Does 'Name Display' work for you???

[Don Tolson]

Hi guys... I've been having this discussion over at the Eten Users group regarding the 'Name Display' service provided by my cell phone provider, Rogers, here in Canada.

Even though Rogers has the service (which will display the name of a caller as it is registered by the provider, as long as they haven't requested blocking, before you answer the call) turned on for my phone, and it's confirmed as working -- no name shows up on the X500, just the phone #.

The X500 is a GSM phone, so to test it, I took the SIM card out and put it into my RAZR. Sure enough, after a 'reset' from the techies @ Rogers, the RAZR started showing callers' names. Taking that same SIM card out of the RAZR and putting it into the X500, nothing -- just the phone #.

Since the phone app on the X500 is reported provided by MS, we're wondering if others have seen the same 'bug'.

[ctmagnus]

afaik, Windows Mobile uses the contacts database to cross-reference names and phone #s. That said, I'm not 100% sure if I have name display enabled on my account, as it's been an extremely long time since I've used a non-Windows Mobile phone. And most calls that I get are from people that are already in my contacts.

[Don Tolson]

ya, ct, I think you're right. The Phone app seems to look only at the Contacts db to determine if it 'knows' who's calling.

It sure would be helpful, tho, if it could look at Contacts first, then at the 'who is' info provided by the cell vendor to display the name.

One of the main reasons I want the name displayed is especially when it comes from someone I don't know.

[ctmagnus]

Actually, Rogers has call display and name display services - I don't know why they need both, other than as a potentially unnecessary additional source of income. It's possible that the name display service is what you're looking for.

[Don Tolson]

Hi CT... Actually I have both on my current plan with Rogers. I believe Call Display shows you the phone #, name display shows you who it is.

In any case, my point is that while Name Display works perfectly (now) on my Moto RAZR, it won't work at all on my Eten X500. I only get the name displayed if the phone number is in my Contacts db on the PPC.

[Brad Adrian]

I've only used US carriers like T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T/Name-o-the-Month, but I've never seen my Phone Editions identify a caller by anything other than the phone number unless it appears in the Contacts database. AFAIK, that's the only way that the Phone Edition works.

BTW, if you find that you're screening a bunch of unwanted calls that you have no interest in, you can use a program like Spb Phone Suite to reject known phone numbers. To make it easier, I've even created a Contacts entry called "Nuisance" and enter all my unwanted numbers into the fields. That way, I can see that it's one of my nuisance calls that's being rejected.

[Don Tolson]

I wonder if there's any mechanism for sending this into Microsoft as a possible enhancement to the Phone Edition????

[Brad Adrian]

I wonder if there's any mechanism for sending this into Microsoft as a possible enhancement to the Phone Edition????
Absolutely. In fact, this is something that's been formally requested for a long time.

The most direct channel for voicing needs is through any of the Microsoft Mobile Devices MVPs. They are in constant contact with Microsoft product managers and developers and have semi-annual face-to-face meetings with them. Since there are so many MVPs involved in running this particular Web site (the most popular Pocket PC site in the known universe), you can bet that Microsoft hears about the features that users like you want.