Mobile-only files vs every number on the record
A file with four numbers per owner looks like more value than a file with one. Sometimes it is.
The case for every number
More numbers is more chances to reach someone, and for certain jobs that is decisive. Probate work, long-abandoned properties, owners who moved years ago — the landline at the last known address is sometimes the only thread.
A file with every number also lets you make your own decisions about what to dial, in what order, with what tooling.
If your dialer is a manual one and your list is small and precious, the extra rows cost you nothing but time.
The case for mobiles only
For text-led outreach the choice makes itself — a landline cannot receive a text, so it is not a contact, it is a row.
It also changes what you are paying for. If a provider bills per number returned, a file padded with landlines and VoIP is a file you are paying more for and reaching fewer people through.
We keep cell and wireless numbers only. Landlines and VoIP are dropped before you are billed, so the count you pay for is the count you can actually text.
And it keeps the count honest: what you bought is what you can work.
Which one you actually want
Running SMS or a power dialer aimed at live conversations: mobiles only, without much argument.
Doing genuine locate work on hard properties, one owner at a time: take every number, and use an investigative product rather than a marketing list if the trail is really cold.
The mistake to avoid is buying a padded file for a texting campaign and reading the row count as reach.
Questions people ask
Do you ever include a landline?
No. Cell and wireless only. If a record has no mobile, it is not delivered and not billed.
What about VoIP numbers?
Dropped as well. Deliverability is poor and carriers treat traffic to them with more suspicion, which is a reputation cost on a sending number that outlives the campaign.
Can I ask for landlines anyway?
No, and that is a product decision rather than a technical limit. Selling a number we do not believe in would make the count we quote mean something different from the count you can call.
Other comparisons
Pick a county and a list type, or send your own addresses. Mobile numbers only, litigator and DNC scrubbed, and anything the county does not hold is credited back.