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@ -5,6 +5,17 @@ |
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Given how ubiquitous phone numbers are and how long they've been around, it's |
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surprising how many false assumptions programmers continue to make about them. |
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1. **An individual has a phone number** |
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Some people do not own phones, or do not wish to provide you with their |
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telephone number when asked. Do not require a user to provide a phone number |
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unless it is essential, and whenever possible try and provide a fallback |
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to accommodate these users. |
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1. **An individual has only one phone number** |
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Obviously, this isn't necessarily true. |
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1. **A phone number uniquely identifies an individual** |
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It wasn't even that long ago that mobile phones didn't exist, and it was |
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@ -12,10 +23,6 @@ surprising how many false assumptions programmers continue to make about them. |
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some parts of the world, this is still true, and relatives (or even friends) |
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share a single phone number. |
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1. **An individual has only one phone number** |
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Obviously, this isn't necessarily true. |
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1. **Phone numbers cannot be re-used** |
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Old phone numbers are recycled and get reassigned to other people. |
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@ -54,6 +61,22 @@ surprising how many false assumptions programmers continue to make about them. |
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Some may be dialable only if the caller is a subscriber to a particular |
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telecom company. |
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1. **You can send a text message to any phone number** |
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A lot of people still only have a fixed-line telephone, which typically cannot |
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send or receive text messages. |
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**Tip:** Whenever possible, try and accommodate these |
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users by calling them with a voice message or voice prompts. Alternatively, |
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if your service requires sending text messages, verify that the number |
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can receive text messages after the user provides it. |
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1. **Only mobile phones can receive text messages** |
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Some service providers support sending and receiving text messages to fixed-line |
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numbers. There are also online services like Skype that can send and receive |
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text messages. |
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1. **There are only two ways to dial a phone number: domestically and from |
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overseas** |
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