Telephone Residential
Search the phone book to find a UK residential phone number.
This method gives you an online UK directory enquiries service within your website or office system, so that customers or staff can check and find phone numbers.
Searching the phone book to access current UK telephone data, which is updated daily, this is the most up-to-date and accurate telephone data available.
The uses of finding a residential telephone number are many and varied, including helping businesses achieve more outbound sales calls to customers and prospects, and facilitating better customer service where a telephone conversation is more desirable than an email.
API method to use: telephone_residential
How it works
The method will return a UK residential telephone number that is present in the Phone Book, when the following data is supplied:
- Name
- City, town or postcode
Please see the Documentation section for more information including a list of mandatory and optional parameters, with returned values.
Search the phone book to find a UK residential phone number.
Derived from the current UK telephone data, which is updated daily, the T2A API provides access to the most up-to-date and accurate telephone data available.
Mandatory Parameters
Name | Description |
---|---|
api_key or javascript_key |
Use your API key if invoking server-side. If invoking from the browser via JavaScript, generate a JavaScript key using the javascript_key method. |
surname |
A persons surname or partial surname, use the '*' for wild card searches e.g. "Johnson" or "John*" |
place |
Enter a UK place, postcode, or postcode area. |
Optional Parameters
Name | Description |
---|---|
client | You can optionally include an identifier for your final client or user. This is logged in your usage log and you will be able to view your usage statistics by client. |
output | Set to json for a JSON response; the default response is XML.
Not applicable to the SOAP API. |
callback | When using JSON, specify a JSONP wrapper in which the JSON response is to be wrapped. |
forename | The person forename or initials. |
street | The street name. |
premises | The building number or name. |
records_per_page | Specify the number of records to return on the current page. We offer page caching for this method - once your search is invoked, we store the pages on our server for 60 minutes; a subsequent request for a page of results from that search is displayed from the cache, at no charge to you. See result page caching. |
page_num | Zero based integer - current page number to return. |
max_records |
The maximum number of records to be returned. The default value is 200. The absolute maximum number of records allowed is 10,000. If the number of records returned exceeds the maximum value, a “too_many” error will be returned but if you set a max_records value higher than 10,000 the result list will be capped at 10,000. |
records_per_page |
The number of records returned on the current page. Defaults to 200. Set to a factor of 200, such as 10,20 or 25 to return the <person> records in smaller chunks. Each block of 200 records is chargeable, so, for example, if your search returns 250 records, and you records_per_page is 25, pages 0-7 (parameter page_num, is zero-based) are already paid for, but if the 9th page of results is viewed, a credit value is debited. |
fuzzy |
Defaults to true. Set to true to enable fuzzy matching. |
Returned Values
The XML response is contained within a <telephone_residential_res>
element.
Name | Description |
---|---|
status | Returns ok if the operation has succeeded, or error if an
error has occurred; Returns the error_code for error details. |
error_code | Returns the error code when the status is error . See below for error codes. |
t2a_version_number | The current API version number. |
credit_used | The number of credits used in order to execute the request. |
mode | Returns normal or test when executed in the
free test mode. |
person_list |
An array of person records. |
place_list | An array of place records. This is present if the place
name is ambiguous. No charge is made when a place_list is retuned. |
total_records |
The total number of records, irrespective of the number displayed on any page. This is only used when a |
page_number |
Current page being displayed, a zero-based integer. This is only used when a |
uncapped_total |
The total number of person records, when the result as
capped at a maximum of 10,000; total_records will be
10,000.
|
The values in the <person>
element.
Name |
Type |
Description |
---|---|---|
title |
string |
The person’s title, such as Mr, Mrs, Ms etc. |
forename |
string |
The person’s first name |
middle_initial |
string |
The second initial |
surname |
string |
The person’s surname |
name_single_line |
string |
The name on a single line, comprising title, forename, middle initial and surname; for example:- Mr Alan Fiction Jean A Dreamer |
line_1 |
string |
Address line 1 |
line_2 |
string |
Address line 2 |
line_3 |
string |
Address line 3 |
place |
string |
The place. If the address is in a named area within a large town, this will be that area, otherwise it will be the town. place is never empty if town is set. |
town |
string |
The town; only used if the address is in a named area within that town. |
postcode |
string |
The UK postal code, formatted to include the space. |
addr_single_line |
string |
The address, formatted as a single line. Commas are inserted between the major elements, and the postcode is included, if available. |
years_list |
string |
A list of years, in which the electoral roll record for this person has been found.
This is only set by the Please note that the XML returns an array of Strings; each year is a single String:- <years_list> <string>2008</string> <string>2009</string> <string>2010</string> <string>2011</string> </years_list> The JSON returns an array of years thus:-
|
years_text |
string |
A simple string describing the years range, such as 2017- |
telephone_number |
string |
The person’s telephone number. |
mobile |
string |
The person’s mobile phone number |
Error Codes
Name |
Description |
---|---|
invalid_name |
The surname is too short. Enter at least 3 characters. |
missing_surname |
The surname is required |
missing_place |
The place is required. |
See the common error codes.
