Ever had to type in a code sent to your phone to log in? We all have! It’s that extra layer of security. But have you ever wondered how developers make that happen?” That’s what we’re exploring today – phone number verification.
Ensuring your phone number is yours isn’t just a technical task for developers. It’s like adding a security shield to your app. And in today’s digital world, where online baddies are always coming up with new tricks, developers need smart plans for phone number verification.
We’re here to break it down for you. We will discuss what phone number verification is and why it is essential. Then, we will show you the best strategies for effective implementation. Let’s continue reading this article till the end.
Table of Contents
What is Phone Number Verification?
Phone Number Verification is like a digital ID check for apps and services. It’s a way to confirm that you truly own the phone number you provide.
When you sign up or try to enter your account, they send a special code (OTP) to your phone. This code, usually a number, is something you have to type back into the app. It helps us verify your phone number.
You come across this a lot in apps like banking or shopping. They want to be sure it’s you spending money or checking your important information. Behind the scenes, developers use tools like Twilio or Nexmo to set up this phone number check. Hence, make sure everything stays safe and secure.
Why Is Phone Number Verification Essential For Our Applications?
Phone number verification is super important for our apps, and here’s why:
👉It adds an extra layer of safety. Only the real phone number owner can get into the account, keeping it safe from bad folks.
👉It makes sure the person signing up or doing something important is really who they say they are. This stops fake accounts and makes the app more trustworthy.
👉Phone verification helps stop bad things like people making fake accounts or trying to cheat the system. It’s like a digital bouncer keeping trouble out.
👉When we use phone verification, users feel more confident that their accounts are safe. It shows them we take security seriously and protect their info.
What Are the Strategies for Effective Implementation Of Phone Number Verification?
Making phone number verification work well involves careful planning. Here are some simple 15 strategies for success:
1. Ensure users get simple and easy instructions on finishing the phone number verification.
2. Keep the verification steps short and simple to avoid annoying users. Don’t make them go through too many steps.
3. Tell users it’s a good idea to use 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) for extra security. Explain how it keeps their account safer.
4. Create messages that help users when something goes wrong during verification. Guide them on how to fix issues.
5. Keep all info and messages about phone number verification secure by using encryption. This keeps user data safe.
6. Choose trustworthy third-party services for verification that focus on security.
7. Have backup plans for users who struggle with regular verification. This might mean offering different ways to verify or providing support.
8. Support users from different countries by accepting various phone number formats. Don’t be too strict about how the number looks.
9. Let users know why phone number verification is good for them. Being clear builds trust.
10. Offer resources or FAQs that are easy to find. Help users with common questions about phone number verification.
11. Prevent misuse by limiting how many times users can try verification in a short time.
12. Watch verification closely for anything strange or suspicious. Act fast if something doesn’t seem right.
13. Test the whole phone number verification process well before putting it out there. Fix any problems you find.
14. Listen to what users say about verification and improve it over time. Use feedback and new security ideas.
15. Stick to the rules about protecting user data. Tell users how their info is handled during verification.
What Is the Best Method to Implement Phone Number Verification?
Using APIs to implement phone number verification can be the best method. Numverify is one of the most reliable APIs. Let’s explore it.
Numverify
Numverify helps you check if a phone number is accurate. You can either do this on your own behind the scenes. You can also use the Numverify service directly on your website or app for your users to check themselves.
Numverify uses a type of technology called RESTful JSON API. It works for phone numbers in 232 countries, both locally and internationally. When you ask about a number, it looks it up in databases with the latest info.
The results you get will be in JSON form, and they’ll tell you things like:
✔️Whether the number is real and working
✔️The number in local and international formats
✔️Which country does the phone number come from
✔️A rough idea of where the number is
✔️Whether it’s a mobile or landline
✔️Sometimes, you’ll even find out which company the number belongs to
You can give Numverify a try for free. But if you like what it does, you can sign up for a plan that suits you. Depending on your needs, the plans cost $9.99, $39.99, and $99.99 monthly. If you’re just testing things out, the free account gives you up to 100 tries with their demo. If you like it, you can upgrade later on.
Integration Of Numverify
Create an account at the Numverify website. You must visit the website and click the Sign Up for Free button. It will bring you to a pricing page. Choose the plan that suits you the most. Then, click on Sign Up. It will show you a registration form. Fill out that form and submit it.
The next step is to log in to your Numverify account. Navigate to the dashboard and get the API key. This API key will help you fetch the data from Numverify.
Finally, write code to integrate Numverify. Here is the PHP code:
// set API Access Key
$access_key = ‘YOUR API KEY HERE’;
// set phone number
$phone_number = ‘14158586273’;
// Initialize CURL:
$ch = curl_init(‘http://apilayer.net/api/validate?access_key=’.$access_key.’&number=’.$phone_number.”);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
// Store the data:
$json = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
// Decode JSON response:
$validationResult = json_decode($json, true);
// Access and use your preferred validation result objects
$validationResult[‘valid’];
$validationResult[‘country_code’];
$validationResult[‘carrier’];
Conclusion
Phone number verification helps us add an extra security layer to our applications. Besides, it helps us gain the trust of our app users. However, it has become challenging to implement phone number verification for developers. Therefore, we suggested the best practices to implement phone number verification effectively.
FAQs
What factors should be considered when choosing the suitable Phone Number Verification API?
Consider cost, reliability, security, scalability, ease of integration, compliance, support, and performance.
How reliable is a Phone Number Verification API implementation in a system?
Phone Number Verification API implementations ensure secure and accurate user authentication in various systems and applications.
From where do Phone Number Verification APIs source their data?
Phone Number Verification APIs source data from telecom databases, public records, and carrier agreements.
Is there an option to use a Phone Number Verification API for free?
Explore the free plan at Numverify to secure your services and enhance user authentication seamlessly.
Sign Up for free at Numverify – Verify Phone numbers in real-time today!