During a demo with a potential customer today, their CEO started to talk about "DID's"...and then she looked up, squarely at me, and, conscious of our company name, quickly corrected herself and said, "I mean ANI's, not DID's...wait, is that right?? ANI's, DID's, DNIS's - whatever they're called!"...which made me laugh... :-)
And so I apologized...
I apologized because her confusion was definitely partially our fault, as our name is "outboundANI"...and, historically, call center operators of all shapes and sizes, generation after generation, have inevitably had to deal with the confusion of which number is the ANI, and which number is the DNIS...and, technically, BOTH ANI's and DNIS's can also both be considered DID's, which only further confuses the issue...
So here's the gist of the terms, and our name... :-)
DID - Direct Inward Dialing
Any collection of 10 digits that terminates on a private telephone. This can be your phone number when the customer calls you, or it can be the customer's phone number when you call them...it is any phone number capable of receiving a telephone call when dialed...
DNIS - Dialed Number Information Service
Traditionally in contact centers, DNIS referred to the prospect phone number, on outbound calls. It is, to some extent, the customer's DID - the phone number you dial, to reach your customer on the other end...
ANI - Automatic Number Identification
Also traditionally in contact centers, ANI referred to the prospect phone number, on inbound calls. It is, to some extent, the number that originated the call; the phone number the caller id shows when your phone rings, which on inbound calls, is the phone number of the prospect, herself...
HOWEVER, when placing OUTBOUND calls, it is YOUR NUMBER that originates the call...and as such, YOUR NUMBER is the ANI to the prospect you are calling...it may be YOUR outbound call, but it is also the prospect's INBOUND CALL...in the context of outbound dialing, YOU ARE THE ANI...
AND, nowadays, YOUR OUTBOUND ANI - YOUR OUTBOUND PHONE NUMBER - as displayed to YOUR PROSPECT, is OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE - if the customer likes what they see, maybe they'll answer...otherwise, not so much...
So, THAT is why our name is outboundANI - because everything we do, is from the perspective of HOW THE CUSTOMER SEES YOU...from the perspective of YOUR OUTBOUND PHONE NUMBER...
Not sure if that helps, or just confuses things further...in any case, I tried... :-)
