Phone number extractor

Extract and match phone numbers from arbitrary text strings from e.g websites, forums posts and online classifieds. While we got a great library for international phone number validation and formatting e.g Google libPhoneNumber my library is able to identify possible phone number candidates by examining free text of any length.

Features:

• Extract phone number candidates from free text
• Extract numbers with / without international prefixes (e.g +61)
• Detects almost any imaginable way of writing a phone number
• Detect obfuscated phone numbers
• Examples included
• Unit tested

Background

For a recent project I was asked to extract phone numbers from online adverts. At first it seemed like a trivial task, but I soon realised that people write phone numbers in so many different ways it will make your head spin! After researching local classified sites I literally found every possible combination imaginable - including with / without international prefix, number-to-letter substitution, intended obfuscation, varying block size, brackets, spaces, dashes - you name it! Easy for humans to recognise, but pretty hard for a computer.

My system attacks the problem by removing all non numeric characters from a string input, putting the numbers into an array, iterating through the array and applying regular expressions combined with specific detection rules.

This module does a great job of capturing a vast array of various formats of valid phone numbers while avoiding false positives (not quite true for US phone numbers, please read the "limitations" section below).

While this system largely works, it is not very sophisticated and has its limitations. A better approach would utilise machine learning and fancy algorithms, but since I didn't want this to turn into a science project and I don't know much about machine learning, I took this approach.

Examples

Extract phone number candidates from a single string

const extractor = require('phone-number-extractor');

extractor.getCandidates(
    "Air Conditioned, Power Steering, SUPER DOOPER LOW KLM's @ 78,238, SET AND FORGET REGO Until June 2016!!, Power Mirrors, Tinted Windows, Central Locking, CD Mp3/AUX/USB AM/FM Stereo, Bluetooth Connectivity, Partial Leather Interior, Dual SRS Air Bags, In Cabin Roll Bar, Rear Tow Bar Accessory, EFS Lift Kit Upgrade, Side Steps,  Added Essential Upgrades: - Shovel - Farm Jack - Sand Ladder - CB Radio (Oricom) - Brand New Mud Tyres with Sunraysia Rims - Dual Front ARB LED Spot Lights (2 x 185W) - Front Bull Bar - Full Length Top Luggage Rack - Fire Extinguisher - Rear Cabin Cage - Genuine Snorkel - Fuel Cans A STEAL at This Price! What a GEM! This Is a Must See!!! Immaculate Condition Inside & Out, Nothing To Spend!!!  Enquire Today!! DO NOT MISS OUT! We offer: *5 Year Unlimited Klms Warranty Plus 24/7 Roadside Service Australia Wide (terms & conditions apply) *100% clear title includes -No Accident History (no written off) -No Encumbrance Owing (no money owing) *Trades-Ins & Test Drive Available *Extended Trading Hours: Open 7 Days A Week: -Mon-Fri 9am - 5:30 pm -Sat 9am- 5pm -Sun 10am - 4pm (after hour appointments available) *Contact Us For On 0254 123 123 + click to reveal *Website: http://www.stevesautoworld.com.au *Find Us On Facebook & Like Our Page, https://www.facebook.com/steves.autoworld",
    'AU'
)

.then(function(res){
    console.log(res); // [ '0254123123' ]
})

.catch(function(err){
    throw err;
});

Extract phone number candidates from multiple strings

const extractor = require('phone-number-extractor')
    , Promise = require('bluebird');

var texts = [
   "Air Conditioned, Power Steering, SUPER DOOPER LOW KLM's @ 78,238, SET AND FORGET REGO Until June 2016!!, Power Mirrors, Tinted Windows, Central Locking, CD Mp3/AUX/USB AM/FM Stereo, Bluetooth Connectivity, Partial Leather Interior, Dual SRS Air Bags, In Cabin Roll Bar, Rear Tow Bar Accessory, EFS Lift Kit Upgrade, Side Steps,  Added Essential Upgrades: - Shovel - Farm Jack - Sand Ladder - CB Radio (Oricom) - Brand New Mud Tyres with Sunraysia Rims - Dual Front ARB LED Spot Lights (2 x 185W) - Front Bull Bar - Full Length Top Luggage Rack - Fire Extinguisher - Rear Cabin Cage - Genuine Snorkel - Fuel Cans A STEAL at This Price! What a GEM! This Is a Must See!!! Immaculate Condition Inside & Out, Nothing To Spend!!!  Enquire Today!! DO NOT MISS OUT! We offer: *5 Year Unlimited Klms Warranty Plus 24/7 Roadside Service Australia Wide (terms & conditions apply) *100% clear title includes -No Accident History (no written off) -No Encumbrance Owing (no money owing) *Trades-Ins & Test Drive Available *Extended Trading Hours: Open 7 Days A Week: -Mon-Fri 9am - 5:30 pm -Sat 9am- 5pm -Sun 10am - 4pm (after hour appointments available) *Contact Us For On 0254 123 123 + click to reveal *Website: http://www.stevesautoworld.com.au *Find Us On Facebook & Like Our Page, https://www.facebook.com/steves.autoworld"
 , "Sliding door, screen door and 2 windows. Pulled out of a granny flat. $200. Pick up Kambah. 0398 432 432 or 03-98 777-777"
 , "Secure undercover car spaces available for long term rental. Access is by security fob 24⁄7. The space is in a high security complex on Campbell Street Surry Hills, a very short walk to Taylor Square, Bourke and Crown Streets. $370 per month. Call (04)34.432.112 between 9am and 5pm."
];

