---
title: "Start with the number. Get the context."
canonical: "https://bird.com/lookup-api/features/phone-number"
---

# Start with the number. Get the context.

Read the country, serving network, original network and coarse line type in one base lookup. Add only the properties your decision needs.

## Een nummer komt binnen. Een contactroute wordt duidelijk.

Bekijk het basisrecord en het verschil tussen het huidige en het oorspronkelijke netwerk.

[Ontdek telefoonnummeropzoekingen](/docs/guides/lookup/phone-numbers)
Interactieve illustratie met fictieve gegevens. Er wordt geen accounthandeling uitgevoerd.

## Format deliberately. Request what you need.

Understand a number’s format, line type and network context.

### Supply the country calling code.

A leading plus is optional and 00 is accepted in its place. A national-format number without a country code is rejected rather than guessed into another real number.

### Use the base record first.

The base lookup returns serving and issuing networks, coarse line type and the number’s country where one applies. Non-geographic ranges may have no single country.

### Retry the same purchase safely.

Use POST with an Idempotency-Key for automated lookups. Retrying the same request can replay the stored answer instead of buying another lookup; GET cannot carry that key.

[Explore Lookup phone number lookup →](/docs/guides/lookup/phone-numbers)

## Keep building with Lookup.

Refine the line classification or request a current network signal for the task at hand.

[Line type Choose an appropriate next step for the type of number. →](/docs/guides/lookup/phone-numbers)

[Carrier lookup Find the serving and issuing networks for a phone number. →](/docs/guides/lookup/phone-numbers)

[Network presence Check the network-presence information available for a number. →](/docs/guides/lookup/phone-numbers)

[Explore Lookup →](/lookup-api)

## Schaal op zonder controle te verliezen.

Organiseer teams in werkruimtes, beheer API-toegang en traceer wijzigingen via auditlogs.

[Werkruimtes](/docs/guides/workspaces)[Teamrollen](/docs/guides/users-teams-roles)[API-authenticatie](/docs/guides/authentication)
[Ontdek Enterprise](/enterprise)

## Start with Lookup. Build across channels with Bird.

[Get Started](/dashboard/signup?returnTo=%2Fdashboard%2Fw%2Flookup) · [Contact Sales](/demo?product=lookup)

[Email](/email-api) · [SMS](/sms-api) · [WhatsApp](/whatsapp-api) · [Apple Messages](/apple-messages-api) · [Voice](/voice-api)



## Related resources

- [Phone number lookup: check a number before you send](/learn/lookup/phone-number-lookup-check-a-number-before-you-send) (video)
- [Lookup overview](/docs/guides/lookup/overview) (docs)

[Get an implementation brief](/learn/workspace?topic=lookup)