Free Test Mode
When operating in the free test mode errors are returned if mandatory parameters are missing, or it returns a dummy data response, in an identical format to a real response.
Note that the mode
is returned as test
when the method is operating in the free test mode.
The free test mode for this method operates in the following manner:-
- If the
place
parameter is set to leeds, aplace_list
is returned. - If not, a dummy
person_list
is returned.
Example XML Response
<telephone_res> <mode>test</mode> <status>ok</status> <credit_used>0</credit_used> <t2a_version_number>3.3.8.0</t2a_version_number> <person_list> <person> <line_1>56</line_1> <line_2>Sails Drive</line_2> <line_3/> <place/> <town>York</town> <postcode>YO10 3LR</postcode> <addr_single_line>56 Sails Drive, York, YO10 3LR</addr_single_line> <title>Ms</title> <forename>Janet</forename> <surname>Jackson</surname> <name_single_line>Ms Janet Jackson</name_single_line> <telephone_number>(01904) 560001</telephone_number> </person> </person_list> </telephone_res>
Method Limits
- The default max_records value is 200
- The max_records parameter may be set to up to 10,000; if max_records is set to over 10,000, the method caps the total records to 10,000 and reports the actual total as uncapped_total; this is to avoid breaking existing code, by presenting unexepected “too_many” errors.
Result Caching
When a chargeable result is found (a list of persons) , the list is cached on our server for 60 minutes. If the successful search is repeated during that time, the list is displayed, but there is no charge.
Charging Policy
The method only charges when a valid name and/or address has been supplied.
A credit charge is then levied for every new consecutive block of 200 records viewed.
The following events are not chargeable for this method
- Invalid place
- Invalid input
There are two ways to authenticate your application with the T2A API. The two implementation examples on this page cover each type of authentication
We recommend using an API key for internal applications and the javascript key for public facing applications where you would want to protect your API key.
Please note: The examples below run on a sandbox environment which return sample data. To quality check the data we provide, up to 3 free searches are available in the demo tab with results showing live [REDACTED] data.
API key
<div class="telephone-residential-example"> <form class="telephone-residential-form"> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Person's Surname</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="surname" placeholder="Person's surname e.g Fawcett"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Place</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="place" placeholder="Place, postcode or postcode area"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Street (optional)</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="street" placeholder="Street name"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Premises (optional)</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="premises" placeholder="Building name or number"> </div> <button type="submit" class="btn example-submit">Submit</button> </form> </div> <div class="results"> <div id="results-output"></div> <a class="results-return" href="#">Back to search</a> </div>
.telephone-residential-example, .results { margin: 20px auto; width: 400px; } form.telephone-residential-form, .results { background-color: #F6F6F6; border: 1px solid #CBCBCB; padding: 15px; } .example-submit { background-color: #F0614C; border-radius: 2px; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 400; color: #fff; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.193em; width: 138px; height: 41px; margin-top: 10px; } .results { display: none; } .results-return { font-weight: 600; color: #F0614C; } #results-output span { font-weight: bold; text-transform: capitalize; } #results-output hr { border-top: 1px solid #000; } .error { font-size: 11px; color: #f00; }
$(document).ready(function(){ $(".telephone-residential-form").submit(function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $('.error', $(this)).remove(); var surname = $("#surname"); if(!surname.val()) { errorBefore("Please enter a person's surname.", surname); } var place = $("#place"); if(!place.val()) { errorBefore("Please enter a place.", place); } var street = $("#street"); var premises = $("#premises"); if($('.error', $(this)).length) { $('.error', $(this)).first().next('input').focus(); } else { $.ajax({ url: 'https://api.t2a.io/rest/rest.aspx', dataType: 'json', data: { 'method' : "telephone_residential", 'api_key' : 'sandbox', 'surname' : surname.val(), 'place' : place.val(), 'street' : street.val(), 'premises' : premises.val(), 'output' : 'json' }, success: function(result){ if(result.status == "error") { $('#results-output').append('<p class="output"><strong>Error:</strong>' + result.error_code +'</p>'); } else { var i = 0; if(typeof result.person_list !== "undefined") { result.person_list.forEach(function(person_list_item){ if(i>0){ $('#results-output').append('<hr>'); } var exceptionsArray = ['META', 'created_details', 'years_list', 'address_key', 'organisation_key', 'dob_details']; for (var key in person_list_item) { if(!key.includes('id') && !exceptionsArray.includes(key) ) { var keyName = key.replace('_', ' '); $('#results-output').append('<p class="output"><span>' + keyName + ':</span> ' + person_list_item[key] + '</p>'); } } i++; }); } var i = 0; if(typeof result.place_list !== "undefined") { result.place_list.forEach(function(place_list_item){ if(i>0){ $('#results-output').append('<hr>'); } var exceptionsArray = ['META', 'created_details', 'years_list', 'address_key', 'organisation_key', 'dob_details']; for (var key in place_list_item) { if(!key.includes('id') && !exceptionsArray.includes(key) ) { var keyName = key.replace('_', ' '); $('#results-output').append('<p class="output"><span>' + keyName + ':</span> ' + place_list_item[key] + '</p>'); } } i++; }); } } $('.telephone-residential-example').hide(); $('.results').show(); } }); } }); $('.results-return').on('click', function(e){ e.preventDefault(); $('#results-output').empty(); $('.telephone-residential-example').show(); $('.results').hide(); }); }); function errorBefore(msg, insertBefore) { $('<p class="error">' + msg + '</p>').insertBefore(insertBefore); }
