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Ask HN: Why are so many services rejecting Google Voice numbers for signups?

13 points by electric_muse ↗ HN
I’ve noticed that more and more companies refuse to accept Google Voice numbers when creating accounts.

My company's main line is a Google Voice that forwards to my cell; I never give out my cell. But this is preventing me from using some services and products (Vercel, DocuSign, etc.)

I’m curious about the reasons behind this. Is it primarily technical (spam prevention, deliverability issues), business-driven (carriers pushing back on VoIP), or just an easy way to block disposable accounts? Is something more dystopian going on, like some kind of behind-the-scenes lookup of my "true" info if I provide my cell?

Also, if anyone has insight into how companies technically detect and filter VoIP numbers at scale, I’d love to understand that side too. E.g. what lookup info via Twilio causes a number to get rejected? I assume it is the 'type' from Twilio Line Type Intelligence (or equivalent)?

https://www.twilio.com/docs/lookup/v2-api/line-type-intelligence

7 comments

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matttproud
Those of us who are U.S. citizens who live outside of the U.S. suffer a LOT because growing disallowances like these.
Citizen8396
Sometimes you can get around this by porting a real number into Google Voice. Other companies will use APIs that will correctly identify it as a VoIP number however.
firefax
What'll really grind your gears is if you have a cheap MVNO like Mintsim and that too is blocked as a "prepaid" and have no landline or office phone.
LUmBULtERA
Wow, I have Mint and have not encountered this yet. What services have you seen block it?
firefax
I was applying for a job and they refused to let me enter the # as how to call me, then the mintsim acted up so I ended up using a relative's landline, which is not even a landline anymore because the copper got ripped out.

I don't recall which job used the software, but it was some type of HR software that ingested CVs and dispenses pain and/or nothing. (Dark joke).

Anyways, sorry in all seriousness but all I can say is it was HR software for a job application and that surprised me since I basically got taught it's pretty normal to list a voip # especially if you can get a cool one with some sick digits :-)