RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| What carrier controls your phone number?
A few folks privately have spot checked the veracity of the results from this site, and they have been 100% clean. Thanks to those who have done the testing! (And thanks to the owner of the site for permission to publicize it!) This is the only free online resource I'm aware of that will lookup the underlying CLEC post-porting and show you the registered Caller ID name info. Lots of folks have been looking for a site like this ... I have no idea what you can do with this info other than make a pest of yourself, but nonetheless here it is... »www.tnid.org Fill in the phone number in the box at top right, then press enter. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE in the process of making a pest of yourself, do not reveal the site name to any carrier you are complaining to. We don't want the owner of the site to be bombarded with requests or demands to shut it down. |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ | That's interesting. You can also get data about your area/prefix from www.localcallingguide.com and www.telcodata.us (although I think the latter now charges a fee for their data) |
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garys_2k
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Vonage
| reply to RockyBB
Interesting. It shows my home number is now controlled by MCI Worldcom Communications, which is not the provider that F9 used for porting that number to them. IIRC, F9 uses Verizon.
So, I'm not sure what to do with this -- start asking MCI to update the CNAM record or pass this off as a mistake (due to conflicting info. wrt F9's DID port)?
Anyway, very cool tool. Thanks! |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| said by garys_2k  :So, I'm not sure what to do with this Do nothing with it. There's nothing to do. You are not a customer of the underlying provider, so they have no obligation to talk to you or respond to any inquiry. In your case, know that MCI used to be an independent company but is now a division of Verizon. So your results are accurate. |
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garys_2k
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI | Ah, thank you, that explains it. |
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benc
Premium
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
 ·Charter Pipeline
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Callcentric
 ·AT&T Midwest
| reply to RockyBB
Hmm...
Interesting website. But it seems that some of the data might be out of date. Not a big deal, if you know a little bit of history.
Example:
I tried looking up my POTS number, just to see what it would say. It came up as Ameritech, a company that no longer exists under that name. But the history of it was this: Ameritech --> SBC --> AT&T
So, it's correct but it's incorrect at the same time. It was accurate though. |
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garys_2k
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI | I don't think the database is kept up to date wrt corporate name changes. Likely a good thing, as that would be more than a full time job.  |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
1 edit | name changes in industry databases tend to be the responsibility of the provider, not the owner of the database. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there were results that said "General Telephone" instead of Verizon, or Comtel or United or Sprint instead of Embarq or the new owner CenturyTel.
As I implied earlier, there is nothing substantive that an individual can do with this info. |
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voipdabbler
join:2006-04-27
Kalispell, MT
| reply to RockyBB
Truthfully, this is why technology--especially databases-- really isn't our friend. Now I see how telemarketers are finding data to spam us via cell phones. This database has cellphone numbers and cell phone information. I don't particularly like this data being out there. Given that, unlike land lines, you're charged for incoming cellular calls, I think the default rule on publishing cell phone info should be that it's banned unless the cell phone owner consents to his/her number being published. |
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Mr Privacy
@anonymouse.org
| reply to RockyBB
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE in the process of making a pest of yourself, do not reveal the site name to any carrier you are complaining to. We don't want the owner of the site to be bombarded with requests or demands to shut it down. We don't? While this can be a useful site for looking up info on your own numbers, my fear is that it will be misused by others who wish to see what name is associated with a particular Caller ID. Granted you have to enter a captcha first, so it's not like the scam artists can do significant damage at fist, but still, I could imagine some phone scammer getting the bright idea to hire people in some third-world country to just go through this thing, fill in the captchas and associate names with numbers for say 50 cents an hour, making a lovely telco-provided list of names and numbers INCLUDING UNLISTED ONES that could possibly be used for mischief of various types.
As useful as it is, I'm just not sure this info should be available to anyone with a web browser. It's one thing to have a Caller ID name sent when you call someone, quite another for anyone in the world to just be able to look up the name associated with a number with just a few keystrokes. |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| said by Mr Privacy :
We don't?
