Line Type Detection (Mobile/Landline/VoIP)

Phone Line Types

Wireless (Mobile)

• Description — Cell phones and mobile devices
• SMS Support — Yes, native
• Fraud Risk — Lower (requires identity verification)
• Examples — Personal cell phones, business mobiles

Landline

• Description — Traditional wired phones
• SMS Support — Limited (text-to-speech only)
• Fraud Risk — Lower (tied to physical address)
• Examples — Home phones, office lines

VoIP (Voice over IP)

• Description — Internet-based phone services
• SMS Support — Varies by provider
• Fraud Risk — Higher (easy to obtain anonymously)
• Examples — Google Voice, Skype, business PBX

Toll-Free

• Description — 800/888/877/etc. numbers
• SMS Support — Yes (if SMS-enabled)
• Fraud Risk — Low (business registration required)
• Examples — Customer service lines, business numbers

Why Line Type Matters

SMS Delivery

Line type determines if a number can receive SMS:

Fraud Detection

VoIP numbers warrant additional scrutiny:

• Easy to obtain — No identity verification required
• Disposable — Can be abandoned easily
• Location masking — Area code doesn't indicate location

Consider requiring additional verification for VoIP numbers in high-risk scenarios.

Channel Selection

Use line type to choose the right communication channel:

• Wireless → SMS, voice, or app notifications
• Landline → Voice calls only
• VoIP → Voice or SMS (if supported)

API Usage

curl -X POST https://api-service.verirouteintel.io/api/v1/lrn \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"phone_number": "15551234567"}'

# Response
{
  "data": {
    "phone_number": "15551234567",
    "lrn": "5551230000",
    "carrier": "Verizon Wireless"
  },
  "success": true
}

Implementation Example

# Route communication based on line type
def send_notification(phone, message):
    result = veriroute_lookup(phone, lrn=True)
    line_type = result['lrn']['line_type']

    if line_type == 'wireless':
        # Best channel for mobile
        return send_sms(phone, message)

    elif line_type == 'landline':
        # Can't SMS landlines effectively
        return make_voice_call(phone, message)

    elif line_type == 'voip':
        # VoIP may or may not support SMS
        if is_known_sms_voip(result['lrn']['ocn']):
            return send_sms(phone, message)
        else:
            return make_voice_call(phone, message)

    else:  # toll-free or unknown
        return make_voice_call(phone, message)

Line Type in Fraud Scoring

def calculate_phone_risk(phone_lookup):
    risk_score = 0
    line_type = phone_lookup['lrn']['line_type']

    # VoIP adds risk
    if line_type == 'voip':
        risk_score += 25

    # Recent port adds risk
    if phone_lookup['lrn'].get('days_since_activation', 365) < 30:
        risk_score += 30

    # Landline for mobile app is suspicious
    if line_type == 'landline' and context == 'mobile_app':
        risk_score += 20

    return risk_score

Best Practices

1. Check before SMS — Filter landlines from SMS campaigns
2. Flag VoIP for review — Consider additional verification
3. Have fallbacks — Voice/email when SMS won't work
4. Don't block VoIP entirely — Legitimate users have VoIP numbers
5. Combine with other signals — Line type is one factor, not definitive