var tasks = [];

texts.forEach(function(text){
    tasks.push(
        extractor.getCandidates(text, 'AU')
    )
});

Promise.all(tasks)
    .spread(function(result1, result2, result3){
        console.log(result1); // [ '0254123123' ]
        console.log(result2); // [ '0398432432', '0398777777' ]
        console.log(result3); // [ '0434432112' ]
    })

    .catch(function(err){
        throw err;
    });

Format results using GoogleLibPhoneNumber

"GoogleLibPhoneNumber" is Google's common library for parsing, formatting and validating international phone numbers.

const extractor = require('phone-number-extractor');

extractor.getCandidates(
    "Air Conditioned, Power Steering, SUPER DOOPER LOW KLM's @ 78,238, SET AND FORGET REGO Until June 2016!!, Power Mirrors, Tinted Windows, Central Locking, CD Mp3/AUX/USB AM/FM Stereo, Bluetooth Connectivity, Partial Leather Interior, Dual SRS Air Bags, In Cabin Roll Bar, Rear Tow Bar Accessory, EFS Lift Kit Upgrade, Side Steps,  Added Essential Upgrades: - Shovel - Farm Jack - Sand Ladder - CB Radio (Oricom) - Brand New Mud Tyres with Sunraysia Rims - Dual Front ARB LED Spot Lights (2 x 185W) - Front Bull Bar - Full Length Top Luggage Rack - Fire Extinguisher - Rear Cabin Cage - Genuine Snorkel - Fuel Cans A STEAL at This Price! What a GEM! This Is a Must See!!! Immaculate Condition Inside & Out, Nothing To Spend!!!  Enquire Today!! DO NOT MISS OUT! We offer: *5 Year Unlimited Klms Warranty Plus 24/7 Roadside Service Australia Wide (terms & conditions apply) *100% clear title includes -No Accident History (no written off) -No Encumbrance Owing (no money owing) *Trades-Ins & Test Drive Available *Extended Trading Hours: Open 7 Days A Week: -Mon-Fri 9am - 5:30 pm -Sat 9am- 5pm -Sun 10am - 4pm (after hour appointments available) *Contact Us For On 0254 123 123 + click to reveal *Website: http://www.stevesautoworld.com.au *Find Us On Facebook & Like Our Page, https://www.facebook.com/steves.autoworld",
    'AU',
    true // Set this param to true for advanced result formatting options
)

.then(function(res){
    console.log(res);
})

.catch(function(err){
    throw err;
});

This will produce:

[
    {
        input: '0254123123',
        countryCode: 'AU',
        isPossibleNumber: true,
        isPossibleNumberWithReason: 'IS_POSSIBLE',
        isNumberValid: true,
        formatted: '(02) 5412 3123',
        national: '(02) 5412 3123',
        international: '+61 2 5412 3123'
    }
]

TODO

• Add support for more countries (currently we got US, AU)
• Add support for business numbers (prefix 1300, 1800)

Installation

$ npm install phone-number-extractor

Unit tests

npm test 

Limitations

• US phone numbers are difficult to distinguish from any other 10 digit number simply because of the large amount of US area codes (currently 343+)

• This software cannot capture every single combination imaginable. Especially number-to-letter substitution is difficult to detect e.g O4!4.Ol2;341 (= 0414 012 341). In my experience very few users write their phone number this way. From a programming point of view it would be possible to cover for edge cases like above, but I have chosen not to.

• Business numbers prefix 1300 and 1800 are currently not supported.

Issues, bug reports

https://github.com/ChristianRich/phone-number-extractor/issues

Homepage

https://github.com/ChristianRich/phone-number-extractor

My blog

http://chrisrich.io

License

MIT