MetroPCS will offer Screen-it, a service that
displays the calling party's name on a subscriber's wireless phone.
Consumers and businesses rely on a name and number to identify the
caller. Automatically matching a name to the incoming telephone number
and displaying it on a callerID device or on the phone has been a
common feature of landline telephones since 1984. This feature has
never been available on wireless phones in the United States. With
Screen-it, for the first time wireless consumers will see the name of
who is calling them before they answer the call, even if it's an
unknown caller.
MetroPCS plans to offer the new Screen-it feature to its customers
in October 2008. Screen-it will be included with select wireless
packages and will be an enhanced option available to add a la carte for
other packages.
MetroPCS has selected TARGUSinfo, the leading provider of callerID
name services for telephone and cable companies, as the provider of
caller name services for Screen-it. According to a 2007 study conducted
by Harris Interactive on behalf of TARGUSinfo, nearly 79% of those
surveyed said they would use the caller name identification service for
wireless handsets.