Multifactor Authentication

Many websites, government websites among them, send a code by text message or email before they let you sign in, create an account, or reset a password. Many codes expire within minutes, so a code that is slow to reach you can keep you out of the account. Websites call this step multifactor authentication, two-step verification, or two-step sign-in.

Codes Sent by Email

A VOICE email address can receive codes and links sent by email. A code has to reach you before it expires, so this works best during a session, when a volunteer who monitors the shared inbox can give you the code as soon as it arrives.

Codes Sent by Text Message

VOICE's message line, the number people call to leave messages, is an internet-based phone number, and many banks and government websites will not send codes to numbers of that kind. VOICE therefore keeps a separate cell phone with an ordinary cellular number, which many of these websites accept. During a session, a volunteer can enter that number for an account you are creating or recovering, and when the code arrives, the volunteer reads it to you and you enter it yourself.

The cell phone's number belongs to VOICE, so codes sent to it can reach you only while you are at a session with a volunteer. As long as the number is on your account, any code sent to it, including a password reset, arrives where volunteers can see it. It serves only to get an account started. Once you have a number of your own, which a Lifeline phone often provides, a volunteer can help you put it in the account in place of VOICE's.

Some agencies send codes only to the phone number they already have on file. VOICE cannot receive those codes for you, although a volunteer can help you contact the agency to update the number or to ask about other options.

Backup Codes

Some websites offer backup codes when you turn on multifactor authentication. Each code allows you to regain access to the account once if your usual way of signing in stops working, and a volunteer can help you print them. You can keep the codes yourself, or volunteers can store them for you in a sealed envelope labeled with your name or the name you use with VOICE. Volunteers record which accounts have stored codes, and never the codes themselves.

Recovering a Locked Account

Some services allow you to regain access with an email address or a backup code, while others require the phone number the account already has. When that number no longer works, recovery may not be possible. A volunteer looks at the account with you, tells you plainly which situation applies, and when the account cannot be recovered, helps you look for another route, such as calling the agency from a phone at the session.

Confirming Your Identity Online

Many federal and state agencies ask people to confirm their identity through ID.me or Login.gov before they can use the agency's website. Different agencies use different services, so a volunteer first helps you find out which one you need. As of 2026, both services usually ask for five things.

• A government-issued photo ID.
• Your Social Security number.
• A picture or short video of your face, which Login.gov asks for only in some cases.
• An email address, which can be your VOICE email address.
• A phone number, ideally one in your own name, because the services compare it with phone records.

VOICE has a device with a camera for this step, and the volunteer steps away while the service takes a picture or video of your face. If you do not have a photo ID, or the picture does not work, both services have offered other ways to confirm your identity. ID.me has offered a video call with an agent, and Login.gov a check in person at a participating post office. The volunteer can help you find out what is currently available. If you need both a Lifeline phone and an ID.me or Login.gov account, applying for Lifeline first lets you use your own number at every step.

Example

Tanya is creating an account on a state benefits website, which sends a code by text message, and her phone stopped working last week. At an in-person session, a volunteer explains that VOICE's cell phone can receive the code, but that its number belongs to VOICE, so the account should move to a number of her own as soon as she has one. With her agreement, the volunteer enters the number. When the code arrives, the volunteer reads it to Tanya, and she types it in herself. The website then offers backup codes, which she prints and decides to keep herself. At a later session, once she has a phone of her own, she changes the account's number with a volunteer beside her.