How to Get a Non-recycled Phone Number?
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Have you ever bought a new SIM card and got a call asking someone else apart from you? It could be because you have purchased a recycled phone number.
According to the Federal Communications Commission’s 2017 report, approximately 35 million phone numbers get reused yearly in the US. Recycled phone numbers can come with issues like unwanted calls and messages posing threats to their current owners. Hence, getting an unused phone number is necessary to avoid such problems.
What is a Non-recycled phone number?
A non-recycled phone number is a brand-new number assigned to a user or device for the first time.
Simply, it is a phone number that has never been used before. It has no prior association with any calls, text messages, or individual data, reducing the risk of getting unwanted communications meant for the previous owner.
How To Get a Non-recycled Phone Number?
You can acquire a non-recycled phone number from carrier network providers or virtual number providers.
Here are some steps to acquire an unused phone number.
- Carrier Network Providers: You can get a non-recycled phone number from telecommunication providers. They often provide these numbers, ensuring a clean slate without the baggage of previous owners.
Some top-tier carrier providers are Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. You can visit their stores or websites and request a new, unused phone number.
Below are the in-general steps:
- Choose a trusted network service provider.
- Visit their store or website.
- Select a plan (prepaid or postpaid) and request a new number (explicitly ask for a non-recycled number).
- Complete the sign-up process (provide identity details such as your address and name) and also review & agree with the terms and conditions.
- Activate the number by following the instructions provided by the carrier service.
- Virtual Number Providers: One of the easiest and most convenient ways of getting non-recycled phone numbers is from a virtual phone number provider. In today’s digital age, securing a reliable and private phone number is crucial for personal and professional communication.
Here are the general steps for getting an original unused virtual number from Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers.
- Choose a virtual number provider that fits your needs.
- Sign up and log in after providing your credentials.
- Choose an unused phone number according to the country. (You can ask your VoIP provider.)
- Purchase the number.
After the payment confirmation, your number gets activated, and you can use it for calls and texts.
Let’s learn how to get a non-recycled phone number.
Advantages of using a Non-recycled Phone Number
Using a non-recycled phone number improves your communication experience. These numbers have never been assigned to anyone, giving users a fresh start.
Here are some of the top advantages of using it.
Avoids Unwanted Calls and Messages: When using a non-recycled phone number, you avoid the text messages and calls meant for former owners; this makes your communication clear and hassle-free.
Privacy and Security: As these numbers don’t have any initial data linked to them, it gives you a fresh start and improves your privacy and security.
Minimizes Spam: Choosing a non-recycled phone number avoids getting spam calls and text messages targeted for the past owner, leading to pleasant and uninterrupted communication.
Streamline Account Setup: Without existing ties or records, setting up banking, social media applications, and other registrations becomes straightforward. Hence, linking a non-recycled phone number to new accounts and services becomes an easy process.
Enjoy a Fresh Start: This number prevents you from past allegations or disputes of past owners. This allows you to manage contacts and communications without inheriting any issues, giving you a new start.
Why Do Phone Numbers Get Recycled?
With the growing demand for phone numbers driven by the increase in population and devices, companies use recycling to ensure the optimal use of these finite resources.
Here are the primary reasons why phone numbers get recycled.
- Cost Savings: Some telecom systems might not handle the extensive range of numbers. Thus, recycling provides cost-saving options for costly upgrades. Also, it’s cheaper for them to recycle phone numbers than to create new ones.
- Limited Supply of Numbers: Due to the ever-growing population and demand for new numbers, recycling dead phone numbers helps manage this limited resource.
- Environmental Benefits: Recycling the dead phone numbers reduces the extra need for infrastructure, creating more sustainable practices.
- High Customer Acquistion: Many numbers of prepaid services become inactive. Hence, reusing previous phone numbers puts them back to use.
Threats of Having a Recycled Phone Number
As mentioned earlier, using recycled numbers increases the risk to the privacy and security of an individual. However, due to the finite resources of numbers, it’s challenging for telecommunications to provide unique numbers to each user. Thus, they want their dead phone numbers to be recovered.
Here are some common threats that come with using a recycled number.
- Account Hijacking: Here, the attackers buy a recycled phone number and try to find the online accounts linked with it. If found, they could reset the password via SMS authentication and hijack the earlier user’s accounts.
- Phishing Attack: In this attack, stalkers monitor recycled numbers and wait until someone owns them. Then, they try to phish by sending messages. (For example, “Welcome. Click here to activate 5G in your device.”)
- PII Indexing: Fraudsters get the available carrier numbers and try to find the previous owner's personally identifiable information (PII). After getting such details, they can impersonate the prior carrier and commit crimes.
- Spam: Sometimes, scammers buy phone numbers, subscribe to different websites and campaigns, and stop using numbers to recycle them. When the exact number is allocated to a new user, they start getting spam messages.
Top VoIP Providers Offering Non-Recycled Phone Numbers
There are many VoIP service providers out there. Here are some major providers for non-recycled phone numbers.
- Calilio
Calilio is one of the major providers of non-recycled virtual phone numbers. You can also get various local, mobile, and toll-free numbers for 100+ countries.
Calilio also provides advanced VoIP features, such as a unified callbox, voicemail transcription, call screening, call monitoring, call analytics, sentiment analysis, and many more.
- RingCentral
You can get a non-recycled phone number from RingCentral. They provide cloud-based phone services for businesses of all sizes. This VoIP service offers features such as call forwarding, unlimited calling, and virtual receptionist to support small to large companies.
Getting started with RingCentral is an easy process. Users can choose non-recycled local or toll-free numbers and set up call routing extensions.
- Nextiva
Nextiva also offers non-recycled numbers like other VoIP providers. Like RingCentral, it is suitable for entrepreneurs and owners of small companies. The setup of Nextiva is also simple, and the user interface is easy to understand.
- Google Voice
One of the other virtual number providers where you can get non-recycled numbers is Google Voice. It is suitable for businesses that need only basic functions. Some features in it are voicemail, call screening, call routing, extensions, etc.
It is the simplest of all virtual number providers. You can use their phone and web interfaces to answer the messages. Furthermore, Google Voice converts voicemails and notifies users through SMS and emails.
Conclusion
Securing a non-recycled phone number is crucial for maintaining privacy, security, and uninterrupted communication. Plus, choosing reputable service providers can get you numbers for your personal and business needs. By taking this initiative, you can avoid unnecessary calls and texts meant for someone else, making your communication effective and reliable.
Sign up with Calilio today to secure your non-recycled phone number at an affordable cost and get rid of unwanted calls using the call filtering function.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Get a Brand New Phone Number?
Yes, you can get a brand-new phone number from local carrier service and virtual number providers.
What Is the Cost of Securing a Non-recycled Phone Number?
The cost depends upon the service provider you choose. For example, in Calilio, securing a phone number will cost you a minimum of $12.
How Long Does It Take for a Disconnected Number to Be Recycled?
Depending on service providers, a disconnected number takes a couple of months to be recycled. On average, it takes six months.
Do Deactivate Phone Numbers Get Reused?
Yes, deactivated phone numbers get reused. Once inactive, the number eventually gets recycled and assigned to new users.
How Do I Get My Old Phone Number Back?
If the number hasn’t been recycled, you can get your old number back by contacting your previous service provider. However, if it's recycled, you won’t be able to get it back.
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