Javascript key
<div class="telephone-residential-example"> <form class="telephone-residential-form"> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Person's Surname</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="surname" placeholder="Person's surname e.g Fawcett"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Place</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="place" placeholder="Place, postcode or postcode area"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Street (optional)</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="street" placeholder="Street name"> </div> <div class="form-group"> <label for="surname">Premises (optional)</label> <input type="text" class="form-control" id="premises" placeholder="Building name or number"> </div> <button type="submit" class="btn example-submit">Submit</button> </form> </div> <div class="results"> <div id="results-output"></div> <a class="results-return" href="#">Back to search</a> </div>
.telephone-residential-example, .results { margin: 20px auto; width: 400px; } form.telephone-residential-form, .results { background-color: #F6F6F6; border: 1px solid #CBCBCB; padding: 15px; } .example-submit { background-color: #F0614C; border-radius: 2px; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 400; color: #fff; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.193em; width: 138px; height: 41px; margin-top: 10px; } .results { display: none; } .results-return { font-weight: 600; color: #F0614C; } #results-output span { font-weight: bold; text-transform: capitalize; } #results-output hr { border-top: 1px solid #000; } .error { font-size: 11px; color: #f00; }
$(document).ready(function(){ $(".telephone-residential-form").submit(function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $('.error', $(this)).remove(); var surname = $("#surname"); if(!surname.val()) { errorBefore("Please enter a person's surname.", surname); } var place = $("#place"); if(!place.val()) { errorBefore("Please enter a place.", place); } var street = $("#street"); var premises = $("#premises"); if($('.error', $(this)).length) { $('.error', $(this)).first().next('input').focus(); } else { $.ajax({ url: 'https://t2a.io/ajax/getExampleJSKey', dataType: 'json', success: function (result) { if (result.status) { $.ajax({ url: 'https://api.t2a.io/rest/rest.aspx', dataType: 'json', data: { 'method' : "", 'javascript_key' : result.javascript_key, 'domain' : "t2a.io", 'surname' : surname.val(), 'place' : place.val(), 'street' : street.val(), 'premises' : premises.val(), 'output' : 'json' }, success: function(result){ if(result.status == "error") { $('#results-output').append('<p class="output"><strong>Error:</strong>' + result.error_code +'</p>'); } else { var i = 0; if(typeof result.person_list !== "undefined") { result.person_list.forEach(function(person_list_item){ if(i>0){ $('#results-output').append('<hr>'); } var exceptionsArray = ['META', 'created_details', 'years_list', 'address_key', 'organisation_key', 'dob_details']; for (var key in person_list_item) { if(!key.includes('id') && !exceptionsArray.includes(key) ) { var keyName = key.replace('_', ' '); $('#results-output').append('<p class="output"><span>' + keyName + ':</span> ' + person_list_item[key] + '</p>'); } } i++; }); } var i = 0; if(typeof result.place_list !== "undefined") { result.place_list.forEach(function(place_list_item){ if(i>0){ $('#results-output').append('<hr>'); } var exceptionsArray = ['META', 'created_details', 'years_list', 'address_key', 'organisation_key', 'dob_details']; for (var key in place_list_item) { if(!key.includes('id') && !exceptionsArray.includes(key) ) { var keyName = key.replace('_', ' '); $('#results-output').append('<p class="output"><span>' + keyName + ':</span> ' + place_list_item[key] + '</p>'); } } i++; }); } } $('.telephone-residential-example').hide(); $('.results').show(); } }); } } }); } }); $('.results-return').on('click', function(e){ e.preventDefault(); $('#results-output').empty(); $('.telephone-residential-example').show(); $('.results').hide(); }); }); function errorBefore(msg, insertBefore) { $('<p class="error">' + msg + '</p>').insertBefore(insertBefore); }
This example first needs to call to a file on your server, which will provide the user with an API key from your javascript key.
In our example above we have used a PHP file located at ajax/getExampleJSKey
which looks like the example below
<?php $url = 'https://api.t2a.io/rest/rest.aspx' . "?method=javascript_key" . "&api_key=sandbox" . . "&domain=" . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']; . '&ip_address=' . get_user_ip() . "&lifetime_minutes=10"; $result = simplexml_load_file($url); if ($result->javascript_key) { echo (string)$result->javascript_key; }