Supporting Verification and Enrollment

Many websites, including government websites, require a phone number that can receive text messages, a verified email address, or both, before a person can create an account, reset a password, or complete two-step sign-in. This requirement can keep people without reliable access to a phone or email from services they are eligible to receive, and VOICE helps them meet it in four ways.

• The shared inbox, which receives codes sent by email.
• VOICE's cell phone, which receives codes sent by text message during sessions.
• Help applying for Lifeline, so that people have numbers of their own.
• Backup codes, which allow a person to regain access when other methods fail.

Codes Sent by Email

A VOICE email address can be used to create accounts and recover passwords, and the volunteers who monitor the shared inbox give the person any code or link that arrives for them. Codes usually expire within minutes, so the person needs to be present, or reachable by phone, when the code arrives. First-time setups work best during a session, when the person, the volunteer helping them, and a volunteer who monitors the shared inbox are all available at once.

Codes Sent by Text Message

Many government and benefits websites refuse to send codes to internet-based numbers, including Google Voice numbers, while the ordinary cellular number of VOICE's cell phone is often accepted. During a session, a volunteer can enter that number as the contact number for an account being created or recovered. The code arrives on VOICE's cell phone, and the volunteer reads it aloud to the person, who enters it.

Before entering the number, it helps to explain to the person that it belongs to VOICE rather than to them, that later codes sent to it cannot reach them between sessions, and that until the number is changed, codes for the account, including password resets, arrive where volunteers can see them. The arrangement is meant to last only until the person has a number of their own. Some agencies send codes only to a number already on file, and in that case VOICE cannot help with the code itself, although a volunteer can help the person contact the agency directly.

Lifeline Enrollment

Lifeline is a federal program, administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under the Federal Communications Commission, that discounts phone or internet service for people who qualify.

• Eligibility. As of 2026, a household qualifies with an income at or below 135 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. It also qualifies when someone in the household takes part in certain federal programs, such as Medicaid, SNAP, Supplemental Security Income, or the Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit, or in certain Tribal programs. The full list is at lifelinesupport.org, and the program allows one benefit per household.
• Benefit. As of 2026, the discount is up to $9.25 a month for service that includes internet data, and up to $34.25 a month on Tribal lands. Fewer carriers now offer plans that cost nothing after the discount.
• Applying. In most states, applications go through the National Verifier, linked from lifelinesupport.org, which checks many applicants against federal records automatically. California, Oregon, and Texas run their own enrollment. When documents are needed, a recent benefits letter or a screenshot of an online benefits account usually works, as long as it shows the person's name, the program, the agency, and a recent date. Free plans must be used at least once every 30 days, and every subscriber confirms their eligibility each year, so people need to know about both.
• Carriers. Carriers that have offered Lifeline include Assurance Wireless, SafeLink Wireless, and Access Wireless, among others. Carriers and their plans vary by state and change often, so it is worth reviewing the current options with each person.

Volunteers who help with applications are best prepared when they learn the eligibility rules, the common supporting documents, and which carriers serve the area before their first session doing this work. A Lifeline phone gives a person a number they own and control, which resolves the problem of text message codes for as long as the service stays active.

Identity Checks With ID.me and Login.gov

Many federal and state agencies require people to confirm their identity through ID.me or Login.gov before granting access to an online account. Different agencies use different services, so the first step is confirming which one applies. As of 2026, both usually ask for a government-issued photo ID, a Social Security number, an email address, and a phone number. Both also compare the phone number with records in the person's name, so prepaid numbers and numbers in someone else's name often fail. ID.me usually asks for a picture or short video of the person's face as well, which Login.gov asks for only in some cases.

• A VOICE email address meets the email requirement.
• The device used for this step needs a working camera, and the picture comes out best in good, even lighting.
• The volunteer steps away while the service takes a picture or video of the person's face.
• A person with a Lifeline phone uses their own number. VOICE's cell phone can receive a sign-in code, although its number may not pass the identity check, because it is not in the person's name. Completing Lifeline enrollment first, or using the services' other ways of confirming identity, often works better.

Both services have offered alternatives for people who cannot complete the standard process, such as a video call with an ID.me agent or a Login.gov check in person at a participating post office. These options change from time to time, and each service's own pages show what it currently offers.

Backup and Recovery Codes

Setting up two-step sign-in with someone is a good time to generate and print the service's backup or recovery codes, if the service offers them. These single-use codes allow the person to regain access to the account if their usual method fails. The person can keep the codes, or volunteers can store them in a sealed envelope, labeled with the person's name or the name they use with VOICE, in a locked box. VOICE records which accounts have stored codes, but never the codes themselves.

Example

James has been unable to finish setting up his benefits account. The website requires a code sent by text message, and he has no phone. At a session, a volunteer checks his eligibility with him on lifelinesupport.org. He qualifies through SNAP, the National Verifier confirms it without further documents, and the carrier he chooses ships a phone. At the following session, James finishes the benefits account with the volunteer beside him, so that codes now go to his own phone and correspondence goes to his VOICE email address. He prints his backup codes and decides to keep them himself.