Idea

Jennifer...yes it is.

My apologies for reading too quickly Jan - you are correct.  Bottom line is that we all agree that ID spoofing if not illegal for the majority of the cases that RC users are wanting to use it for  AND  that almost all other telco providers (VOIP and landland) allow ID spoofing. - there are many of us that want and need it in Ring Central services PER phone number.

That's where LEGAL Caller ID spoofing comes in. Some other VoIP providers do allow this depending on the situation. I have an acquaintance who owns a business and his wife also owns a separate business. They have separate phone numbers but they go through the same VoIP provider (not RingCentral). That provider allowed Caller ID spoofing in their case (the provcider's support had to change it once approved. It is not configurable by the account owner) so that the wife's business shows XYZ Company while the husband's business shows as ABC Company. The both numbers are on the single account and it is a two-line/user account.

RingCentral does not have this functionality but I believe they should in instances like the aforementioned one as well as the situation you have. Some people say that Caller ID spoofing is illegal. It is NOT illegal as long as it conforms to the specifications in the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009.

Caller ID spoofing is generally legal in the United States, unless done "with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value". The relevant federal statute, the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, does make exceptions for certain law-enforcement purposes. Callers are also still allowed to preserve their anonymity by choosing to block all outgoing caller ID information on their phone lines.

Under the act, which also targets VoIP services, it is illegal "to cause any caller identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value...." Forfeiture penalties or criminal fines of up to $10,000 per violation (not to exceed $1,000,000) could be imposed. The law maintains an exemption for blocking one's own outgoing caller ID information, and law enforcement isn't affected.

Jan, you are referring to caller ID "numbers" are illegal to spoof - but what this thread is about is caller ID "name" display - which is fully legal and very often configured on all phone lines from all carriers - we do this several times a week with all VOIP and land line numbers for improved clarity to call recipients.

@Michael...You are making an assumption that just is not there. Where in my post do you see the word number other than in the first paragraph where I talk about a business that has two separate numbers. In that case I referred to the fact that each of the individual numbers has a different caller ID name, repeat different name.

To begin with the entire first paragraph pertains specifically to Caller ID names. Then the remainder of the post particularly speaks to the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, which if you read it does not refer to numbers or names in particular. It just speaks to the legality of spoofing Caller ID information. Information, not a number.

It happens. Thanks for the post.

Hey Michel - It looks like you need to use multi-level IVR to turn on the multi-site feature.  I don't use the IVR because I desire a person answer the phone instead of getting a voice prompt for customers to respond and enter a number.  Is there a way for me to preserve my "old fashioned" call answering using the IVR system?  I don't know anything about the IVR...I own a company that has 8 people, so I'm the sales person, HR Manager, toilet cleaner, IT guy and lots of other hats :)  Thanks!

Hey Wyatt - you are correct that multi-level IVR needs to be used, but you can use a "custom answering rule" in your IVR settings to bypass the menu and have it ring your receptionist/group/call takers for the main number(s).  

Yes, you have to turn on multi-level IVR to be able to use multi-site settings, BUT you don't have use the IVR at all - you just need to turn it on.   Let me know how many RingCentral lines you have, how many landlines, how many and types of phonesets - then I can provide you some suggestions.  Bottom line though is that yes, you can use multi-site settings for CallerName and still have "old fashioned" personal answering (ie. no IVR)