Ten Commonly Asked Questions about Phone Validation

Phone validation ensures the contactability of the phone numbers in your database or lead list; minimizing friction and maximizing successful connections. This blog answers commonly asked phone validation questions, explores its crucial role in maintaining up-to-date data, optimizing marketing efforts, and ultimately fostering seamless communication with prospects and existing customers alike

What is phone validation and why is it important?

Phone validation is the process of confirming the accuracy and legitimacy of a given phone number. It involves checking whether the number is correctly formatted and ensuring it exists in a relevant carrier numbering plan. Phone validation is crucial for several reasons: 

1. It helps prevent errors in data entry, ensuring that you’re collecting accurate contact information. This accuracy is essential for communication and reduces the likelihood of failed calls or undelivered messages.
2. Phone validation signals potential invalid or inactive numbers that should be filtered out. This can enhance the efficiency of CRMs, data analysis, marketing efforts like SMS campaigns, and more, ultimately contributing to improved overall communication. 

What is a disconnected phone number?

A disconnected phone number is no longer active or in service. This can happen for various reasons:

1. The account holder terminated their service, switching to a new provider.
2. The service provider discontinued the number due to non-payment or other issues. 
3. Technical issues like malfunctioning SIM card or poor network connection.

When a phone number is disconnected, any attempts to make calls or send messages to that number will typically result in some kind of error message indicating that the number is no longer reachable. It’s crucial to proactively identify and update disconnected phone numbers littering your database. Attempting to contact individuals or businesses through these numbers can lead to communication failures and hinder effective outreach efforts. Keeping an up-to-date database is a crucial aspect of maintaining efficient communication between whoever you may need to reach.

How do you tell if a number is disconnected, active, or inactive without calling?

One common approach to detect whether a phone number is disconnected before making a call is to use a phone number lookup tool, like Trestle’s Phone Validation API. These services can provide real-time insights about the status of a phone number, indicating whether it is currently active or disconnected, using our Phone Activity Score. 

Trestle’s Phone Activity Score is a number from 0 to 100 that indicates the level of activity of a certain phone number. Unlike phone validity, which indicates a phone number’s structural authenticity (Is the syntax correct? Is this number assigned to a carrier?), this score indicates the level of activity we’ve seen from this phone number. Here’s how to read our Phone Activity Score:

• 70-100 indicates that the phone number is active, consistently used, and likely connected to a person
• 30 or below means no recent activity, and that the phone is likely disconnected
• 50 means we have limited data and the level of activity is difficult to ascertain

A good rule of thumb is to prioritize dialing numbers with consistent activity (70 or above) and to weed out leads with disconnected or inactive numbers (30 or below). 

How do you check if a phone number is valid? 

As mentioned, a phone validation tool helps validate whether a given number adheres to the formatting rules of the relevant numbering plan and whether it’s structurally correct. It also checks if the number has been assigned to a carrier. 

How do you clean a phone number list?

To clean a phone number list, you’ll need to ensure consistency in your data. This includes identifying and rectifying errors, removing duplicate entries, and standardizing syntax/phone number formats:

1. Remove duplicate entries to avoid redundancy. 
2. Utilize phone number validation services, like Trestle, to verify the format and structure of each number.
3. Identify and eliminate invalid or disconnected numbers (You can do so by cross-referencing with reliable databases or using specialized validation tools). 
4. Regularly updating your list by checking for changes in status
5. Categorize numbers based on their status to facilitate targeted communication strategies. 

Consistent maintenance, validation, and verification are essential elements in keeping a phone number list clean.

Is there a way to find out if a phone number has changed owners rather than been disconnected?

It’s actually quite challenging to differentiate these scenarios since they often both result in the number appearing inactive. However, one approach would be to use a reverse phone lookup service that provides historical data on the number, revealing changes and potentially assignments. Additionally, you could contact the mobile service provider directly, but it’s important to note that privacy regulations may limit the information they’re allowed to disclose. Regularly updating and validating phone databases can possibly help track changes and identify patterns, but definitive confirmation of a mobile number change will likely require 1) cooperation from the individual associated with the phone number or 2) access to specific carrier records, which is typically restricted for privacy and security reasons.

Does phone validation slow down the registration process? 

The modern availability of robust, real-time APIs mean phone validation can be instantaneous. Integrating it into registration or checkout processes adds minimal delay—often just a fraction of a second–which is quickly offset by the numerous advantages like reduced syntax errors and higher connect rates. Trestle’s response times for our Phone Validation API are, on average, 250 milliseconds for U.S. queries. 

Do all phone validation services provide the same accuracy? 

No. The accuracy of phone validation services varies based on their methodologies, data sources, and how often they update their data. It’s essential to choose a provider for their reliability, comprehensive checks, and frequent database updates. Some validation services only perform basic format checks, while others deliver richer insights such as carrier data, number portability, and real-time status checks. 

Trestle’s phone validation service provides real-time data and includes a Phone Activity Score, carrier information, validity checks, line type and more.

What is the difference between phone validation and phone verification?

Validation and verification are similar terms, but their differences are distinct. Phone validation usually refers to the process of checking whether a given phone number is valid in terms of its format and adherence to a specific numbering plan (for example, the North American Numbering Plan). This helps ensure that the phone number was entered correctly and follows the expected pattern for a particular region or country. 

Phone verification involves confirming the contactability of a phone number. This process goes beyond validating the format and structure; it verifies whether the phone number is active, in service, and can receive calls or messages. 

Validation can be used when you need to check formatting and catch errors quickly, like during lead intake or an initial form submission. Verification should be used when you need confidence that that phone number is accurate and actionable, like before your sales rep dials.

What are some common use cases around phone validity?

#1: Lead Prioritization

Utilize phone validation to prioritize leads with the highest chance of contactability. Signals like Activity Score reveal whether a number is reachable or disconnected. Filter out dead numbers and pass through the ones worth calling.

#2: SMS Delivery

Confirm a number is legitimate before sending a message. Line type signals distinguish mobile numbers from temporary VoIP numbers, reducing delivery errors and wasted spend.

#3: Remove Spam and Fake Accounts

Phone metadata and subscriber details help separate real leads from spam. Line type and carrier intelligence can block fake account creation and flag suspicious temporary numbers.

If you want to know more about phone validation, feel free to visit our API Documentation or contact us.