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Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

developer.contactive.com

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Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#41
post #40

This looks like a ripoff of EveryoneAPI.com

We solve a similar problem but our approaches are different. For example, we don't charge for every bit of information and we integrate with social networks to provide a more complete version of the profile, including job position and education.

I was told by phone that those same features are coming soon. I am going to check out your product and theirs and run some accuracy and coverage tests.

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#42
post #40

This looks like a ripoff of EveryoneAPI.com

We solve a similar problem but our approaches are different. For example, we don't charge for every bit of information and we integrate with social networks to provide a more complete version of the profile, including job position and education.

Hi Chris Brunner here, from EveryoneAPI.com. I agree that this is not a ripoff of our product. As uqimu stated, we're solving the same problem, but we use very different sources. While social is a component that we utilize, it is not our primary source. hackmorris is correct that we'll be adding more datapoints from social shortly, and uqimu is correct that we don't offer all of it today.

I look forward to checking out the Contactive API, and perhaps even having a discussion with them to see if there is an opportunity for us to work together.

In the meantime, since our product was mentioned here, I'd be happy to field any questions.

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#43
post #3

Seems like Full Contact? http://www.fullcontact.com/

These are some difference with Full Contact: - All Contactive API accesses are real time. If we have the data, we will return it right away, if we don't, we will try to find it as soon as we can and return it on the same API request. Full Contact uses the callback pattern, where they notify when they are able or not to resolve the information on a separate call (if they dont have it at the moment of query). - Contact…

Hi there,

I'm one of the lead engineers for the FullContact Person API and there's a few inaccuracies with your feature comparison that I'd like to address.

1) True, we can optionally do callbacks. However we'll return the data immediately if we've seen it recently. This is most cases. If callbacks don't work for you, data is usually populated within 10 seconds and can be polled for.

2) We also prioritize data. All of our fields that make sense are sorted and have flags to denote preferred elements.

3) We also have an HTML endpoint, however it's a terrible idea to embed into an iframe as you'll leak your API key. For this reason we recommend that our customers proxy calls through their own server-side endpoint to ensure their API key does not leak. That being said, we do provide the HTML endpoint, mainly for internal usecases where users can be trusted or cases where users bring their own keys.

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#45

This + twilio = user identification. Looks like I'm gonna have to be more careful with my phone number...

We know there may be some privacy concerns regarding the use of our data but we don't allow anyone to systematically query our API to build phone number lists (We just allow 180 requests per min) We are very strict in the way people use our API. That's the reason we don't have an open registration process.

180/m? That's a database of over 10,000 records in an hour, and that's only if the querying party is stupid enough to not think of using multiple API keys in parallel.

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#46

This + twilio = user identification. Looks like I'm gonna have to be more careful with my phone number...

We know there may be some privacy concerns regarding the use of our data but we don't allow anyone to systematically query our API to build phone number lists (We just allow 180 requests per min) We are very strict in the way people use our API. That's the reason we don't have an open registration process.

Yikes 180/m may seem like a lot ... but in the world of data that is a very small amount of usage. Your site says "big data" so this limitation begs the question -- Are you big data (enterprise) or not?

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#47
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is already a business reality for most savvy organizations. Example, ordered pizza on saturday. Sunday, call another branch of the same pizza shop and the person answering the phone greets me by name before I even have a chance to say hello... I was creeped out for a second, but then proceeded to order more pizza.

There's nothing weird going on there.. They took down your name when you called and they simply log you in their system with the phone # you called in with, your name, and likely your address if you got it delivered.

Information sharing is only recently the norm. Even between different branches of the same pizza chain.

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#48
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing weird going on there.. They took down your name when you called and they simply log you in their system with the phone # you called in with, your name, and likely your address if you got it delivered.

Information sharing is only recently the norm. Even between different branches of the same pizza chain.

I'm just saying it's not likely they used a API or something to find your name from your phone number. They are just using good ol manual registration to make your ordering time faster next time.

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#49
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. We have a much more bigger phone number database and provide very compelling profiles associated to each phone number. Full Contact doesn't focus on phone numbers. We do. As a matter of fact, our API powers our core services like our Contactive Caller ID app which has more than 1 million downloads in the Google Play Store with a consistent 4-5 star rating.

Direct question: are you using the app to collect info about the users to you can enhance your database also based on that data?

We use the app for machine learning purposes. When you get a call that cannot be identified, we ask the user to input the name of the caller.

Additionally, if we identify a call, but the resolution has low confidence, the user will be prompted to vote it up or down. This feeds directly into our identity graph, recalculating in realtime the connections between identities and contact information.

We also use the client app to enhance the existing connections in our identity graph. Each edge in our graph has a confidence level, and by using the data available to the app we adjust and recalculate the confidence levels of our directory in real-time. We never publish data points like photos, notes, etc. from the address book of our users.

Re: Show HN: Contactive API – Turn telephone numbers into full profiles

#50
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Direct question: are you using the app to collect info about the users to you can enhance your database also based on that data?

We use the app for machine learning purposes. When you get a call that cannot be identified, we ask the user to input the name of the caller. Additionally, if we identify a call, but the resolution has low confidence, the user will be prompted to vote it up or down. This feeds directly into our identity graph, recalculating in realtime the connections between identities and contact information. We also use the client…

So the answer is yes??
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