Isn’t it always exciting when you get new leads and are able to establish a real connection with them? The same, however, can’t be said about the leads who you think are perfect potential customers, only to realise they are unreachable or are only fraudulent sign-ups.
So, how can you separate the wheat from the chaff to be sure you only have quality contacts in your databases? The answer is simple – phone number validation. So, what’s phone number validation, why should you care, and how do you go about it?
Understanding Phone Number Validation
Let’s keep it simple – phone number validation is a type of data management practice that ensures a contact’s phone number is accurate and has the proper format. This may make you wonder whether phone number validation is the same as verification.
Well, there’s a slight difference. Validation is all about finding out whether the number is genuine, whereas verification is meant to ensure the customer has access to the said phone number. You can learn more about this and how to validate mobile phone numbers by visiting Trestle’s website, which is a leading phone number management tools provider.
Why Should You Bother to Validate Phone Numbers?
Valid phone numbers are crucial for sales reps and customer service/success departments since accurate information makes it possible to maintain a good relationship with customers. The only problem is that bad data can find its way into your database over time.
Phone validation, as a solution, comes in to ensure your teams are relying on clean and up-to-date data. That way, you can ensure effective communication with customers, facilitate timely delivery of products for online businesses, prevent fraud, and create effective campaigns since you’re targeting genuine customers.
Another reason to acquire phone validation tools is that they facilitate easier tracking of the contacts that have switched to new phone numbers. As a result, sales reps won’t feel frustrated by bounced calls and customer service teams don’t have to waste their time reaching disconnected numbers.
After validating your phone number data the first time, it’s crucial to have frequent audits and validation programs to maintain accurate records so you won’t encounter potential headaches down the road.
Types of Phone Validations
Since you want your phone number data to be as reliable as it can be, it’s generally recommended to perform all types of phone number validations. They typically fall into four categories:
1. Format Validation
Format validation is the most basic type of phone number data validation and is meant to ensure all phone numbers have a valid format, for instance (xxx) xxx-xxxx or xxx-xxx-xxxx. After confirming that a phone number is in the expected format, you can proceed to the second type of validation.
2. Line Type Validation
This validation is aimed at establishing whether a given phone number is a valid line type, such as a working mobile number or landline.
It typically involves checking the line type against a database of pre-validated working numbers.
3. County Code Validation
For businesses that have international operations, this type of validation is crucial for ensuring the country code is correct for the referenced country. This is especially vital for SMS or MMS messaging since the code will be used in the routing process.
4. Carrier Verification
This is a more comprehensive type of phone number validation since it provides information about the line type and format as well as the carrier information.
With carrier validation, you can determine if a number is reachable by sending a test message that should return a delivery confirmation for active numbers.
Validating Phone Numbers With Great Accuracy
Phone number validation is a crucial process for businesses that allows you to improve your contact lists and weed out information that isn’t meaningful to your business or organisation. That way, you can communicate more effectively and economically.
Don’t know where to start? Check out trestleiq.com to learn more about data validation, verification, and enrichment and how these data management practices can benefit your company. That way, you can decide whether to acquire tools for phone number data improvement knowing exactly what they are and how to use them.
