Trestle’s Real Contact API verifies phone, email, and address data in real-time, returning phone and email contact grades so teams can assess lead contactability and connect with the right people faster. Now, we’re introducing Real Contact API 2.0, with new IP-based intelligence, enhanced phone grading, and a more intuitive response structure.
What is Real Contact API 2.0? #
Real Contact API 2.0 is an evolution of our core identity verification product. While Real Contact 1.1 focuses primarily on whether a contact’s phone, email, and identity are contactable and who they say they are, version 2.0 adds a risk intelligence layer. Real Contact API already answers two core verification questions, “Is this lead real?” and “Is this lead contactable?” By integrating IP-based checks, we now also answer, “Does this specific interaction (i.e., lead, signup, contact) appear legitimate?”
What new features are included? #
Real Contact 2.0 introduces three major enhancements:
- IP-based Intelligence: A new ip_address object in the response provides two new attributes: trust_score and ip_distance_to_address. These help you evaluate the authenticity of the interaction and how closely the lead’s IP location matches their provided address.
- Refined Phone Contact Grading: We’ve improved the grading system to increase precision when identifying real, contactable leads.
- Intuitive Response Structure: The response JSON has been reorganized to make it easier to interpret and integrate into your existing workflows.
What is IP trust_score? #
The trust_score is a value from 0 to 100 that indicates the legitimacy of an interaction based on the user’s IP address. It evaluates network type (VPN, proxy, data center), IP reuse patterns, and historical behavior.
Accurately assessing an IP address requires understanding it in the full context of its network characteristics, metadata, and real-world usage patterns, so our model-based approach is far more effective than static rules. Rigid rules like blanket blocking of VPN or proxy IPs lack the nuance to distinguish between legitimate users and risky traffic, often leading to false positives that penalize good users.
That’s why Trestle has built our own IP Trust Score trained on real world outcomes, to holistically evaluate a user’s IP address and allow for intelligent decisioning at the trust threshold most relevant to your business needs.
How should I interpret IP trust_score? #
The model is calibrated to provide clear, actionable tiers of trustworthiness:
| Score | Interpretation |
| >30 | High trust. There are strong signals that this interaction is genuine. |
| 30 or below | Low trust. There are signals of potential risk, such as the use of anonymizing services, high device sharing, or suspicious activity patterns. |
These ranges are designed to work out of the box for common use cases in typical industries we serve, enabling you to quickly optimize risk decisioning with minimal setup. We highly recommend benchmarking the score against known conversion, fraud, or engagement outcomes to define custom thresholds that align with your specific risk tolerance and business goals.
What is the ip_distance_to_address attribute? #
The ip_distance_to_address attribute indicates the approximate distance (in miles) between the user’s IP location and their physical address to surface location mismatches.
How should I interpret the ip_distance_to_address attribute? #
| Distance | Interpretation |
| 0 – 50 Miles | High alignment between IP and physical address. |
| 50 – 200 Miles | User may be connecting from a nearby city or mobile gateway. |
| >200 Miles | Potential mismatch or deliberate misrepresentation of location. |
| NULL | Result of missing data or low geolocation precision. |
How should I make decisions based on IP intelligence? #
IP intelligence signals can help teams identify suspicious traffic patterns, flag geographic mismatches, and prioritize legitimate leads. It’s important to view IP intelligence in combination with other attributes, not as standalone fraud indicators.
Our IP distance to address attribute indicates location alignment, but legitimate users may appear geographically distant due to VPNs, mobile networks, travel, or corporate gateways. Alternatively, VPN and proxy geolocation can return highly precise coordinates, even when they don’t reflect the user’s true location. A low ip_distance_to_address value doesn’t guarantee the user is actually nearby, it might simply mean the VPN exit node is close to the provided address. That’s why it’s crucial to evaluate ip_distance_to_address alongside the trust_score attribute.
| trust_score | ip_distance_to_address | Interpretation | Recommendation |
| <=30 | >=200 miles | Low trust. Strong risk signals with significant location mismatch. | Do not buy or contact these leads. |
| <=30 | <200 miles | Low trust. Risk signals present, though location is reasonably aligned. | Treat as lower priority. |
| >30 | >=200 miles | Moderate trust. Trust signals are strong, but location mismatch introduces uncertainty. | Proceed outreach with caution. |
| >30 | <200 miles | High trust. Consistent behavior with strong location alignment. | Prioritize these leads as per the contact grades. |
Please note: These benchmarks are simply a starting point. Your ideal score thresholds will likely change based on your industry, lead source, and existing validation layers. We recommend analyzing these signals against your historical data to align these thresholds with your use case, or schedule a call with usto determine what the ideal benchmarks may be for your specific use case.
What are the new phone contact grades? #
We’ve refined our phone contact grading to help you prioritize leads more effectively:
- Grade A: Valid, active mobile phones with high-confidence name matches. Prioritize these first.
- Grade B: Valid/active landlines with name matches OR mobile phones with lower-confidence matches.
- Grade C: Lower activity or weaker identity alignment. Best for automated nurture workflows or after higher grades are exhausted.
- Grade D: High “wrong party contact” risk. Pursue only if higher grades are exhausted.
- Grade F: Likely disconnected, premium numbers, or known TCPA litigators. Remove these from your lists.
Why change phone contact grading? #
Trestle’s Real Contact 1.1 grading is still reliable. That being said, we’re committed to continuously improving our products so the insights you rely on are as accurate and actionable as possible.
The new phone contact grading filters 5-15% of low-quality or illegitimate leads to improve contact rates by up to 1%. This helps teams waste less time and money while achieving better results, effectively lowering your outbound dialing costs.
Which users have access to Real Contact 2.0? #
All new trial, self-serve, and enterprise accounts will get access to Real Contact 2.0 by default. Existing users on version 1.1 will remain on that version until they request an upgrade. To upgrade, contact your account executive or email support@trestleiq.com.
Note: Real Contact 2.0 is a lead verification tool with added trust signals. It is not intended to be a standalone fraud-blocking system or a full risk decision engine.
If you need any assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to support@trestleiq.com or book a meeting below.