OPTION WILL BEGIN IN OCTOBER: NEW BELL SERVICE ALLOWS INDENTIFICATION OF CALLER

Telephone Caller Identification is coming to Cape Girardeau.

"The new service, which will be offered to telephone customers here in October, will let persons know who is calling before they answer the phone," said Craig Felzien, community relations manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone.

Through the use of a display unit, subscribers to the service will be able to see and record the telephone numbers of people who call from local and some long distance locations.

"The unit displays the phone number, date and time of the incoming call after the first ring," said Felzien.

The Caller ID service, which has the approval of the Missouri Public Service Commission, went into effect in St. Louis last week.

"We've already had good response to the program," said a Southwest Bell spokesman from the St. Louis office. "The service can be placed into effect the day of the request, but it may take a day or two to install the display unit."

The display unit, however, may be obtained and installed by the owner-subscriber of the service.

"Almost any place that sells telephones and telephone equipment will have some type of display equipment that will work," said Felzien.

Telephone identification services have generated some concerns over privacy.

"Privacy concerns are high priority for most people," said Felzien. "These concerns were expressed during a recent survey conducted by Southwestern Bell among community leaders."

Southwestern Bell, however, believes that it has developed a policy with the Caller ID program to protect customers' privacy.

When callers make calls, their number, including non-published numbers, will automatically appear to those customers who subscribe to Caller ID. However, in instances where the caller wants to prevent their number from being transmitted, they simple have to press 67, or dial 1167 on a rotary phone before dialing.

"This blocking operation is available free of charge," said Felzien.

Blocking is not available on calls placed from pay phones.

Even if a call is blocked, the person receiving the call has the option of not answering.

"People with the service may not want to answer any call unless the number is transmitted," said Felzien. "I would think that most people making calls would want their party to know who was calling."