Does Zendesk Talk support CNAM?

Question

Can my United States Talk number display a business name instead of a phone number on outbound calls?

Answer

You can display your business name instead of your Talk phone number on outbound calls. The name must have a maximum of 15 characters, including spaces, and no special characters. This functionality is only available for phone numbers based in the USA with a +1 country code. It may work for some carriers in Canada, but it is not guaranteed.

CNAM is a feature from the public telephone network in the USA that identifies an inbound caller by a business name associated with the originating phone number.

Note: There are CNAM services for non-US numbers, such as Hiya. Zendesk does not control these services. CNAM is available for Zendesk Talk voice numbers. It is not available for Sell Voice or SMS numbers.

Talk Voice numbers support CNAM for outbound calls. To activate this, contact Zendesk Customer Support with the information below. Failure to provide this information results in delays in the resolution of your query.

Details to provide with your query

The phone number or numbers you wish to activate for CNAM and Stir/Shaken

Legal business name: the name associated with your Employer Identification Number (EIN)

CNAM to display for the number

Physical address: the address associated with your Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Business type: Corporation, Partnership, Sole Proprietor, Non-Profit, Co-operative, or Limited liability company

Your Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Your business industry: for example, technology or retail

The regions where your business operates: EMEA, LATAM, AMER, or APAC

Your company website (URL)

Two authorized representatives. They must be the Director, VP, Corporate Counsel, GM, CFO, or CEO. Include the following information for each contact:

First and last name

Email address

Contact phone number

Business title and job position

The implementation of CNAM takes one to two weeks for new registrations. After registration, an additional one to two weeks may be necessary to populate other carrier databases. When you update existing CNAM, it takes two to four weeks, or longer.

US carriers require the subscriber to opt in for mobile devices. If the recipient does not have the CNAM feature or app activated on their phone, no CNAM displays even if a CNAM is properly set for the number. For more information, see Brand Your Calls Using CNAM (Public Beta).

If you wish to register for both CNAM and Stir/Shaken, provide the same details listed above. For more information, see How do I prevent calls to my end users from displaying as spam?

Disclaimer: CNAM registration is a best-effort scenario. Zendesk cannot guarantee that your business name displays on all calls. Unlike CallerID, the callee's external carrier looks up CNAM from a database.