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Caller ID is not shown for incoming calls

Caller ID is not shown for incoming calls:

  • When you receive calls, a telephone connected to the FRITZ!Box does not show the caller's telephone number (caller ID), or the caller's telephone number is only shown briefly in its display.
  • A telephone does not show which telephone number the caller has called.

Note:All instructions on configuration and settings given in this guide refer to the latest FRITZ!OS for the FRITZ!Box.

Simply proceed as described below. After each measure, check whether the problem is solved.

1 Activating text information in the FRITZ!Box

The following steps are only necessary if you are using a FRITZ!Fon:

  1. Enter #960*2* on your telephone and press the call key (pick up the handset).
  2. Hang up again after about 3 seconds.

    Note:To deactivate text information display again, enter #960*0*.

2 Defining display names in the FRITZ!Box

The following step is only necessary if the telephone shows caller ID, but not the number that the caller called:

  1. Click "Telephony" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Telephone Numbers" in the "Telephony" menu.
  3. Click the (Edit) button for the respective telephone number.
  4. Enter a name of your choice in the "Display name" field.

    Example:
    You can enter "VOIP_12345", "provider_12345", "office", "private" or "12345" as the display name for the internet telephone number 12345.

  5. Click "Apply" to save the settings.

3 Enabling caller ID display (CLIP) in the FRITZ!Box

The following steps are only necessary if the telephone is connected to an analog extension (for example "FON 1"):

  1. Click "Telephony" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Telephony Devices" in the "Telephony" menu.
  3. Click the (Edit) button for the respective telephone.
  4. Click on the "Telephony Device Features" tab.
  5. Enable the option "Calling line identification presentation (CLIP)".
  6. If only the number of the caller should be shown, enable the option "Simple mode".
    • If you want to see which number the caller has called in addition to seeing the caller's number, enable the option "Expanded mode".
  7. Click "Apply" to save the settings.

4 Checking the FRITZ!Box's call list

  1. Click "Telephony" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
  2. Click "Calls" in the "Telephony" menu.
  3. Check whether caller ID is shown is for incoming calls (blue or red handset).
  4. If caller IDs are displayed, the FRITZ!Box detects the numbers of the callers. The telephone does not display the caller IDs because it does not process the numbers signaled by the callers according to the general specifications. However, the telephone may display caller ID when connected directly to your line, but not when it is connected to the FRITZ!Box.

    Note:CLIP can be used with many cordless telephones, for example with all FRITZ!Fon models and many telephones from the Siemens Gigaset series. However, AVM cannot guarantee that CLIP will work with telephones from other manufacturers.

    • If caller ID is not shown for calls to an ISDN or internet number, either your telephony provider did not enable CLIP for your line, or the callers do not transmit their caller ID.
    • If caller ID is not shown for calls to an analog landline number, continue with the next section.

5 Checking the analog telephone line and devices

The following step is only necessary if the caller ID is not shown when your analog landline number is called:

Checking CLIP support

  1. Disconnect the FRITZ!Box from the DSL splitter's telephone socket.
  2. Connect an analog telephone to the DSL splitter's telephone socket.
  3. If the telephone does not show caller ID now, either your telephony provider did not enable CLIP for your line yet, your telephone does not support CLIP, or the caller did not transmit his caller ID.

Connecting all telephones and telephony devices to the FRITZ!Box

  1. Connect all telephony devices (for example telephones, faxes) to the FRITZ!Box.

    Important:Connecting additional telephony devices or sockets to the telephone jack can cause errors.

Excluding another device as source of interference

Either a device connected to the FRITZ!Box or the power mains may be transmitting interference to the FRITZ!Box. Perform the following test to see if this is the case:

  1. Remove all devices and cables from the LAN ports and the USB port on the FRITZ!Box. If no devices were connected, connect a computer to a LAN port on the FRITZ!Box.
  2. If the error no longer occurs, a device connected to the FRITZ!Box was transmitting interference to the FRITZ!Box or the computer now channels it off. Normally, one of the following measures eliminates the cause of the interference:
    1. Use a power strip to connect the FRITZ!Box and all of the connected devices to the same electric outlet.
    2. Test different electric outlets and power strips.
    3. Use UTP network cables to connect devices to the LAN ports on the FRITZ!Box. UTP network cables do not have a ground wire and do not transmit interference to the FRITZ!Box, unlike STP network cables such as the one included with delivery.

      Important:If the problem occurs with a FRITZ!Powerline adapter, use the UTP network cable included with the FRITZ!Powerline adapter.

    4. If a device connected to the USB port is transmitting interference to the FRITZ!Box, connect the device to a USB port on your computer instead of to the FRITZ!Box.

Swapping the wires of the first telephone jack

The error can occur on an analog landline if the wires that feed into the telephone jack from your provider are reversed/swapped:

  1. Swap both of the wires that feed into the first telephone jack (main telephone jack) from your provider in your home. When you unscrew the cover of the telephone jack, the two wires you should swap are normally found on the left of the screw terminal at the top, depending on the type of jack. The contacts are labeled 1 and 2 or 1a and 1b.

Signal quality is too low

If your FRITZ!Box still does not show caller ID for incoming calls, the signal quality of your analog landline is too low.

Compared to simple telephones, PBXs always place higher demands on the signal quality of analog telephone lines. The FRITZ!Box is capable of recognizing and processing all incoming signals correctly well beyond the specification limits. However, when used on lines subject to much interference, the FRITZ!Box's tolerance to errors is slightly lower than that of an analog telephone connected directly to your line. Therefore, under some circumstances, a telephone that is connected directly to your line can evaluate the CLIP information even though the FRITZ!Box cannot. This is not due to an error with the FRITZ!Box; instead, it is because the signal quality of the analog landline is too low.