Phone Number Enrichment: Getting Verified Phone Numbers with Smart Enrich
Last updated: November 3, 2026
Watch: Phone Number Enrichment in 3 minutes
Tom, CRED's CPO, shows how the phone waterfall works, how to set the provider order, and a live lookup where CRED keeps searching past an unverified number until it finds a verified one.
Why use Phone Number Enrichment
Phone Number Enrichment now uses the same Smart Enrich logic as our email enrichment, which keeps email bounce rates under 3% on average. CRED checks several data providers in turn and has Twilio verify each number it finds. It only stops when it has a verified number, not at the first number it finds. Twilio-verified numbers are over 97% likely to be an active number the person owns.
Use it when you want to:
Get your sales team dialling numbers that connect, not dead lines
Stop wasting call time on stale numbers from people's old jobs
Enrich your CRM with phone numbers you can trust
Get better coverage than any single phone data vendor can give you
Where to find it
On a contact: click Unveil next to the phone number field to run the phone waterfall for that person.
Waterfall settings: click the settings icon next to the phone number to choose and order your providers.
Phone Number Enrichment is available in every workspace that has enrichment credits.
How to set it up
Prerequisites:
Credits in your workspace (see Credits below)
1. Open the phone waterfall settings
On any contact, click the settings icon next to the phone number field.
2. Choose and order your providers
Drag providers into the order you want CRED to try them. We recommend Cognism, then Apollo, then CRED. Other providers such as RocketReach can be added further down the list.
💡 Tip: The recommended order is a good default for most teams. You only need to change it if your contacts are mostly in a region where a particular provider is known to be stronger.
3. Save
Click Save. Every phone lookup from now on uses this order.
4. Unveil a phone number
On a contact, click Unveil. CRED tries each provider in your order and checks every number it finds with Twilio. It doesn't stop until it has a verified number.
5. Confirm it worked
The contact now shows a phone number marked as verified, along with the provider it came from. If a provider returned a number that failed verification, you'll see that the waterfall skipped it and kept going.
💡 Tip: Once a number is verified, sync it to your CRM or hand it straight to your reps to call.
Credits
Action | Credit cost |
|---|---|
Opening and saving waterfall settings | Free |
Unveiling a phone number with the recommended setup | Fixed price per contact, Twilio verification included |
Unveiling a phone number with a custom provider order | Priced per provider and step used |
A lookup where no provider has a number | No charge for an empty result |
Credits are taken when you click Unveil, not when you save your settings.
Full breakdown: credit consumption table · FAQs (Credits)
Permissions
Admins can change the workspace's phone waterfall settings, including the provider order.
Members can unveil phone numbers using the settings the Admin has saved, drawing on the credits allocated to them.
Unveiled numbers are visible to anyone in the workspace who can see that contact.
More on roles: CRED Role Overview: Admin & Member
Data privacy
CRED sends the contact's details to the providers in your waterfall to look up a number, and sends the number it finds to Twilio for verification.
Results are stored in your workspace and are only visible to people who already have permission to view that contact.
Phone numbers are personal data. CRED sources and processes them under its GDPR commitments.
Details: GDPR & Data Privacy in CRED
FAQs
What does "verified" mean for a phone number?
CRED has checked the number with Twilio, our verification provider. A verified number is over 97% likely to be an active number that belongs to that person. For email, the same job is done by ZeroBounce.
Why didn't CRED stop at the first number it found?
The waterfall only stops at a verified number. If a provider returns a number that fails verification, CRED moves on to the next provider. You get a number you can trust, not just the first one available.
Does unveiling a phone number use credits?
Yes. Credits are taken when you click Unveil. With the recommended setup you pay one fixed price per contact, and Twilio verification is included in it. See the credit consumption table for current rates.
Why can't I change the provider order?
Only Admins can edit the workspace's waterfall settings. Ask your Admin to update them, or see CRED Role Overview: Admin & Member.
Which provider order should I use?
We recommend Cognism, then Apollo, then CRED. This is the setup we've found gives the best results for most teams.
What if no provider has a verified number?
CRED shows you any unverified numbers it found and marks them as unverified, so you can decide whether to use them.
Is this the same as the email waterfall?
Yes, it uses the same Smart Enrich logic. Read How CRED Email Enrichment Works for the full detail.