Skip to content
Salesforce Dictionary - Free Salesforce GlossarySalesforce Dictionary
Full Automatic Number Identification (ANI) entry
How-to guide

How to act on the ANI in a Salesforce Voice contact center

ANI itself is delivered by your telephony provider, so you do not create it. What you configure in Salesforce is what the contact center does with that incoming number: which records it searches, what opens on the agent's screen, and how the call is routed. This is set up through Configure Caller ID and your Omni-Channel flow in a Salesforce Voice contact center.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Founder & Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated Jun 16, 2026

ANI itself is delivered by your telephony provider, so you do not create it. What you configure in Salesforce is what the contact center does with that incoming number: which records it searches, what opens on the agent's screen, and how the call is routed. This is set up through Configure Caller ID and your Omni-Channel flow in a Salesforce Voice contact center.

  1. Confirm Voice is delivering the ANI

    In a Salesforce Voice contact center, place a test inbound call and confirm the caller's number appears on the Voice Call. This proves the telephony provider is passing the ANI into Salesforce before you build any logic on top of it.

  2. Standardise your phone data

    Decide on a single phone format (E.164 is the safe choice) and bring Contact, Account, Lead, and Person Account phone fields in line. Consistent formatting is what lets the incoming number match the stored number.

  3. Configure Caller ID matching

    Use Configure Caller ID for your contact center to set which objects and phone fields the caller search covers, so a connecting call resolves to the right Contact, Account, Lead, or Person Account.

  4. Define screen pop and routing

    Set the screen pop so the matched record opens for the agent, then build an Omni-Channel flow that uses the looked-up context, plus DNIS, to route the call to the right queue or skilled rep.

  5. Handle the exceptions

    Add explicit paths for no-match, multi-match, and blocked or missing ANI, and add verification before any account-level action so a recognised number is never treated as proof of identity.

Searched objectsremember

The standard objects whose phone fields the caller search can cover: Contact, Account, Lead, and Person Account.

Phone field formatremember

The format your phone fields are stored in. Aligning these with the ANI format (typically E.164) is what makes matching reliable.

Screen pop targetremember

What opens for the agent on a match, the matched record or a screen flow, configured in the Omni-Channel flow.

Routing logicremember

The Omni-Channel flow that turns ANI-derived context and DNIS into a queue or skill assignment.

Gotchas
  • Mixed phone formats are the top cause of missed matches: a stored number and the ANI must align (ideally E.164) or the lookup returns nothing.
  • Never treat a matched ANI as authentication. Numbers are spoofable and phones are shared, so verify identity before exposing sensitive data.
  • Some calls arrive with a blocked or missing ANI. Build a fallback path so those callers still reach an agent gracefully.
  • Auto-opening one record on a shared line can surface the wrong customer. Let agents disambiguate when several records share the number.

See the full Automatic Number Identification (ANI) entry

Automatic Number Identification (ANI) includes the definition, worked example, deep dive, related terms, and a quiz.