Nice one Matt, exactly what was trying to explain but without success!!

In reply to a post by orbrey:

Hi there,

Just checked with our provisioning team and CLI should be enabled by default - we can turn it on or off for free, and it's a 24 hour order.

Having checked your account I can see that the £1 charge is for caller display, not for the CLI?

I think we're all getting confused between the technical jargon and the marketing terms.

If I understand correctly, I think what you mean is that CLIP (CLI Presentation, as in presentation to the network and outside world) is enabled by default. Which means that when I make an outgoing call my number is presented to the person I'm calling (assuming they have a compatible phone and CLI service on their line). If you turn that feature OFF then my line has CLIR on it instead of CLIP. Thats the OUTGOING side.

On the incoming side, I can pay you £1 per month to have you send VF signals down my line with every incoming call so that my Caller Display equipment can show me who's calling. That service is called CLI (in technical jargon) and the equipment that is capable of displaying the numbers is a Caller Display. But to make things easy to understand for everyone, the whole service gets referred to as Caller Display by marketing people (I blame BT!).

So yes, I'm paying £1/month for the service PlusNet calls Caller Display and telecoms engineers refer to as CLI. And bluefish2303's parents-in-law had CLIR set up on their line by TalkTalk when what they wanted was CLIP.

Phew!

Yep. At least Ofcom (linky) say:
"What are Calling Line Identification services?" [...] after mentioninf Caller Display and Call Return (1471) they add:
"Caller Display and Call Return are both services which feature the ability to identify the caller's number and are known as Calling Line Identity (CLI) services."
Perhaps Plusnet use non-standard terminology but I don't see CLI being used as selecting CLIR or otherwise, only as receiving the caller's identification.

Thanks for the link to the Ofcom document.

For me this just serves to fuel the discussion further rather than clarify it...but I have learnt something Thanks

In reply to a post by Uilebheist:

Usually if they make a charge is for setting things up to keep your number private - so maybe TT set things up for your parents in law wrongly (assuming they haven't requested it and paid whatever charge TT makes for it).
It is of course free to enable or disable sending your number for one call only by dialling 141 or 1470 before the number - the call will cost the same as if you didn't dial these numbers.

Permanent number withholding is free (BT retail) as is exclusion from the telephone directory,and caller display &1571
With the BT unlimited plan you also get 200 SMS per month, free calls to 0870 &0845 numbers , where as you get zero SMS with plus net line rental with LRS is £10.75 pm plus net is slightly cheaper , but add charges for caller display and anything else that bt throw in with BT privacy it could be more expensive

Er - tommy? Caller display certainly isn't unconditionally free on the BT REtail E & W plan, even with BT Privacy. Maybe it is on Anytime, I don't know, but you didn't qualify the statement.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 18-Jan-13 18:48:42)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Caller display certainly isn't unconditionally free on the BT REtail E & W plan, even with BT Privacy. Maybe it is on Anytime,

It's the same whatever plan; 6+ calls/Qtr I think, or you get charged.

Yeah 6 calls or SMS txt (unlimited anytime plan) each quater or 2 per month
But the calls and txt's don't cost you if inclusive calls so it's free , better than having to pay for it on top of the other charges,

Edited by tommy45 (Sat 19-Jan-13 02:43:09)

In reply to a post by tommy45:

Yeah 6 calls or SMS txt (unlimited anytime plan) each quater or 2 per month
But the calls and txt's don't cost you if inclusive calls so it's free

That's true . (And there's two "r"s in "quarter" )

In reply to a post by Bright:

BT normally waive it if you sign up for a 12 month contract. Others may have more info on this

BT will waive the fee for Caller Display if you opt for what they call 'BT Privacy' where your number will be registered with the TPS (Telephone Preference Service - for what limited good it does) and you make 2 calls/month or 6 calls/quarter (depending on your billing choice, though of course quarterly billing adds some 18 to 20 quid to the annual bill, I believe). The calls need to be potentially 'chargeable' (ie not to 0800 destinations) but can be to 0870 (including those at off-peak times when a calls package might make them 'free').

Other companies may charge more for it. The regular pricing from Openreach may be around the 2 or 2.50 mark and thus PN price is a discount rate compared with 'standard'... though of course line rental, 'included' calls and so on may affect the overall cost from each different telecom service and the cost of Caller Display is just something a user may need to factor in if they want to use it. (Of course, even if you don't accept calls, you might want to be able to receive SMS via landline, and need Caller Display service for that.)

To be honest, PN's pricing is pretty good for Caller Display and if the line rental was lower I'd consider them.