MS verification is one of the most widely used ways for a business to confirm that a person really controls the mobile number they claim to own. Banking institutions, social networking sites and online retailers all rely on it to check the identity of a user before granting access or completing a transaction, by sending a short one-time code to the customer's mobile.
How it works
The message is populated with a unique code that the organization sends to the user's mobile. Once the user receives that code on their phone, they enter it back on the organization's website or app. It is a crucial step in verifying the authenticity of a user, and it is the basis of most two-factor authentication (2FA) flows.
The landline limitation
One drawback of SMS verification is that a text can only be delivered to devices capable of receiving it. Modern smartphones and even older feature phones can all receive text messages, but landline phones generally cannot. Some landlines can accept a text and play it back as a recorded voice, so a business that depends on SMS codes may also need to offer a fallback such as voice verification to reach every customer.
Privacy considerations
When a company runs an SMS verification service it collects an additional set of information, including the device and the mobile number. That data can be reused for advertising or stored on the provider's servers so that the same number cannot be re-registered by someone else. Handling this information responsibly is an important part of running a verification flow.
The role of the SMS API
Companies sending verification messages at scale rely on a solid, functional SMS API. An API lets you build your own sending and receiving channel and integrate it into your existing systems — client libraries and endpoints are typically available for PHP, JAVA, HTTP and more, so you can decide exactly how messages are sent and received.
A good SMS verification API can help you:
- Send SMS in a number of formats
- Receive text messages
- Get real-time delivery and status reports
In short, an SMS API lets you send messages with a good transfer rate and receive them programmatically, saving time and effort by automating the whole verification loop.
Choosing a provider
Choose a provider with years of experience and a track record of reliable delivery. When comparing options, look for fast, reliable routing and an SMS verification API that is genuinely easy to integrate.