Editing Automatic number identification (section)

{{Short description|Feature of a telecommunications network}}
{{use American English|date=October 2022}}
{{use MDY dates|date=October 2022}}
'''Automatic number identification''' ('''ANI''')<ref name=ForF1992NYT>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/04/news/caller-id-consumer-s-friend-or-foe.html
   |title=Caller ID: Consumer's Friend or Foe?
   |author=Anthony Ramirez |date=April 4, 1992  |access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref><ref name=911PizzaNYT>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/09/business/the-pizza-version-of-dialing-911.html
|title=The Pizza Version of Dialing '911'
|date=September 9, 1991}}</ref> is a feature of a telecommunications network for automatically determining the origination [[telephone number]] on toll calls for billing purposes. Automatic number identification was originally created by the [[American Telephone and Telegraph Company]] (AT&T) for [[long distance calling|long distance]] service in the [[Bell System]],<ref>[http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2265844.html US Patent 2,265,844: Calling Line Identification Circuit]</ref><ref>[http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2300829.html US Patent 2,300,829: Calling Line Identification System]</ref> eliminating the need for telephone operators to manually record calls.

Modern ANI has two components: information digits, which identify the class of service,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/ani_ii_assignments.html|title=ANI II Digits|publisher=[[North American Numbering Plan Administration]]|year=2003|accessdate=2007-07-06| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070618024913/http://nanpa.com/number_resource_info/ani_ii_assignments.html| archivedate= 18 June 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> and the [[calling party]] billing telephone number.

The term is also used to describe the functions of [[two-way radio]] [[selective calling]] that identify the transmitting user.

ANI is distinct from newer [[caller ID]] services, such as call display, which are solely for informing a subscriber.