Resources
SMS verification glossary
37 terms this industry uses, defined once and plainly: how numbers are sourced, why codes fail, and what the API and the payment rails actually do.
Basics
8 results- Virtual numberA virtual number is a real mobile line hosted in an operator pool rather than on a SIM card you own.
- OTP, one-time passwordAn OTP is a short code, valid once and for a few minutes, that a service sends to prove you control a phone number.
- SMS verificationSMS verification is the check where a service sends a code by text message and only proceeds once you type that code back.
- ActivationAn activation is one order for a single verification code: one number, one service, one SMS, charged only when the code arrives.
- Number rentalA rental is a number leased for a fixed window, from hours to months, that keeps receiving messages for the whole period.
- Temporary numberA temporary number is one you hold only long enough to finish a single task, after which it returns to the pool for someone else.
- MSISDNAn MSISDN is the full international number of a mobile subscriber, written in E.164 form: a plus sign, country code and national number.
- Sender IDA sender ID is the name or number an SMS appears to come from: an alphanumeric string, a shortcode, or an ordinary long number.
Numbers & delivery
8 results- Activation windowThe activation window is the fixed period an order stays open waiting for an SMS; here it is twenty minutes from purchase.
- Delivery rateThe delivery rate is the share of orders on one service and country that actually received a code in the last 24 hours.
- Operator poolAn operator pool is the set of live mobile ranges a provider can currently draw numbers from, across the operators it has agreements with.
- Number recyclingNumber recycling is the practice of returning a used number to the pool so that a different customer can be issued it later.
- SIM farmA SIM farm is a bank of modems holding hundreds of physical SIM cards, used to receive or send SMS on those numbers automatically.
- ShortcodeA shortcode is a three-to-six-digit number leased from carriers in one country, used at high volume for verification codes and alerts.
- Re-verificationRe-verification is a service asking for the same phone number again after signup: at a new device login, a withdrawal, or a security event.
- Code validityCode validity is how long a verification code stays usable after it is sent: a few minutes, set by the service not the carrier.
Payments
6 results- Prepaid balanceA prepaid balance is the euro credit held on an account, spent per delivered code and funded before use rather than invoiced afterwards.
- Top-upA top-up is a payment that adds credit to a prepaid balance; here the first one is €30 and every top-up is paid in cryptocurrency.
- USDT-TRC20USDT-TRC20 is the Tether stablecoin issued on the Tron blockchain, the cheapest and fastest of the USDT networks to send.
- Network feeA network fee is what a blockchain charges to include a transaction in a block; it is paid to the network, not to the recipient.
- Block confirmationA confirmation is one block added on top of the block containing your transaction; more confirmations make it harder to reverse.
- Automatic refundAn automatic refund is the credit returned to a balance when an activation ends without a code, applied without a support request.
API & automation
10 results- API keyAn API key is the secret credential that identifies an account to an API, sent as a bearer token on every request.
- ScopeA scope is a named permission on an API key that limits which endpoints it may call: reading balance, buying numbers, managing rentals.
- Idempotency keyAn idempotency key is a unique value sent with a request so that replaying it returns the original result instead of acting twice.
- Long pollingLong polling is a request the server holds open until something happens, answering the moment it does instead of returning an empty result.
- WebhookA webhook is an HTTPS endpoint you register so a provider posts each event to you as it happens, instead of you polling for it.
- HMAC signatureAn HMAC signature is a keyed hash sent with a webhook, proving to the receiver that the request is genuine and unaltered.
- Rate limitA rate limit caps how many API requests one key may make per minute; here it is 120, bursting to 20 requests per second.
- handler_api.phphandler_api.php is the legacy query-string SMS protocol used by older providers, where actions and responses are plain tokens rather than JSON.
- MCP serverAn MCP server exposes tools over the Model Context Protocol so an AI agent can discover and call them without bespoke integration code.
- OpenAPIOpenAPI is a machine-readable schema describing every endpoint, parameter and response of a REST API, from which clients can be generated.
Compliance
5 results- SIM registrationSIM registration is the legal requirement in many countries to tie every mobile number to a verified identity document before it can be used.
- KYC, know your customerKYC is the process of verifying who an account holder is, using identity documents, before or during a business relationship.
- AML, anti-money launderingAML is the set of controls a business runs to keep criminal funds out of its payment flows and to report suspicion where required.
- Acceptable use policyAn acceptable use policy states what a service may and may not be used for, and what happens to an account that breaks it.
- Ban evasionBan evasion is registering a new account to bypass a suspension a platform imposed, usually with a phone number it has not seen before.