The basics
What is the difference between a VoIP and a non-VoIP number?
Answer
A non-VoIP number is allocated from a mobile carrier range; a VoIP number is allocated from a block reserved for internet telephony. Verification systems query range databases and treat the first as a person and the second as disposable, which is why the classification decides most acceptance outcomes. Both may be delivered over the internet — the label describes the allocation, not the technology. HushSMS sells only from mobile ranges.
The longer version
Inherited from an era when a VoIP block genuinely meant a free number anybody could mint by the thousand, the distinction now carries risk scoring that never got revisited. It is imperfect in both directions: number portability means a range no longer describes who serves the line today, and plenty of mobile-range traffic passes through the same IP infrastructure as VoIP. None of that helps you, because the service is not going to relitigate its rule for one signup. Practically, this single field explains most of what people experience as a provider being good or bad at verification.
See also
Related questions
Sources
- ITU-T Recommendation E.164 — The international public telecommunication numbering plan · International Telecommunication UnionCountry calling codes, national significant number lengths, number structure
- ITU-T E.164 national numbering plans (Operational Bulletin annex) · International Telecommunication UnionPer-country numbering plans, mobile ranges, trunk prefixes
- ITU-T Recommendation E.123 — Notation for national and international telephone numbers · International Telecommunication UnionHow the example numbers on country pages are formatted
- ISO 3166-1 — Codes for the representation of names of countries · International Organization for StandardizationTwo-letter country identifiers used throughout this catalogue
Answered by HushSMS, updated