|
 PhoneConfirm.com Announces Phone Identity Verification Service for Social Networking Websites
Web Service Enables Social
Networking Websites to Conduct Real-Time, Phone Verification
for Prevention of Harassers, Underage Sign-ups and Predators;
Creation of Mobile Advertising Revenue
Plymouth, MN, April 26, 2006 – Phoneconfirm.com,
the leading provider of automated, real-time, phone
verification services, today announced general availability
of its Phone Identity Verification (PIV) service for
the social networking website industry.
PhoneConfirm.com PIV provides social networking websites
with an automated, real-time, 24x7 service to link a
verified phone number during the sign-up process to
a new online profile at social networking websites.
The Phone
Confirm service optimizes the ability of social
networking websites to stop multiple accounts, spam-related
profiles, repeat underage sign-ups, online predators,
and fake or harassing profiles. The service also enables
social networking websites to generate revenues by quickly
and easily gathering verified phone numbers for “mobile
marketing”. PhoneConfirm.com enables social networking
websites to quickly and easily decrease legal, social,
and system costs while increasing online security and
safety as well as advertising revenues.
Verifying the phone identity of users of social networking
sites before allowing a new online profile is more-and-more
critical for any social networking website. Phoneconfirm.com
helps address both the security
and identity bad news dominating the media landscape
around social networking sites, while also pointing
the way to the huge good news associated with the next
generation of phone-based “mobile marketing.” (In the
future, it may be possible for parents or organizations
to choose to put their phone numbers on a “Do Not Create
an Online Profile” list associated with certain social
networking websites.)
Because PhoneConfirm.com service requires a correct
response to a call to a phone number while displaying
a randomly-generated personal identification number
(PIN) on the sign-up screen during the sign-up process
the verified phone number is associated with the profile.
Less intrusive than asking for credit-card information,
but less easily faked than an anonymous email or street
address, it is not easy to constantly create new phone
numbers that can be instantaneously verified during
each profile sign-up using Phoneconfirm.com. PhoneConfirm.com
enables the verification of phone numbers that can then
be tracked and “flagged” when associated with fraud,
underage sign-ups, predatory behavior, scammers or spammers.
Some studies reveal that one out of every 10 sign-ups
on social networking and dating sites is a fake profile.
These fake profiles inflate costs associated with the
social networking site in many ways, including: scammers
using the site to harass legitimate members, scammers
who use the social networking site to create fraudulent
purchases resulting in chargebacks, spammers using social
networking site to gather and steal information, and
legal costs associated with underage users and predators
on a social networking website.
Moreover, rather than advertisers paying for a substantial
percentage of profiles that are duplicates, scammers,
or fake profiles these same advertisers will have verified
phone numbers for the hottest marketing trends of 2006
– cell phone, mobile, short-text-message (SMS), or G3
marketing.
PhoneConfirm.com PIV addresses these issues by offering
social networking sites and their customers and advertisers,
a fully automated phone
identity verification service that can be implemented
quickly, seamlessly and cost-effectively into any social
networking website environment.
"Verifying phone identities makes a tremendous
amount of sense for social networking websites because
it enables them to improve safety and security, improve
cost-efficiency, and enable additional marketing revenue,"
said Vadim Mazo, CEO, of PhoneConfirm.com. "This
is what an online communication service must do – provide
a solution to a problem and open up possibilities for
the automation of business processes online so that
companies can focus on the positive possibilities in
the marketplace.”
How PhoneConfirm.com's PIV Works
PhoneConfirm.com uses HTTP/SOAP to integrate with a
social networking website’s customer-facing Web application.
The phone number entered by the customer is automatically
routed using XML and encryption through PhoneConfirm.com's
services and a call is made to the phone number entered
by the end-user in real-time. PhoneConfirm.com can either
display a PIN number on the sign-up screen that must
be entered into the phone keypad, or PhoneConfirm.com
can have an automated voice read a PIN number over the
phone that must be entered onto the sign-up screen.
Verification of the phone identity is then automatically
communicated back to the social networking website application
and to the consumer. The communication between the social
networking website and PhoneConfirm.com is made using
SSL encryption. The PhoneConfirm.com Phone Identity
Verification service is available today. For more information
and a demonstration, please visit www.PhoneConfirm.com.
About PhoneConfirm.com
PhoneConfirm.com is a wholly owned service of Across
Communications, Inc. and is one of a suite of leading
communication services that enable trusted commerce
and communications with confidence. Other Across Communications
Inc services include Email
to Phone service and AcrossAlert.com.
Across Communications platform was developed by Dana
Consulting Inc, which also provides network
monitoring, website
monitoring and web
server performance software for corporations worldwide.
Contacts:
Phoneconfirm.com Media Relations: Brad Canham, bradc@phoneconfirm.com
Corporate PhoneConfirm.com: info@phoneconfirm.com
1-888-364-5101 |
