ESN Full Form

What Is The Full Form Of ESN?

The full form of ESN is Electronic Serial Number.

An ESN is a unique identification number that the manufacturers embed on a microchip used in wireless phones. Whenever someone makes a call, the ESN number automatically transmits to a base station. The switching office of the carrier’s mobile detects the ESN after that to check the validity of the call. This step helps in avoiding any fraud.

The ESNs are now used mainly with CDMA (Code-division multiple access) phones. The GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) phones use IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers instead. You can typically find ESN on a label under any cellular phone battery. It’s a 32-bit serial number, out of which 8 bits represent the manufacturer code, 18 bits have a unique serial number, and 6 bits are there for future applications. The ESN codes are assigned to each mobile device so as to identify them individually.

History of ESN

• The US Federal Communications Commission assigned ESN, generally known as FCC in the US, in the early 1980s.
• They originally deployed ESNs for the very first analog mobile phone tech, AMPS.
• An ESN and a MIN (Mobile Identification Number) are transmitted automatically to a wireless network each time someone uses a phone. It associates that phone with the subscriber’s number and account.
• The Telecommunications Industry Association took over the Administrations in 1997.
• The manufacturers started running out of unique ESNs in 2006. It ultimately required a transition to a new MEID standard that could replace ESN.
• Based on applications received prior to 30th June 2010, there may be some occurrence in the future. But recent research suggests that no such assignments have been made further following 31st December 2010.

Purposes of ESN

• ESN automatically transfers data to the base station whenever a user makes a call. The mobile switching office of the carrier further detects this ESN to ensure the validity of the call.
• The ultimate purpose of the ESN is to prevent fraud calls.
• An ESN differs from a MIN- which is an identifier of a wireless carrier’s phone in the network.
• One can feasibly check a device’s ESN and MIN electronically to help prevent fraud.

Applications of ESN

• The ESN acts as a tool for tracking wireless phones and banning them from the network whenever needed.
• ESNs are very useful in cases of theft. One can track their stolen cellphone with its unique ESN and can even block it- if needed.
• The network service providers of different areas maintain a list of the ESNs from stolen phones. Such phones are known as bad ESN phones.

Benefits of ESN

• ESN offers higher efficiency- because every item is easy to locate and track down.
• The user can stay rest assured that the carrier’s mobile switching office has checked through the calls they receive. The detected ESNs provide the validity of the calls.
• ESN prevents fraud.
• It uses lesser connector pins- thus improving board area utilization and reliability.
• The ESNs can easily identify and prove which devices made and received a call.
• One can also use ESNs for tracking manufacturers and their inventory for warranty claims.

Limitations of ESN

• ESN is slow to query data. It can delay starting up because the ESN service takes quite some time to come up.
• You must maintain the RF infrastructure (hardware and network) along with software management (ITS Mobile) if you use RF for capturing serial numbers. It will add costs to the IT as well as warehouse businesses.
• Customization will always add maintenance costs with IT.
• Errors/inefficiencies in programming can also affect businesses.
• ESN also demands an added level of transactional compliance. It means that the warehouse operatives need to perform additional scans/entries to capture relevant data accurately.
• Manual entering of serial numbers adds risks of mistakes and errors.

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