DirectoryLookup - TelephoneDirectory • Data8 Web Services API Documentation

DirectoryLookup

Returns a list of up to 200 matching records from the BT OSIS database.

Description

Searches the BT OSIS database and returns an array of results that match the query. Due to licence restrictions, we can only return the first 200 matching results. Should you get an answer which has exactly 200 results then you would be best advised to narrow your criteria by selecting a more precise location or name.

The search criteria are handled with the following rules:

Name Restrictions

The surname can contain a wildcard (asterix *). If you do not specify one then it will not automatically add one.
A wildcard on the surname can only be added after 4 characters. (e.g smit*)
The Forename and MiddleName do not need to be specified, but if they are specified then they will further filter the results.
The Forename and MiddleName will automatically have a wildcard appended if they are just 1 character in length. (e.g. R will search for R*).
The Forename and MiddleName can have a manual wildcard added at any point (e.g. Rich*)

Location Restrictions

The location restrictions are specified by passing in the name of a locality and/or a (partial) postcode.
As a minimum, you must specify either a locality or partial postcode.
Any specified locality must be listed in full.
Postcodes can be specified as full postcodes or partial postcodes. Partial postcodes automatically have a wildcard appended on them.
Partial postcodes understand the hierarchical structure of a postcode. For example, specifying "B" (for Birmingham) does not include "BS" (for Bristol) despite the fact that they share the same first letter. Specifying "CH6" does not include "CH65".
You can specify both a postcode AND a locality - the results are AND'd together. For example "CH" and "LONDON" will return no records. "CH" and "CHESTER" will return records within CHESTER with a CH* postcode. It is generally not useful to specify both a postcode and a locality.

Endpoint URLs

To connect to this service you'll need to use one of these endpoints:

Protocol	URL
JSON	JSON https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/TelephoneDirectory/DirectoryLookup.json
OPEN API	OPEN API https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/swagger/TelephoneDirectory/swagger.json
SOAP	SOAP https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/telephonedirectory.asmx

Parameters

The following parameters can be supplied to this method:

Name	Description
username	username See the available authentication methods. If you are using username & password authentication, specify the username to authenticate as. If you are using API Key authentication and you are not using the JSON, Javascript or ADO APIs, use your API Key here with the prefix `apikey-`, e.g. `apikey-ABCD-1234-EFGH-5678`
password	password If you are using username & password authentication, specify the password to use for authentication. Otherwise leave this blank.
name	name The name of the person to find a telephone number for. At least the surname must be specified.
postcode	postcode The full or partial postcode to search in. Either a `postcode` or a `town` (or both) must be specified.
town	town The town to search in.
options	options An array of options that control further details of how this method operates. See the `Advanced Options` section below, for more information.

Advanced Options

The following options can be specified as part of the option parameter. Each option is specified as a key/value pair. The list of available names is shown below, along with a description of the allowable values for that name.

Name	Description
Common Options
ApplicationName	ApplicationName Gives the name of the calling application - used to break down usage by application in the usage reports on the dashboard.

Results

This method returns an object containing the following fields:

Name Description

Status

Name	Description
Status	Status Indicates whether the method call was successful, or if some error occurred. If the `Success` field is `true`, the other results described below can be used to get the results of the method. If `Success` is `false`, some error occurred in calling the method, such as the authentication failed or the account is out of credits. The details of the error can be obtained from the `ErrorMessage` field, and any other results should be ignored.
Results	Results A list of up to 200 matches for the specified query. Each result contains the following fields: `TelephoneNumber` - the telephone number of the record `Name` - the name associated with the directory entry. This will typically be a first initial and the surname `Address` - the address associated with the directory entry.

Indicates whether the method call was successful, or if some error occurred. If the Success field is true, the other results described below can be used to get the results of the method. If Success is false, some error occurred in calling the method, such as the authentication failed or the account is out of credits. The details of the error can be obtained from the ErrorMessage field, and any other results should be ignored.

Results

A list of up to 200 matches for the specified query. Each result contains the following fields:

TelephoneNumber - the telephone number of the record
Name - the name associated with the directory entry. This will typically be a first initial and the surname
Address - the address associated with the directory entry.

Credit Usage

Each request to this method consumes 1 TelephoneDirectory credit.

Sample Code

Request Format

{
  "name": {
    "Title": "Mr",
    "Forename": "John",
    "MiddleName": "",
    "Surname": "Smith"
  },
  "postcode": "CH",
  "town": "CHESTER",
  "options": {}
}

Response Format

{
  "Status": {
    "Success": true,
    "CreditsRemaining": 1000
  },
  "Results": null
}

Depending on your chosen authentication method you will need to modify this request slightly:

API Key

Post the request to
https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/TelephoneDirectory/DirectoryLookup.json?key=your-api-key
and do NOT include the username or password properties in the request JSON document.

Parameter	Value
Parameters
Name
name	Title Forename MiddleName Surname
postcode	postcode
town	town
Common Options
ApplicationName	ApplicationName
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