FindTelephoneNumber

Returns a telephone number if the record can be matched

To connect to this service you'll need to use one of these endpoints:

JSON

Open API

SOAP

Description

Checks to see if a telephone number match can be made for this record. If it can, it returns the details of the record within BT OSIS.

By default matches are performed at Surname level (i.e. a match will be allowed if the surname matches regardless of the title or forename passed in). This can be overridden by specifying the option MatchLevel.

Credit Usage

Each request to this method consumes 1 TeleAppend credit.

Parameters

The following parameters can be supplied to this method

username	username See the available authentication methods. If you are using username & password authentication, specify the username to authenticate as. If you are using API Key authentication and you are not using the JSON, Javascript or ADO APIs, use your API Key here with the prefix `apikey-`, e.g. `apikey-ABCD-1234-EFGH-5678`
password	password If you are using username & password authentication, specify the password to use for authentication. Otherwise leave this blank.
record	record Contains the `Name` and `Address` properties specifying the details of the person to search for a telephone number for. The `Address` property should contain sufficient information to uniquely identify a premise, and the `Name` property should include at least a full surname.
options	options An array of options that control further details of how this method operates. See the Advanced Options section below for more information.

Advanced Options

The following options can be specified as part of the option parameter. Each option is specified as a key/value pair. The list of available names is shown below, along with a description of the allowable values for that name.

Common Options
Name	Description
ApplicationName	ApplicationName Gives the name of the calling application - used to break down usage by application in the usage reports on the dashboard
Service-Specific Options
Name	Description
MatchLevel	MatchLevel `S` (default) - this allows matching to be made at Surname level. Usually, a household will have a telephone in one of the householders' names but the phone will be shared by the inhabitants. For this reason, the default option is to allow matches at Surname level. `I` - this forces matching to be made at Initial Level. This means that the first initial must match as well as the surname. Where no first initial is passed into the service then no match can be made. This provides a tighter match but reduces the hit-rate as it is difficult to predict which householder will have the telephone registered in their name.
UseAlternateNames	UseAlternateNames This uses the Electoral Roll to try and search for cohabitation. It is relatively common these days for households to be made up of several different surnames (for example - unmarried cohabitation). In these situations then the telephone line will usually be listed in one of the householders' names. If your record happens to be using another name in the household then you would not normally be able to make a match. To get around this problem, we look at the Edited Electoral Roll (ER) to see if we can identify a cohabitation situation. If we can then we will search under all the names in the household to see if a telephone line is listed under any the other occupants. Please note that in order for this option to work you will need to be licensed for the Electoral Roll service and you will be charged for a Name lookup for every query made.

Results

This method returns an object containing the following fields:

Status

Status	Status Indicates whether the method call was successful, or if some error occurred. If the `Success` field is `true`, the other results described below can be used to get the results of the method. If `Success` is `false`, some error occurred in calling the method, such as the authentication failed or the account is out of credits. The details of the error can be obtained from the `ErrorMessage` field, and any other results should be ignored
Result	Result Contains the details found for the requested person on the telephone directory, in the following fields: `Name` - the name that was matched to `Address` - the address that was matched to `TelephoneNumber` - the telephone number to call

Status

Indicates whether the method call was successful, or if some error occurred. If the Success field is true, the other results described below can be used to get the results of the method. If Success is false, some error occurred in calling the method, such as the authentication failed or the account is out of credits. The details of the error can be obtained from the ErrorMessage field, and any other results should be ignored

Result

Result

Contains the details found for the requested person on the telephone directory, in the following fields:

Name - the name that was matched to
Address - the address that was matched to
TelephoneNumber - the telephone number to call

Live Demo

record

Name

Sorry, this parameter type is not currently supported in Live Demo

Address

Sorry, this parameter type is not currently supported in Live Demo

options

Name	Value
Common Options
ApplicationName
Service-Specific Options
MatchLevel
UseAlternateNames

Sample Code

Request Format

{
  "record": {
    "Name": {
      "Title": "Mr",
      "Forename": "John",
      "MiddleName": "",
      "Surname": "Smith"
    },
    "Address": {
      "Lines": [
        "Unit 2",
        "Venture Point",
        "Stanney Mill Road",
        "Chester",
        "CH2 4NE"
      ]
    }
  },
  "options": {
    "MatchLevel": "S",
    "UseAlternateNames": false
  }
}

Results Format

{
  "Status": {
    "Success": true,
    "CreditsRemaining": 1000
  },
  "Result": null
}

Depending on your chosen authentication method you will need to modify this request slightly: