Businesses are faced with numerous challenges that must be confronted on a daily basis. One increasingly relevant issue involves the growing threat of fraud and identity theft. While these are very real concerns, there are also a host of modern strategies that can help to minimize their potential impacts. This is when the concept of “phone number intelligence” comes into play. Let’s take a closer look.
Adapting to Evolving Threats
While there is no doubt that enterprises rely upon the digital domain to market their products and services, real-time telephone communications are just as relevant. This observation has not been lost upon hackers and similar nefarious individuals. They have now begun to hijack personal information and even falsify an identity through the use of phone numbers.
This is why organizations hoping to keep one step ahead of these risks have begun to deploy a dedicated phone verification API in tandem with existing in-house security protocols. We will now take a closer look at how these systems function, what types of information they can provide, and a handful of additional benefits.
Smart API Integration with Transparency in Mind
The notion of API integration within the business world is actually nothing new. In fact, more than 42 percent of organizations use this software to perform numerous ongoing tasks. The ability to enjoy increased data privacy simply adds another “string to the bow.”
Phone verification software is essentially a system that is able to confirm several pieces of data associated with a specific phone number (such as an inbound call from an existing client). This information can include:
- The type of device (a landline, a smartphone, or a VoIP system).
- The carrier
- If more than one individual is associated with the phone’s account
- How long the number has been in existence
- Whether a SIM card has been recently swapped
- A correlation between the assigned area code (or country code) and the physical address of the owner
Once these details have been collected, they can be used in various ways to confirm the identity of a caller. One common example is requiring the individual to respond to a one-time SMS message in order to confirm a purchase. Verified accounts can likewise be entered into a phone number database for later access. Businesses may also perform lookup requests when contacted by a new individual or entity, verifying that the number is valid.
As this article rightfully highlights, many small- to medium-sized businesses are attractive targets to fraudsters due to potentially outdated security firewalls. The ability to collect and analyze the information outlined above will, therefore, provide stakeholders with much-needed peace of mind.
A Brave New (Digital) World
The main takeaway point is that enterprises need to evaluate the risks posed by identity theft seriously. Thankfully, phone verification platforms can take the guesswork out of the equation so that ongoing threats are identified and avoided at an early stage.
