Phone Number Compliance is Simpler with our V2 Regulatory Compliance APIs

December 12, 2019
Written by
Twilio
Twilion

Phone Number Compliance API v2

Today we are excited to announce the new version of the Phone Number Compliance APIs (v2), now in Beta. With the migration to the RC APIs, Twilio is making phone number provisioning a lot easier in regulated countries.

As you may know, to provision regulated phone numbers, you must follow local requirements of a country or territory, providing End-User information and Supporting Documents. Using the Regulatory Compliance APIs, you can view each country’s telecom requirements using Twilio’s Regulations API. End-Users, Supporting Documents, and Addresses are all accessible via our Public REST API or in the Console; numbers are assigned to follow a country or territory’s telecom Regulations.

Here’s a summary of why we’re introducing these changes, what is changing, and how this can benefit you.

Why does this matter?

Regulatory compliance is all about Knowing Your Customer (KYC) – many countries' and territories’ telecom regulators want to know the end-user who is answering voice calls or receiving messages. Regulators want to know who the end-users are due to potential national threats, to prevent spam and fraud, and to generally protect the phone number as a natural resource used as an identifier of an end-user.

If you have not provided the necessary regulatory information and supporting documentation for your numbers in regulated geographies, your numbers are at risk of being disconnected by regulators or carriers.

How will the V2 Regulatory Compliance Platform help me?

We’ve provided you with options to provision numbers via Console or the IncomingPhoneNumbers provisioning APIs with the ability to provide the regulatory requirements outlined on the Phone Number Regulations site. We understand that the push to provide regulatory compliance information can be time-consuming. With the V2 Regulatory Compliance APIs, we are offering a more programmatic way to follow each country’s telecom regulations and operate in the country. The API makes providing required regulatory information easier by bringing you a more scalable solution.

Each regulated country has a specific regulation applied to every phone number country, phone number type, and end-user type and is backed by Twilio’s sophisticated Regulatory Rules Engine. Regulation often requires End-User, Supporting Document, and Address items to be assigned in a Regulatory Bundle.

How do I get started with the V2 Regulatory Compliance Console and APIs?

Are there other actions I should take?

Do you know whether your phone numbers are compliant? To find out if you have any phone numbers that are not compliant, please visit the Compliance Report in Twilio’s web Console. If there are any phone numbers that are not compliant, either create a new Regulatory Bundle for that country, number type, and end-user or assign the numbers to an existing Regulatory Bundle.

For more information, we’ve included links to documentation and other helpful resources:

REST API Docs

Getting Started Pages

Phone Number Regulatory FAQs

What should I do next?

We know regulatory compliance for your phone numbers can be a challenge and at times frustrating. We’re here to partner with you and provide solutions to make it easier for you to provide the required information and documents required to maintain a phone number in a regulated country.

We encourage you to visit Twilio’s web Console to experience regulatory compliance improvements. Or you can visit the REST API Getting Started page if you would like to start using the new Public Beta Regulatory Compliance v2 REST APIs.