[Resolved] no CNAM shows "Out of area" with Grandstream HT-802 firmware 1.0.55.5 and Panasonic KX-TGC362B phone

[fguser100]

Today Aug 17th 2024 all my incoming calls are identified as "Out of area". The incoming phone number is correct but they are all have "Out of area" as description. They are all local calls ( same are acode as my phone number ).

I'm wondering if someone else have this issue.

Thanks

[Liptonbrisk]

I can't reproduce this, even with incoming calls from different area codes.

When outbound caller ID (CID) name is sent by origination (the incoming caller's service provider), I see inbound CID name.
If name isn't sent, then what's displayed (nothing other than CID number, in my case) is usually up to the specific phone being used, as far as I can tell.


In terms of Fongo services, in general, this hasn't changed since 2012:

viewtopic.php?p=30526#p30526

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder, as has been provided in other threads, when the call display feature is enabled, it will only show the information that is being sent by the provider. if that provider only sends a number, we can only display a number. This is especially common for cell phone providers and a number of digital service providers.

Fongo services do not perform CID name lookups, which cost money (a database service needs to be subscribed to and queried). Only the name is shown if the originating provider sends it. If the provider only sends a number, then only a number will be shown. Anything else displayed should be up to the phone being used since nothing else is being sent.

That is, it would be pretty weird for Fongo to replace empty inbound CID name with "Out of area". I'm extremely skeptical that's happening.

I also checked my SIP client's call logs. I don't see "Out of area" anywhere. I even called from a number outside of Canada. Nothing is shown for CID name since no CID name is being sent.

Possibly the phone system being used is interpreting those incoming calls as being "Out of area".

[fguser100]

Thanks Liptonbrisk for performing all testings.

The problem seems to be a combination of my HT802 and Freephoneline.

My HT802 seems to be configured to have upgrade installed automatically ( I did not configure it intentionally, I just realized it now ).
I compared the software info from my "live" ATA and the entire Status of my ATA saved as PDF on Aug 06th 2024 : the software version has changed, so it must be recently changed and I did not have this problem before.

I have 2 ports, one is configured for Freephoneline and the other is configured for another SIP provider. Only Freephoneline port is impacted.
I just realized that not all incoming calls are identified as "Out of area" ( as I thought orignally ) , but only those that do not have Display Name defined ( I removed display name from one of my other phone and call my Freephoneline, it shows "Out of area" ; I put back the Display Name and the name is displayed ) . I switched my HT802 with my old PAP2T and the problem disappeared : phone number shows up as Display Name along with the actual phone number ( rather than Out of Area ).

I guess that I have to live with this until Grand Stream release a new software version.

edit on 19-Aug-2024 to add ATA software Version and Hardware version

Product Model: HT802
Hardware Version: V2.0A Part Number -- 9610003720A
Software Version:
Boot 1.0.55.1
Core 1.0.55.2
Base 1.0.55.5
Prog 1.0.55.5
CPE 1.0.4.101

[Liptonbrisk]

Read through this thread: https://web.archive.org/web/20241001170 ... 6#msg58936

I realize the ATA is different.

Yes, it’s likely a firmware update changed something and that the phone system you’re using responds to what is now being sent with a generic “Out of Area” message. However, nothing is actually sending “Out of Area” to your phone.

[fguser100]

So my problem is the combination of ATA, Freephoneline and phones.

I have 2 panasonic cordless phones, but different model. I switched my phones and the result is different : "Out of area" just disappeared, only blank (or nothing) showed up on the first line. And this is the work around for now.

The phone that I have problem with is : Panasonic KX-TGC362B

Thanks Liptonbrisk again for pointing out this article.

[Liptonbrisk]

I'd be surprised if the issue has anything to do with Freephoneline. Possibly the other provider is substituting something different (dashes, the number itself, or performing a CID name lookup) for CNAM when none is provided.

https://firmware.grandstream.com/Releas ... 0.55.5.pdf

GRANDSTREAM NETWORKS HT801/802/812/814/818 Firmware Release Notes
FIRMWARE VERSION 1.0.55.5 (page 7)

"Updated the Caller ID presentation"

You might want to report this issue to Grandstream (mention the specific Panasonic phone model affected and the ATA's firmware version): https://www.grandstream.com/contact-us.

Their forums are located at https://forums.grandstream.com/.

I don't normally recommend downgrading firmware since you may be introducing other bugs and/or security issues, but older firmware is located at https://www.grandstream.com/support/fir ... usfirmware if you want to try using 1.0.53.3, for example, instead.

[Liptonbrisk]

By the way, the workaround for Obihai 2xx/3xx series ATAs, is to select

Physical Interfaces -> Phone Port -> CidNoNameFormat: Show Caller Number
https://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php ... 8#msg68748


1. Dial ***1. Enter the IP address you hear into a web browser if you want to use your Obihai device's web interface instead of Obitalk.com. Login. Default username and password are “admin” without the quotation marks.

2. Navigate to Physical Interfaces ->Phone Port ->CidNoNameFormat
a. Select "Show Caller Number"
b. Scroll down, and click "Submit".
c. Reboot ATA when prompted.

[Liptonbrisk]

I was looking around in the Grandstream admin guide, but nothing is jumping out at me immediately as being relevant: https://www.grandstream.com/hubfs/Produ ... _guide.pdf.

I see "Disable Unknown Caller ID", but enabling that shouldn't help based on the description:
"This feature allows users to disable the analog phone’s caller ID when the
device receive a call with Anonymous, unavailable or unknown as FROM
USER and without Display-INFO."

The incoming calls aren't anonymous.

[fguser100]

1) Downgrade to 1.0.53.3 : "Out of Area" disappeared

2) I contacted Grand Stream support .
They suggest to change parameter <Caller ID Fetch Order> from <Auto> to <From Header> : it didn't fix the problem.
Upload SIP log to Stream support : they could not find anything wrong either.
They ask me to install Wireshark on my PC and connect to HT802 to read packets of syslog in Debug : it's a bit too complicated for me so I decided to leave the issue as it is.

For now I simply switch my phone as a work around. The other possibility is to interpret "Out of Area" as no Description ; it's just a bit anoying to see "Out of Area" .

Hopefully new version post 1.0.55.5 would somehow fix this issue.

Thanks Liptonbrisk again for all your helps.

[Liptonbrisk]

They suggest to change parameter <Caller ID Fetch Order> from <Auto> to <From Header> : it didn't fix the problem.

I wouldn't expect it to.

Here's an an example of a From SIP header without a CNAM:

From: <sip:15191234567@voip2.freephoneline.ca>
(if being sent by FPL)

Here's an example with CNAM already present:
From: "John Doe" <sip:15191234567@voip2.freephoneline.ca>

It's not as though a blank CNAM in the From header would change to something else.


Based on https://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php ... 6#msg58936, the affected Panasonic phone models don't respond properly to completely blank CNAM for some reason; they show "Out of Area". There's no definitive evidence presented in the thread for that, but the guess seems plausible.

They ask me to install Wireshark on my PC and connect to HT802 to read packets

It's almost as though they don't believe "Out of Area" isn't being sent to your Panasonic KX-TGC362B phone. "Out of Area" is not being sent to the ATA.

I also wouldn't expect Grandstream to not be able to compare firmware versions to determine what change has been made between them, such as no longer substituting (a) whitespace character(s) for blank CNAM (completely random guess on my part).

The only difference is the firmware version used.

Anyway, perhaps you could suggest they offer an option to substitute blank CNAM with CID number instead, in the event incoming CNAM is blank. Obihai 2xx/3xx ATA firmware does have that option. I imagine Poly 4xx ATA firmware does too. In the firmware for those ATAs, the setting is called CidNoNameFormat, which needs to be changed to "Show Caller Number":


1. Dial ***1. Enter the IP address you hear into a web browser if you want to use your Obihai device's web interface instead of Obitalk.com. Login. Default username and password are “admin” without the quotation marks.

2. Navigate to Physical Interfaces ->Phone Port ->CidNoNameFormat
a. Select "Show Caller Number"
b. Scroll down, and click "Submit".
c. Reboot ATA when prompted.


Good luck.

[fguser100]

I just found this page from Panasonic support https://support-uk.panasonic.eu/app/ans ... telephones

And here is the content of the web page ( in case the page got deleted in the future )



"

What is Caller ID on DECT telephones?
What is Caller ID?

Caller ID on Panasonic DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) telephones is a feature that allows users to see the phone number of an incoming caller before answering the call.

When someone calls your DECT phone, the phone's display will show the caller's phone number (if available) along with the date and time of the call. This feature is useful for screening calls and determining who is calling before picking up the phone.


How does it work?

Caller ID requires support from both the telephone service provider and the DECT phone itself.

In case you have an active subscription with your phone service provider for the Caller ID service, the phone will display the caller information when a call is being received.

Caller information will be logged in the caller list from the most recent call to the oldest.

If the unit cannot receive caller information, the following will be displayed:

'Out of Area' - when the caller dials from an area which does not provide Caller ID service
'Private Caller' - when the caller has withheld the Caller ID information
Please note that neither of the above points are faults, so no need to worry if these messages appear on the Handset display when you receive a call.

"

[Liptonbrisk]

Okay, responding to completely blank CNAM with “Out of Area” isn’t an intuitive design decision. Thanks for the documentation.

Grandstream making you go through those troubleshooting steps was useless.

1) Downgrade to 1.0.53.3 : "Out of Area" disappeared

Regardless, previous Grandtream firmware appears to have sent something other than completely blank CNAM to your phone, and the workaround would be to replace CNAM with CID number when incoming CNAM is blank, as mentioned previously.

I’m going to mark this thread as “Resolved”.