Readers, here’s a hypothetical situation: you receive an incoming call on your mobile phone and it’s not someone in your contact list. Do you answer it? I’ll be honest, 99% of the time – I don’t. I’d like to think I have all the important numbers saved already; Mom, Dad, Brother, Friends, Boss, Vet, Doctor, Bank. When I get a call from outside the numbers I’ve saved, my first instinct isn’t to answer. And here’s why: I’ve noticed an uptick in unsolicited calls to my mobile phone recently. The last thing I want to hear when I pick up the phone is a pre-recorded voice asking me to please hold for a great deal. Not gonna happen, sorry.

T-Mobile understands the impulse to screen calls in an increasingly wireless phone-centric world and saw an opportunity to provide customers with true Caller ID for those phone calls that originate from outside a saved contact list. Name ID, available as of July 13, 2011, is the product of a partnership between Cequint and T-Mobile. Not only will the caller’s name, number and location be displayed, but the call recipient can add the contact information at the touch of a button. Sounds pretty cool to me. For now, this service is only available with the Android-powered Samsung Exhibit smartphone, but the company is already alluding to making the feature available to other devices, including the myTouch 4G Slide in a couple of weeks. As for existing handsets, this service will likely be available further down the road. Is it time for a new phone yet?

Of course, there’s a catch. This great new feature isn’t free: it costs $3.99/month. In my opinion, it’s not a deal-breaker. I do wonder though, since some wireless companies withhold the names of their subscribers, this feature won’t work in all cases. Also, from what I can tell by looking at direct mail for landline calling plans and features, the cost for features like Caller ID is usually marketed as included with the monthly cost.

For now, $3.99/month to know who’s trying to call me is worth it. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before other wireless providers launch similar services. I hope so – I’m not a T-Mobile customer. Once that happens, we’ll all look back and wonder “how did we ever function without mobile Caller ID?” – just like when landline Caller ID was offered. Until then, I’ll keep screening my calls.

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