Download the latest version of the program from this page.


How works Caller ID?
Caller ID uses your Address Book contacts to match and identify a phone number. To receive the caller ID information, you need a modem or a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. You can also forward this information to other clients in your LAN. Alternatively you can setup Caller ID to receive the caller ID connecting to another running copy of Caller ID in your LAN. The application works in background and can be automatically launched at login. You can use its menu in the menubar to set its main options and to access the Preferences panes.

The 7 most Frequently Asked Questions are...
1. Can I use a DSL modem to receive a Caller ID?
No, a analog modem is required, as for example the Apple USB Modem.

2. Can I use a mobile phone to receive a Caller ID?
Yes, you can use most part of Bluetooth mobile phones.

3. Can I use Apple iPhone receive a Caller ID?
No, currently Apple iPhone is not supported. To date, there are not plans to support it in future versions.

4. I have correctly configured Caller ID but when I receive a call the application don't do anything. Why?
Some modems tell to Called ID that can support it, actually they don't support it. Please see our Troubleshooting section below for more info.

5. How can I to get to make to execute some action when I receive a call?
Caller ID can interact with other applications via AppleScript when a phone call arrives. Users than can create scripts that uses the call information as name, number, date, time and ID contact of Address Book. The application comes along with some samples that shows as to create AppleScripts and some ways in which this feature can be useful.

6. Why for some calls the application shows the text 'Private Number' or 'Number Unavailable'?
Some phone customers can block their telephone numbers from being sent to Caller ID users, so some calling information may not be delivered. The number is not available also for VoIP calls (as for example Skype) and some international calls. Also, if your caller is using a privacy feature, the number may not be displayed.

7. How to de-install the application or to prenvent the "launch at login"?
To de-install Caller ID just trash it's folder. Instead, to just prevent Caller ID to launch at login, uncheck it in the 'Login Items' in the 'Account' pane of the 'System Preferences'. Then, whan you want to use it, just double click its application icon.


Troubleshooting
Apimac Caller ID was built with two main principles in mind: compatibility and ease of use. While for the most part of users it works without problems, there are still some exceptions. This sections provide some useful info on troubleshooting when Caller ID fail to report a CID alert. If you experience troubles, this is the first suggested place to visit.

The most common problem is when Caller ID apparently works without problems but, when the phone rings, Caller ID doesn't report the call.
While this situation can lead to think to a bug or a faulty by Caller ID, this is not exactly the case. Indeed Caller ID simply reports what the modem sends and in most cases like this, the modem simply sends nothing. The only exception would be a Caller ID bug, but, at this time, there are no reported bugs of this type.

We provide a simple troubleshooting tool which can be used to test a modem compatibility, as well to have a raw output from the modem to better investigate some compatibility issues. The tool is freely available to every one and can be downloaded from here: CIDtester.

The use of CIDtester is fairly simple: just select the right modem port from the popup menu and press the Open button. CIDtester will try to connect to the modem, and query it for CID capabilities. If the modem answer positively, CIDtester display the following message:

Successfully opened connection with "YOUR_MODEM_NAME"

where YOUR_MODEM_NAME will be the name of the chosen port.

Now CIDtester act as a logger of what the modem sends: it just listen to every message sent from the modem and display it on the log field.
So, let's try to receive a call. If you have another phone line try to call the phone number related to the phone line to which the modem is connected. When the phone rings, CIDtester should report something like this:

RING

DATE = 1205
TIME = 0903
NMBR = 1234567890

obviously with proper values for the various fields which are only examples in the above report.
In some cases, it can also report an additional info:

NAME = A_CALLER_NAME

again this is only an example.

If you are using a mobile phone instead of an analog modem, the reported message for an incoming call is quite different and should look like:

RING

+CLIP: "1234567890",129,,,"CALLER NAME"

When you have finished with CIDtester, simply press the Close button and it should report:

Successfully closed connection with "YOUR_MODEM_NAME"

So, let's see how to troubleshoot some common situations, eventually using the CIDtester described above.

1. False claiming from the modem.
Some modems, and notably the "MicroDash" series built-in in most G4s and some early G5s, simply pretend to support the CID reporting. They answer OK when queried by Caller ID about the CID capabilities and Caller ID just trust them. However these modems fail to report the incoming call to Caller ID which simply does nothing when a call arrive.
To verify the modem type, just open the Apple System Profiler and look at the Modem or USB section. If the reported modem type is the infamous "MicroDash" then you can be sure it won't work. For other modem models just use the CIDtester tool described above and see what the modem reports when a call arrive. If you only see a repeating "RING" message, then your modem is failing on CID reporting. It recognize an incoming call, but no CID message is reported. This modem is not usable with Caller ID as with every other program for CID reporting.

2. The caller ID service is not enabled.
A mandatory requirement for Caller ID is to have the caller ID service provided from the phone company. In most situations this service is provided by default, but there are some companies/countries which only provide this service as an option, plus some rare cases where this service is not available at all, even as an option.
If you experience troubles on having Caller ID working, try to investigate if you have the caller ID service active. You can also test the availability with a desk phone which provide CID reporting.
You still use the CIDtester tool described above to see what the modem reports when a call arrive.

3. The caller ID service is not compatible.
Some countries do provide a caller id service but using a custom standard which is not compatible with most modems.
If you are sure the caller id service is enabled and active, but you still get nothing from Caller ID, please consider this issue. Here it's an article on Wikipedia which explain some facts.
Again, using the CIDtester tool will let you to better understand if the modem send something or not.

4. The Apple USB Modem should work but it doesn't.
Using the Apple External USB Modem is a common option and it generally works properly. However there are some cases in which this modem doesn't report the CID message. This is due to the fact that not all Apple USB Modems are the same hardware/software. In fact, even with the same device, there are different settings for every country to comply with the local phone regulations. Plus, there is a possibility that the hardware inside the device is different, depending on the country where the modem was sold. Also, even in the same country, we recognize some different behaviors from place to place or from a device to another. Finally, this device is really a soft-modem and this mean that, depending on which Mac OS X version is used, the driver which control the modem may be different or may behave in different mode.
The above facts, make not possible to simply claim that the Apple USB Modem is always compatible. While we reported a limited number of cases where this modem seems failing, for those having problems we suggest to use the CIDtester tool described above to have an immediate feedback of how the modem behave. If the CIDtester tool shows that the modem doesn't report calls, then Apimac Caller ID is working properly and the problem is just the modem.

5. I'm sure the modem properly reports the CID message but Caller ID doesn't work.
First of all, use the CIDtester tool described above to assure yourself the modem works properly. If the modem still works but Caller ID doesn't, then you probably found a bug or an incompatibility in Caller ID. In that case report it using this forum and provide as much details as possibile (even a clip of the CIDtester log is useful). We appreciate incompatibility reports because they permit to increase the range of situations properly handled by Caller ID.