By default a visitor's profile lives on their device. Clear the browser and they are a stranger again; pick up a second phone and they are a different person. Verified Profiles is the fix, and it is available on Growth and Enterprise, and to visitors during the free trial.
How it works for a visitor
- 1
They meet a locked block
You switch on require verification for a block. Visitors see a card in its place, headed with that block's own name so they know what a code buys them.
- 2
They enter a phone number
The card takes a phone number and sends a six-digit code by SMS.
- 3
They type the code
On success the block opens.
- 4
Everything else opens too
Verification lives on the visitor, not the block. One code anywhere unlocks every gated block across all of your Experiences: they are never asked twice.
What verification does
- Survives a cleared browser. The profile is anchored to a verified number rather than to a device.
- Follows them across devices. Phone in the morning, tablet in the afternoon, one visitor.
- Merges history. Visits and answers from before the verification are reconnected, not lost.
- Gates content. A Wi-Fi password, a members' file or a resident-only page can sit behind it.
- Shows in Audience. Verified visitors carry a badge with the last four digits, and are counted separately in the Contactable tile.
What it does not do
This is the part worth reading twice, because a verification badge invites more confidence than it has earned.
- It does not prove who someone is. It proves that whoever is holding the page can also receive a text on that number. A borrowed phone verifies perfectly.
- It is not membership or entitlement. Anyone with any working number can pass it. If a benefit should be restricted to a real member, check that against your own records.
- There is no email verification. Phone numbers only.
- It does not stop sharing. Once a block is unlocked for that visitor, they can photograph it and send it to anyone.
- It is not a login. Visitors do not have NearField accounts, and verifying does not create one.
Two behaviours to know before you rely on it
The opposite is true for consent. If a visitor has not granted the consent that lets NearField hold a profile, the gate stays locked and points them at the consent prompt, because the thing behind the gate is exactly what must not leak.
In the builder preview, nothing is sent and any six-digit code passes, so you can walk the whole flow without spending a message.
Example
Harbour Point Aquarium, the school group pack
Teachers get a Marker in the education room that opens a pack of worksheets. The aquarium does not want the file circulating publicly, so the download block requires verification.
A teacher verifies once on the coach and the pack opens. When they return in the spring on a different phone, the same number reconnects them to the same profile, and the aquarium can see that this is a returning visit rather than a new one. What it cannot see, and does not claim, is that this person is a teacher.
Does a visitor pay for the text?
No. The message is sent by NearField. Standard carrier rules apply to receiving it, as with any SMS.
How many codes can be sent?
There are limits per number, per network address and per account per day, to stop the feature being abused at your expense. A genuine visitor will never meet them; a script will.
Can I see the phone number?
You see the verified badge and the last four digits in Audience. A full number appears only if the visitor also gave it to you through a capture block.
The gate is showing my content to everyone.
Check that the block's verification switch is actually on. On Growth, and during the trial, the gate asks every visitor for a code; below Growth the block is hidden from visitors instead of shown.