If you’re a business owner, you may have heard about phone number validation or verification and are wondering whether it’s something you should use. Phone validation can help your business in many ways, from maximizing the effects of marketing to preventing a security breach scandal. As an individual consumer, phone validation can protect you from fraud, too.
What is phone validation?
Phone validation is an online service that simultaneously checks whether a given phone number is in service and extracts important information about the phone and user. A phone validator may use several methods to validate a number and can check a single number at a time, or provide bulk phone validation to verify potentially millions of numbers at once.
Why should I use a phone validator?
There are several reasons you might want to use a phone validation service, depending on whether your intention is business-related or for personal use.
Over the past several years, digital fraud has been on the rise. For business owners, a security breach involving customer data can create customer dissatisfaction and deep mistrust. A damaged professional reputation can be difficult to recover from. Phone and email validation are both methods used to prevent fraud, but email validation is becoming less effective. It is much easier for a scammer to complete an email verification process than it is to avoid detection through phone verification. For individual use, a phone validator can be used to check whether a call or SMS message you’ve received is a scam.
From a marketing standpoint, phone validation helps verify if a customer number you have on file is actually reachable. Once you know your customer is reachable, you can maintain contact with them through SMS messaging or phone calls to improve communication and customer satisfaction. If your phone list is full of numbers that aren’t in service, you’re wasting both time and money on a marketing strategy that isn’t reaching anyone, as well as skewing your marketing data.
How does phone validation work?
Phone validation services will undertake several kinds of checks. First, it will check to make sure the format of the number is correct and pinpoints any errors. If it picks up any of these formatting errors or potential typos, it will flag them and notify the user.
Phone validation will also determine whether a number is connected to a mobile, landline, or VOIP phone. This is useful information to have to make sure that your SMS messages are being sent to mobile phones, and automated calls are being sent to a landline phone service.
When customers register for the first time, a popular validation method used involves sending a one-time, time-sensitive code through an SMS message. The user will then type that code into a verification system to prove their identity.
Depending on the number, you may also receive information on the service provider, as well as location information such as the area the phone number is registered in and the corresponding time zone.
Final thoughts
In summary, a phone validator is inexpensive, quick, and easy to use. With such obvious security and marketing benefits, there’s no reason not to be using a phone validator for your business. Start cleaning your phone number list today!
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