The Calling Party Number (CPN) that accompanies a call can be used for a variety of purposes, including phone display, routing, billing, and screen pops using ASAI. However, using the CPN to identify the origin of the call can produce ambiguous results. For instance, the country code for Germany and the city code for Padova, Italy, are the same (49), so calls from the two locations will each begin with the same digits. The prefix in a multinational CPN helps differentiate local or national numbers from international numbers, allowing Communication Manager to identify calls as national (NTL) or international (INTL). For example, in the U.S. the national prefix is 1 and the international prefix is 011, whereas in Europe the digits are typically 0 and 00. When the values are administered in Communication Manager, the values are included as part of the CPN and can be displayed on an agent's phone or passed to ASAI so that the call can be handled appropriately.

A feature is available on the System-Parameters Feature-Related screen to optionally pass the CPN prefix to VDNs and vectors as part of the CPN. You can use this option on a system-wide basis, or on an individual VDN screen. Accordingly, international call handling can be improved by prioritizing and routing more intelligently such as by automatically routing calls to agents who speak the language. For example, if a customer from Germany contacts to a call center in Spain, based on the international code of Germany (0049 - international prefix + country code), the call can be routed to a German speaking agent. Also, an international call can be given priority over a national call to save toll charges.