How Can I Find a Phone Number’s Owner if it is VOIP?

August 28th, 2018 by Pulsar360

Digital 1's and 0's in a Tunnel

VoIP calls are the trend now. They make communication easier by allowing you to make phone calls over the internet. With VoIP calls, you can make phone calls to anyone in the world provided there is an internet connection for all parties. VoIP calls also allow for conference calls and VoIP meetings too. It is now common to see that business organizations have implemented using VoIP calls in their communication process. It helps them bypass the charges of phone companies, provides unlimited phone lines and makes communication easier, cheaper and faster.

A recent concern when utilizing VoIP calls is tracing an unidentified phone number to its owner when VoIP calls are made. When unidentified callers make a call through to you on VoIP, you only get to see the caller ID, which is the number you see on your phone. The issue is now tracing the number to the owner.

Thankfully, there are different ways to trace the owner of a number when a VoIP call comes through.

Reverse Phone Detective

The reverse phone detective method utilizes different online apps to trace the owner registered to the phone line. There are numerous reverse phone detectives available online. They are free and require you to input the caller ID in the search engine and they help produce the owner in an instant. In fact, these online detectives can be used to search for landline numbers too.

VoIP service provider

Another way to find the owner of an unidentified VoIP number is through the VoIP service provider. All you have to do is to note down the caller ID and the time the call was made. Then, discuss with your VoIP service provider to track the owner of that number for you.

The only clause to using this method to trace the caller is that the caller whom you want to know about must have a registered caller ID or IP address with which he/she is using to make the call. If the caller is using a third party or a fake IP to make the call, then it makes it harder to track the caller.

Setting up your device to display the VoIP CallerID Name

Tracing the owner of a VoIP number becomes easier when you have the original number. This number is actually made up of two parts, the first is the caller ID which is the number you can see, while the second is the caller ID name, CNAM. Most phone terminals are setup to display the caller ID only. So, to get the caller ID name, you have to change the configuration of your phone to display the caller ID name CNAM.

There are numerous websites such as CallerID.com help show you step by step procedures on how to configure your device to show the caller ID name. They use an external query capability and add it to the database, so it can be updated to show both the number and the name. The type of the query is system related (SIP/SS7, etc), but one type of the query is Json/Ajax, so for those with programming skills it won’t be hard to implement a query for that number. They would most certainly return the name you want as long as the name is in that database.

Using headphone or softphone (app)

When connected with a proxy or server and using a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) hardphone or softphone, there is a way of tracing a VoIP number depending on how you are connected with the proxy or server.

While using a softphone, install any packet analyzer such as Wireshark on your device and put a SIP filter. On the invite packet, click on the “FROM” field. It shows you the IP details of the originator of the call.

While using a hard phone, use a packet analyzer such as Wireshark on your local router or server and filter for hard phone IP and SIP. If you have access to an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) Server, you can trace the number yourself by downloading a Secure ShELL (SSH) client and running a trace command.

Using the domain.

VOIP Address usually comes in the format:1234@voip.domain.tld, 5678@sample.com, 1234@176.42.127 etc. All incoming calls are logged in your phone as either the mapped number or the VoIP address as displayed above. With the domain name, you can easily trace the IP address of the domain back to the number that called you.

Finally, depending on what you have access to, all calls can be traced.

If you have access to the server and the call was IP only, then you can see in the logs where the call came from.

All the calls can be traced down, especially if there is a real need for this, and authorities can use other meanings to trace these calls.

Posted in: Information, Blog


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