Do cell phones calls tell the "network switch" the city they are in? (GPS, flash)

[Mendel71]

When my land line receives cell calls, does the network switch know what city the call originated?

[Submariner]

They would not get 'city' as such, no.

They would get the originating carrier, though. If your carrier were a small company that only covered one city, then they would get that. When we moved here, our carrier was a small company that only covered a few small towns, for example.

All cell phones today are digital.

Just like data transmitted over the WWW, all digital data is broken into small packets. Every packet has header-data; which includes origination and destination, along with other stuff. Together these headers are what is now called 'Meta-Data'. In digital cellphones this Meta-Data' will include the GPS coordinates of the originating cellphone.

[Mendel71]

Thanks Submariner! I appreciate your info. Can the switch read the meta data? Here is the application. I was thinking about using a toll free number to start a business. For illustration purposes, What if a potential customer calls the toll free number from a cell phone in Los Angeles to my location near Chicago. Could the switch read the meta data and route the call to a Los Angeles partner instead of me?

I would guess that the switch would need some programing for the correct routing. Can this be done through Virtual PBX's or some other type of software? thanks loads for the info, it means a lot.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Mendel71

Thanks Submariner! I appreciate your info. Can the switch read the meta data? Here is the application. I was thinking about using a toll free number to start a business. For illustration purposes, What if a potential customer calls the toll free number from a cell phone in Los Angeles to my location near Chicago. Could the switch read the meta data and route the call to a Los Angeles partner instead of me?

Should be able to do that, no problem.

Your phone company should have a department that focuses on small business applications. They should be able to hook you right up.

[thelopez2]

Originally Posted by Mendel71

Thanks Submariner! I appreciate your info. Can the switch read the meta data? Here is the application. I was thinking about using a toll free number to start a business. For illustration purposes, What if a potential customer calls the toll free number from a cell phone in Los Angeles to my location near Chicago. Could the switch read the meta data and route the call to a Los Angeles partner instead of me?

I would guess that the switch would need some programing for the correct routing. Can this be done through Virtual PBX's or some other type of software? thanks loads for the info, it means a lot.

We had aVoIP outsourced solution that would route call based on source AREA CODE.

What if someone had a LA cell phone number, but they are now in Chicago, would you want the call to go to Chicago or LA?

[swagger]

Originally Posted by Mendel71

What if a potential customer calls the toll free number from a cell phone in Los Angeles to my location near Chicago. Could the switch read the meta data and route the call to a Los Angeles partner instead of me?

I would guess that the switch would need some programing for the correct routing. Can this be done through Virtual PBX's or some other type of software?

PBX in a Flash

You can do what you want with it, but building, securing, setting up and maintaining a PBX requires some amount of technical skill and dedication - don't know what your situation is in that department.

Connecting two Asterisk systems in a "branch office" type of configuration (if that's what you're thinking of doing) can be done, but it's not simple.

You can always go with grasshopper or some other virtual pbx solution. I don't know how flexible those services are, or how granular you can get with the call routing, but it's probably worth looking into.