Automatic Phone Number Formatting

[usmiclow]

When a phone number field has data put into it, it is up to the User to format it the way they deem appropriate. That is not the most user-friendly or data-centric approach. This is a good way to allow users to enter incorrect or sloppy data and cause possibly difficulty with search results while also affecting adoption. There are many other CRM platforms out there (At least 12 I could find) which will automatically format a telephone number.   Hubspot does not currently have this basic feature.

Suggested solution: When a telephone number is typed into a phone field, the number should automatically format to the Contact's standardized country format with a country code in front of it.  So, for US, +1 (555) 555-5555, for UK, +44 5555 555555, etc.  Some countries do not have standardized formats, but widely accepted formats, or multiple formats depending on when the phone number was assigned. I do not know of an easy solution for that, but choosing one format or at the minimum, placing the correct country code in front of the numbers according to the selected country on the Contact or Company would be helpful. Possibly a non-editable drop-down with country abbreviation and code which auto-fills but is still selectable in case of error. This could also help with the calling feature if calling out of the country.

An admin User should be able to toggle in settings whether or not the field will auto format with country code. At the bare minimum, as a US based company, it should at least format any 10 digit numbers into standard US format (555) 555-5555.

[usmiclow]

👋Hi everyone, Rachel from the Product team here. I wanted to share a relevant beta update: Phone number property validations.

• You’ll now be able to set validation rules for custom and default phone number properties. If you turn on phone number validation, the property value must match E.164 format. Once you apply the validation rule, users cannot remove phone number formatting when manually editing phone number property values.
• Additionally, you will be able to set a default country code for phone number properties that will automatically be applied to updates to phone numbers via Import. If a value is missing a country code but is valid based on the other requirements, the selected country code is added automatically before the value is saved.

Opt into the beta here. Thanks in advance for your feedback! 

[usmiclow]

Hello All,

We are excited to announce that phone number formatting is now live to all users. 

 

How does it work?

Phone numbers can now be formatted automatically. Standard formatting and validation will be applied to phone numbers based on country code.

Value formatting:

For phone numbers values entered via CSV import or API use the following format: '+18779290687 ext123'

• This functionality applies to the default Phone Number, and Mobile Phone number properties.
• To use it, select a country code and enter the phone number in digits only. Formatting will be applied automatically.
• Existing phone numbers in your CRM that have a country code and are valid will be formatted automatically.
• If you prefer to not use automatic formatting, you can click "remove number formatting" below the field. This will remove all formatting and allow you to enter any characters. To apply formatting to an unformatted number, click "apply number formatting" underneath the field.

[usmiclow]

Hello HubSpot community! 

We understand how important it is to have phone numbers stored in valid formats in the CRM. Since my last update in March 2020, we have renewed our focus to improving our calling specific functionality. We do not have a concrete timeline or details that we're comfortable committing to yet. However, I am moving this idea to the "in planning" stage to better reflect our commitment to this improvement, as we currently are researching and prioritizing the work required to validate proper formatting for numbers stored in the CRM. 

We'll continue to monitor the use cases and needs submitted on this thread and will post updates as we have them. Your patience and continued feedback is very much appreciated as we work towards delivering a solution! 

Thank you as always for your continued feedback and support, it helps us build a better product.

[usmiclow]

Hello HubSpot Community, 

Thank you as always for your continued feedback, it helps us build a great product.

We are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating our priorities and roadmap to deliver as much value to our customers as possible. The request to format and validate phone numbers is a good one, I can certainly see how this would deliver value in many different ways. Based on the comments and use cases you all have listed, we are reviewing this request and its feasibility among other priorities on our roadmap. At this time I don’t have any details around timing or delivery, but thanks to the comments and votes on this post we’re actively looking into a solution.

[usmiclow]

Hi all! This idea is not marked as Delivered anymore. There was a misunderstanding a few months ago and I reopened it. We are definitely still working on a more holistic solution to this.

