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Choose an outbound caller ID

Decide which number your outgoing calls present, per extension or for the whole phone system, and know the order the platform falls back through.

The outbound caller ID is the number shown to the person you call. It is chosen per extension, with a phone-system default behind it, so a shop can present one main number for everyone while a service advisor’s desk presents a direct line.

Prerequisites

  • The intended phone system selected in the header.
  • A role that can manage extensions, to change an extension’s selection.
  • At least one number on the phone system, or a completed external-number verification, if you do not want the extension to follow the system default.

How the presented number is chosen

Every outgoing call resolves the caller ID in the same order, stopping at the first one that is set:

  1. The extension’s own outbound caller ID, when the extension has one selected.
  2. The phone system’s default caller ID, which Steer Phones sets for the system.
  3. The oldest active Steer Phones-owned number on the phone system, as a last resort.
  4. If none of those exist, the call cannot be placed — the caller hears that the outbound caller ID is not configured and the call ends.

Two consequences are worth remembering. A phone system with no numbers cannot place outgoing calls at all. And clearing an extension’s selection does not remove its caller ID; it moves the extension back to the system default.

Emergency calls are the exception to all of this: 911 presents the phone system’s emergency identity, not the extension’s override. Which number that is, and the address that travels with it, is covered in Assign E911 emergency addresses.

Set the number an extension presents

  1. Open Settings > Call Setup > Extensions.
  2. Add an extension, or select an existing one to edit.
  3. Open Outbound Caller ID and choose one of:
    • Use system default — leaves the extension without an override.
    • A number under Owned phone numbers — the numbers on this phone system, each listed by number with its stored name in brackets where it has one.
    • A number under Verified external numbers — external numbers whose verification is complete.
  4. Select Save.

Reopening the extension shows the saved selection.

Verified external numbers

A verified external number is a number your business answers somewhere else — a mobile, a line at another location — that you are allowed to present as caller ID because ownership of it has been proven.

Verification is arranged by Steer Phones, and it is a live process, so have someone at that number ready:

  1. Steer Phones starts the verification and gives you the six-digit code for it.
  2. That number receives a phone call.
  3. Whoever answers enters the six-digit code on that phone to complete the verification.

Until verification completes, the number is pending and does not appear in the extension picker. A number that is already part of your Steer Phones account — a hosted number, for example — cannot be verified as an external number; the attempt is refused with the reason.

What the caller ID does not control

  • The name recipients see. The Display Name you set on a number under All Numbers is a label inside Steer Phones and can drive what your own desk phones show for an incoming call. It is not the name delivered to the people you call — that comes from their carrier’s own directory. Choose the right number first, then treat name presentation as a separate question.
  • Whether the call is recorded or announced. That is set on the Compliance page and, for individual numbers, on the recording exemption list.
  • Emergency calls. See above: 911 does not follow the extension’s override.

Expected result

Calls from an extension with an override present that number. Calls from every other extension present the phone system’s default, and reopening an extension shows the selection you saved.

Troubleshooting

  • A number is missing from the picker: Confirm it is assigned to the phone system in the header, or that its external verification finished. Pending verifications are not offered.
  • A verified number never became available: Verification requires answering the call and entering the code before it expires. Ask Steer Phones to check its status and restart it if needed.
  • Everyone is presenting the wrong number: The extensions have no override and are following the phone-system default. Ask Steer Phones to point the default at the number you want.
  • Calls fail with a message about the outbound caller ID not being configured: The phone system has no usable number to present. Check that the numbers you expect are still assigned to the system.
  • Recipients see an unexpected name: Confirm which number was presented first — in the call history — and treat the displayed name separately; it is not set from this field.