California, the last state to adopt caller ID, didn’t do so until 1996, nearly 10 years after the service was created.

Politicians against caller ID initially accused the service of being an “invasion of privacy,” which prolonged efforts for each state to adopt it. However, when caller ID was first introduced, people were not so excited about the idea of their personal information, such as their name and business, being displayed to the people they were calling.

The Newark-based New Jersey Bell pioneered caller ID services and was the first company to release it to customers in 1988. In 1976, Shirley Ann Jackson conducted groundbreaking research into theoretical physics, which would later lead to the invention of the technology behind caller ID services in 1987. Protecting your privacy internally and externally can be the difference between chaos and keeping things professional, which we all know can be a fine line. As a business owner, you may find yourself having to return calls on the go, sometimes using your personal phone, which may not be ideal for a new lead, an existing client, or someone you are not familiar with.

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