There is a bug with the timestamps of the pinned posts at the top of this thread that are making all my comments appear as if they just happened. Our community developers are aware of the issue. I apologize for any confusion this is causing! Please always reference the status at the top left of the main post for the most up to date info 🙂

[usmiclow]

Thank you all for your feedback! The first time we rolled this out, the changes did not not carry through the entire CRM as detailed in your comments. The team is now working on this and so I am putting this idea back to In Planning.

[usmiclow]

I'm pleased to announce that we have implemented automatic formatting for how phone numbers appear across the CRM, as well as a new "Show country code dropdown" configration option for phone fields in Forms! Any continuing inconsistencies should be brought to the attention of our Support team, and any other phone number related requests should be filed as new ideas. Thanks for your feedback!

[BPorter5]

That's the point isn't it? Most other software formats data in a useful
way why can't hubspot?

Why should we have to have multiple applications to accomplish this?

[elizsmith]

This would be incredibly helpful for us, as we need to copy/paste form submissions (like phone numbers) for our registration form to build new companies into our external reservations systems until we have an API integration.

[PSughrue]

Pick up your phone and put in a contact

The number is formated 

This BASIC database design 

VERY disapointed in this SLoppy ddesign!!!!!

[BuyGoldAndBTC]

One suggestion is to use a Zapier Zap to Zap the phone number into the
correct format, then Zap it back to Hubspot as an updated field

Just a thought!

[elizsmith]

Thank you for the idea! How would that work exactly?

[TimWheeler79]

@BuyGoldAndBTC, you can handle a multitude of actions with Zapier, but do you really want to pay for 2 zaps for every instance? We're talking about fundamental functionality, not something incredibily complicated!

[DDavis13]

Glad that this item is now in planning. This basic function will make a difference to all users.

[PSughrue]

As a user They won't let me do anything except input data.
**bleep**, even ACT let you pick a format from a drop down.
I have done enough database work to know this is a SIMPLE fix. JUST do it

[AHollander314]

It is really simple.

Phone numbers should be stored as ########## and shown in whatever format the user chooses (###) ###-#### or ###-###-####.

Search should work regardless of the format viewed.

Also, searching ANY part of the number should filter the results (last four, for example).

[PSughrue]

And this is doable on the user end?

[CFE]

Agreed with the most recent comments—we use 3CX integration and it's frustrating that a relatively simple fix (storing the stable E164 format number while enabling legibility and auto-formatting with JS in the UI) is still not available. Sacrificing legibility for HubSpot users by forcing manual E164 entry isn't a great alternative.

Hoping this is addressed soon!

[PSughrue]

I'm with you I do not understand the reluctance to fixing this.

[KVeeravalli]

We signed up with HubSpot in Dec' 21 and I had to convince all the internal execs that HubSpot is the best replacement for our legacy CRM. We focus on Hispanic demographic that's big on phone number and not so much on email. Initially, I was surprised to know that we can't dedup by phone number but somehow got around it using a dedup workflow. But yesterday, I found out that we can't even force users to input good phone numbers while creating contact. 90% of our contacts are created manually. I can have people creating "abcd" as phone numbers contact. This is beyond belief. It's so basic to so many software products and I am lost as in why HubSpot doesn't have this basic functionality. Any ETA on when this could be delivered?

[PSughrue]

They are more interested in making cute icon buttons than BASIC functionality

[ACharpin]

How can we manage that for the moment? We have users from all over Europe....

[PSughrue]

Train those that input to use a standard convention.

[KVeeravalli]

HubSpot has released a phone formatting feature (or in the process of releasing it). We got the feature in Prod but was rolled back because of some bugs. I am hoping it will be released back again soon. The feature (we got to see it for a bit) is not perfect but definitely better. It lets you add formatting but the user can disable it. It also allows for extensions, even for mobile phone number. The formatting works only for the 2 system fields - phone number and mobile phone number but not for custom fields. As I said, it is not perfect but much better than what we had before. Now, I hope to get that feature released officially very soon.

[PSughrue]

Thank you

[RMercer]

Four and a half years later and this still isn't an option?!

[PSughrue]

Unbelievable Database 101