Home Phone/ Caller ID Problems (Best Answer Get's 10 points)?

Question

I have Verizon phone service in my house (using Panasonic phones) and I am having a problem. Whenever a friend would call my house from his home it would come up on the caller id as Out of Area and he tells me that he did press *82 (I have a private #). When he would call from his cell phone (Verizon) the same thing happens out of area. Is there something wrong with the service or the phone?

Answer 1

"Out of Area" (also the same as "Unknown") is YOUR telephone company (Verizon) saying "I have no idea whatsoever who is calling".

The usual cause is that the CALLING party is using an Internet telephone like VOIP.  They could also be calling from work behind a "supertrunk" (a kind of business telephone switch that does not identify).  You have to talk to your friend to see what kind of service they have on their LAND LINE.  They might even be calling you using a calling card.

Now, the calls from their cell phone are "Out of Area" usually because Verizon Cell phones do not send out caller id information like AT&T does.  Have a different friend who has AT&T cell service call you and you'll see.

In any case, there is nothing wrong with YOUR land line service.