Local Presence Outbound Calling Doesn’t Work: How Enhanced Caller ID APIs Tell the Full Story 

As someone who was born and raised in Mississippi, lived in Seattle for a little while, and now resides in New York City, the type of unknown number I am willing to answer actually depends on the area code. The utilization of outbound calling technology known as local presence, where one is most likely to answer a local number, has changed the way we decide which calls to answer. While the premise of this technology makes sense, it exposes a major flaw in the realities of phone data, especially when people no longer reside in that local area.

For example, I am way more likely to answer a phone call from someone with a New York City or even a Seattle area code than I am to answer someone with a Mississippi area code. I understand that when there is someone calling you with a similar area code, one may be more likely to pick up, but I have realized that is not always the case. Everyone I know back home in Mississippi has my number, or I have theirs. And if I don’t have it, I know they will find another way to contact me. On the flip side, if I see someone with a New York City area code, I will most likely answer because for all I know, it’s a doctor’s office, the dentist, or a coworker whose number I haven’t saved yet. 

But why does this happen? Local presence provides a pool of phone numbers that are used when making outbound calls. A simple algorithm selects the outbound phone number to use based on the area code of the person they are trying to reach. This approach yielded much higher pick up rates in the beginning, but as it has become commonplace for outbound calls, it isn’t as effective as it once was. 

I wanted to see just how many of my friends thought this way, so I conducted a little bit of my own research. This research consists of 10 people I know who are living in different cities from their area code and are between the ages of 23 and 30. I presented the question by asking who they are more likely to answer: an unknown number with the same area code as them or an unknown number with the area code of where they are located in the U.S. Here are the results: