Setting the CLI name & number

General guidelines

• The caller ID can be set per user or at the entire account level.
• If each user has a dedicated DID that you want displayed for that user, set the CID on each user in Smart PBX.
• If you have departments with dedicated DIDs (sales, billing, support) and you want to avoid customers calling representatives back directly, consider displaying the group’s main number rather than the associate’s specific number.
• Set the Emergency Caller ID correctly on the account, or 911 will not work.
• Always set a general account CID as a failsafe — without one, some features misbehave.
• Settings are shared between applications. Changing a device CID in Smart PBX also changes it in the CallFlows app.

Order of precedence

You can set a caller ID in several places, so it matters which one wins. Highest priority first:

Priority	Set at	Configured in
1	Device	Smart PBX / CallFlows
2	User	Smart PBX
3	Number	Number Manager
4	Account	Control Center

In other words, a per-device CLI overrides a per-user CLI, which overrides the Number Manager CLI, which overrides the account-level CLI. A CLI name set on a specific number in Number Manager is only used when no user or device CID is set.

Set the emergency caller ID regardless

Precedence does not apply to Emergency Caller ID — it must be set on the account for 911 to work.

Caller ID reference

Field	What it does
Emergency Caller ID	Assigns the number and physical location used for 911 calls.
Faxbox Caller ID	Assigns the name and number printed on faxes sent from a faxbox.
Hot Desking ID	Assigns an ID to a device so it can be hot-desked to another device.
In-House ID	The name and number or extension shown on calls within the account. A user can choose whether they see the original caller ID from the provider or the edited one assigned inside the account — which sometimes includes a string prepended by a call queue or other setting.
Inbound ID	Enables viewing an incoming caller ID.
Outbound ID	Sets the ID used for outbound calls. BrightPBX starts from the assigned DID, then applies any personalizations it finds, in the order Device → User → Number → Account.
Prepend ID Inbound	Adds a text string to an inbound call based on its number — for example all calls from Spain, or from a specific customer.
Prepend ID Outbound	Adds a text string to an outbound call based on its number — for example all calls to Spain, or to a specific customer.
Presence ID	Set in CallFlows under the device caller ID.
Preserve Caller ID	Keeps the original caller ID when a call is forwarded, rather than substituting the more recent endpoint.

Prepended IDs are internal only

The prepend fields in Smart PBX and CallFlows are used only within the account, for internal reference. They are a useful way to identify calls to and from different departments, clients or services — they are not seen by the far end.