Phone number verification method and system

摘要

A method, apparatus and computer program product is provided for verifying an association between a phone number provisioned by a voice network and a phone device. The verification is useful on a synthetic communication network that reuses the phone number to transmit text and other media types over a data network such as the Internet between phone devices registered on the synthesized network. One implementation receives a request to add a phone device previously registered with a voice network to the synthesized communication network. With respect to the synthesized network, the phone number is presumed to be unconfirmed even though it may have been previously provisioned from the voice network. Implementations of the invention attempt to transmit a verification message addressed to the phone device through a data channel within the voice network. If the phone number is in fact associated with the phone device then the verification message returns back to the phone device over the data channel on the voice network. If the verification message is received by the phone device, the phone number is confirmed as associated with the phone device. Once the phone number is confirmed, the synthetic network authorizes communication between the phone device and other phone devices registered on the synthetic communication network.

主权项

1. A processor implemented method for configuring a phone device for use on a synthetic communication network, comprising:
receiving a request to add a phone device to a synthetic communication network; obtaining an unconfirmed phone number associated with the request; transmitting a verification message from the phone device through a data channel within a voice network, the message addressed for delivery to the unconfirmed phone number; receiving the verification message by the phone device through the data channel within the voice network, the verification message confirming the unconfirmed phone number; responsive to receiving the verification message, authorizing the phone device to communicate data over the synthetic communication network using the confirmed phone number; identifying a plurality of phone numbers in a directory stored on the phone device, each of the identified phone numbers corresponding to both a provisioned telephone number on the voice network and to a phone device authorized to communicate data over the synthetic communication network; and synchronizing the identified phone numbers with corresponding entries in a synthetic communication client on the phone device.