No we don't. I'm for privacy as much as the next guy ... but whatever databases this site uses are just as available for crooks as for legitimate users. Crooks already know where to look. The one-at-a-time characteristics of lookups on this site, and the lack of any download capability, would keep the crooks using their current tools. |
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nitzan
Premium,VIP
join:2008-02-27
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
| I agree. It's much easier for them to buy the databases than to hire a third-world worker who can't read English to do the captchas and copy-paste. Even if they were crazy-fast, what's the max they could do? 6 numbers a minute?
That's 360 numbers an hour assuming they take no breaks at all. There are literally millions of phone numbers. It'll take them years to rebuild any sort of useful database out of this - and the site owner is likely to figure out what's going on and ban their IP addresses long before they'll get any significant amount of data. |
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Fisamo
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Apex, NC
·VOIPo
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to RockyBB
This site is very useful for the numerous porting discussions that go on in this forum. Thanks, Rocky!
(Beats attempting the 'back door' method via Sprint/Nextel, even if they had not closed it.) |
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Mr Privacy
@anonymouse.org
| reply to RockyBB
You're still missing my point. Those who pay for an unlisted number (or, perhaps, choose a VoIP carrier that does not provide listed numbers) may not WANT anyone to be able to type in their number and see what name is associated with it. It's one thing if you call someone - then you know that unless you take specific steps to block Caller ID they are likely to get your name and number. Here, if they even suspect they have your correct number, they can put it in this thing and verify that it comes up with your name - something you may not want just anyone to be able to do.
I'd be more supportive of this site if it had an opt-out feature, so those who don't want any information displayed on their number could have it blocked.
Finally, I wonder if the public display of this information may violate any contracts this outfit may have with their providers. I wonder how Verizon might feel (just to use an example) if some could type in the number of a Verizon cell phone or landline subscriber and find out who the number belongs to - in the case of a landline customer, particularly if they are paying for unlisted service.
If we could somehow guarantee that everyone who used this service was looking up their own number(s), that would be one thing. But this gives just anyone who is nosey a key to the database. The fact that criminals may have access to this information already doesn't mean we should just give up and throw everyone else's privacy to the four winds!
Just my 2 cents worth... |
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telcodata
@clearrate.com | reply to Eat Me
telcodata.us only charges for bulk downloads, the website is as free as it always was. |
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usa2k
Please PRAY for Rebekah
Premium,MVM
join:2003-01-26
Canton, MI
clubs: |  reply to RockyBB
Very cool! |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| reply to Mr Privacy
said by Mr Privacy :
Those who pay for an unlisted number (or, perhaps, choose a VoIP carrier that does not provide listed numbers) may not WANT anyone to be able to type in their number and see what name is associated with it.
I can only think of a single "unlisted" phone number in my circle of friends, and there is no caller ID name available for that number. Have you found anything different? |
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montano
join:2001-04-29
Central Cali | reply to RockyBB
My number shows 'Cost Plus Communications, LLC'. That's a name I am not familiar with. I assumed Level3 had my number now
That is a neat site though. |
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druber
join:2000-04-11
Marlborough, MA
·VOIPo
1 edit | Neat, I ported my VZ landline number to voipo last year, and the lookup for me shows the original carrier as verizon and the current one as level3, so that seems correct.
I just checked my cell number, originally ported from at&t wireless to verizon wireless and now t-mobile. original is showing as cingular (correct due to the acquisition/merger some years back?) and current is t-mobile. |
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friedman
join:2009-04-30
1 edit | reply to RockyBB
Rocky, Great site.
Several interesting observations.
1. The "Original Telephone Company" is the same info you can find on several other sites identifying the owner of an NPA-NXX.
2. The "Telephone Number Owner's Current provider" is very useful, and indeed is correctly displaying the CURRENT underlying provider for the numbers I tested. This info (AFAIK) is not available on the web anywhere else. (Certainly not for free.)
3. The "Telephone Number Owner's Caller*ID" is also displaying the correct info for all the numbers I tested. And this info, as well, (AFAIK) is not available on the web anywhere else. (Certainly not for free.) One issue I had, is after checking about 3 Caller ID's, all further attempts (on other numbers) displayed "LOOKUP FAILED - TRY AGAIN LATER." Perhaps they are limiting usage of this feature.
4. The domain name TNID.ORG was only registered on 24-Apr-2009 (10 days ago.) I checked this in the WHOIS. This appears to be a brand new site. How did you find this service? |
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