If you've been enjoying the relatively anonymity of blocking your number from showing up in Caller ID, it looks like your luck is about to run out. TrapCall from TelTech is a new, free service that uses some fancy call routing tricks to get around any of those blocks callers might have in place, making sure that you can see their number on incoming calls, no matter what.

Even if you block your number from displaying, certain groups have always been able to see it. Emergency services use ANI, automatic number identification, to do a reverse look-up and find your address if you're calling in need of help. Caller ID blocks have no affect on ANI services. When you call a toll-free number, the company gets to see who you are, since they're the ones footing the bill. It's this limitation in Caller ID blocking that TrapCall takes advantage of.

To set it up, you put TrapCall's toll-free number into your phone as where it should redirect missed calls. When you see a blocked number come up, you dismiss the call to voice mail, where it's forwarded to TrapCall. The service then immediately forwards the call back to your phone, but in the process it's been able to pull the caller's phone number out of the air and let you see who's calling you.trap

The only obvious workaround, if you're dead-set on maintaining your Caller-ID-blocked-status, is to dial through a service that changes the Caller ID information before your call reaches the recipient. As luck would have it, TelTech offers this service as well, only this time you have to pay for it. While that feels a bit like selling guns to two nations warring against each other, we've got to admit that it's a cunning business move. You can sign up now for TrapCall through the company's web site at trapcall.com/signup.

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