Why Blocking Your Caller ID is Harmful

Would you let him through your front door?

It surprises me that some individuals and businesses  continue to block their caller ID when making outbound calls.

While the impact of this action is seemingly harmless, businesses and individuals that block their caller ID need to realize that this action adversely impacts the reputation of their business.

Just think about the adjectives that a receiver of a blocked call associates with you or your business: closed, anonymous, not reachable, sneaky, one way.   Surely this is not the desired goal of your phone call.

In addition to these perception issues, blocking caller ID can cause the following problems:

• The person on the receiving end of the call has no context about the call or the caller’s past history with the company or with the receiver.  If you’re using a smart CRM/phone solution such as Ringio, you can better route and serve the caller using the caller ID.  If the caller blocks caller ID, the company AND the caller lose.

• Even if the receiver of the call is available, it is likely that the call will not be answered.  People generally let these unrecognized calls ring through to voicemail.  The receiver has been interrupted and now has to listen to a voicemail. Not a pleasant experience.

• If the receiver answers the call they are in a defensive mindset from the get-go, as they have no idea who is calling or why they are calling.

Some people believe that by blocking caller ID, they will not get callbacks or unwanted calls.  Getting your number in the do not call registry is a much better approach to tackle this problem.  Blocking caller ID gives a false sense of anonymity and harms your business and personal brand.  It is much better to send a business number or a masked number like your personal or Company Ringio Number if you’re not interested in displaying your direct number.

Remember that making phone calls with your caller ID blocked is akin to going to someone’s house with a mask on and knocking on their front door.   You wouldn’t dream of doing that .  So why do it with your phone calls?