calling features ala carte.