It was my friend’s birthday and I hadn’t spoken to him in almost two years. I wanted to call and wish him, but as he had shifted out of the city, all his contact numbers had changed and I didn’t have his e-mail address,” says 27-year-old Fazal Khan. “I realised there must be many people like me trying to get in touch with friends and family, and couldn’t because new phones numbers hadn’t been forwarded or saved,” adds Khan.

So in September this year, Khan decided to create an online space where users could store their new numbers, making it easier for people to find them. A commerce graduate, empowered by years of computer coding, created numberbol.com after an entire month of programming.

“The concept is quite simple. There is a small form in which you have to put in your name, the old phone number and your current number. You will then get a code, which you have to SMS to a given number,” explains Khan.

Though it seems simple, the way numbers are stored at the site is ingenious. As an SMS confirmation is required, it proves that the user is indeed the number holder. Once stored, other users can search for the person by either keying in the older number or typing the first and last names. “I have removed the wild card entry, which means that you can’t just type a letter and see the name and numbers of all the people whose first or last names start with that letter. So mobile phone marketing firms can’t just harvest the site for numbers and then send users advertisements on their phones,” adds Khan.

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