Bulk Edit Phone Number Validation

[michaeljay201]

The new auto-formatting and validation feature for phone numbers is a step in the right direction.

However, the current integration seems to be missing the mark with regard to user experience. I was unable to find any articles or posts in the Help Center announcing the new auto-formatting feature. The only Knowlege Base article that pops up when searching "phone number validation" is a detailed breakdown of editing default contact properties, and then there is only a reference to the validation and formatting being applied "automatically by Hubspot based on the country code."

This feature is certainly a step in the right direction, but several improvements are needed to improve the user experience and make the feature more functional overall (noting that recent comments on an "old" idea thread are already being discussed here; skip to page 7).

Suggested improvements include:

1. Global Setting to Enable/Disable auto-formatting at the account level - currently, the feature is enabled by default with no disable setting available
2. Global Setting to assign a default Country Code - currently, the Country Code must be selected manually for every new contact (see screenshot below)
3. Bulk edit phone numbers to apply Country Code format & validation -- currently, only able to apply formatting & validation when editing one individual contact at a time OR when adding to new contacts manually added (not via web forms -- this is needed, too)
4. Retain "number only" format for export and/or sync to other apps or integrations to remove non-number characters (parentheses, plus sign, spaces)

Default behavior of phone number formatting & validation when creating a new contact:

There are likely other enhancements that other users, especially those not based in the US, would appreciate.

[michaeljay201]

👋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! 

[michaeljay201]

Hi folks,

I’m Ian, the Product Manager for HubSpot’s Forms tool.

Thank you all for taking the time to submit, upvote, and comment on this Idea. I'm happy to report that we are now enforcing phone number validation on all phone number properties as part of the new Hubspot Forms Editor. You can opt-in to the public beta here. 

Ian

[atol_kelly]

I'm on this bandwagon too, It could be as simple as updating the property to include the country/area code in the format so that it is validated at the point of submission. 

We are having numerous issues with numbers that have been validated reverting and preventing phone calls or automated sms being sent to contacts.

[CSmith38]

I agree with the auto-formatting of phone numbers. It would be a big help when you have to input someone really fast and don't have time to fiddle with the specifics of a phone number to make it not confusing for my other sales associates to look at. 

[EAmoroso]

This would be fantastic to have v.s. using outside tools

[LSiesto]

If I NEED customers who are opting into SMS to format their numbers into +1 (xxx) xxx-xxxx in order to be able to text them - there should be a way to either format the property to force that input, or a template in the ops hub that is designed to do that autoformat once enrolled... This seems like such a huge oversight to me. I shouldn't need to be (or hire) an advanced coder to use an upgrade like this that's based on a logical progression. Customer opts in to texting through form, customer provides a number in whatever format they want because the field isn't delimited, workflow accepts the form as enrollment criteria and attempts to send a text welcome to whatever string of numbers customer entered, workflow fails. I see no work-around for this other than a manual re-enrollment process that requires manual reformatting of the phone and that's just unrealistic, untimely for the customer, and inefficient for my team.

[oc3]

My contacts are all US based. It should be a "must have" to be able to do the following:

1. Edit the default phone number formatting by country so we don't have to manually search for "United States" each time.
2. Automatically format numbers that are imported (or)
3. Have the ability to bulk edit formatting on phone numbers.

Clean formatting should be automatic on day one, not something we are asked to pay extra for. 

Clean data encourages:

1. Accurate customer touchpoints and improved sales. 
2. Improved email deliverability 
3. Increased customer reach

Please incorporate this into Hubspot. There's clearly a demand for it. 

[HGroverConcept]

michaeljay201 and all others here, I have found a solution that does not involve opps hub. If you format your CSV import as such:

"+18779290687 ext123" or "+18779290687" (for non-extensions)

Then upon import, you can bulk update all to the appropriate country code and validation. The example above is US.

A few Excel tips:

1. Use text to columns to remove dashes and/or parenthesis

2. Adding an apostrophe prior to the "+1" will make it seen as text instead of looking for a formula

3. Concatnate it all together to prep for your import.

Hope this saves hours of your time!

[JDíazRod]

It would be quite useful!

[CFrakes]

This is also driving me crazy.  We have an integration with another platform/portal, and any time one of our students logs into that, it 'undoes' the validation in Hubspot and I have to do it again.  It seems like I spend a large part of my day re-validating phone numbers.  It would be great if it was 'sticky' and stayed once validated unless the number completely changes.

[JDíazRod]

Item 3 would be wonderful: Bulk edit phone numbers to apply formatting and country code validation -- currently, you can only apply formatting and validation when editing an individual contact at a time OR when adding to new contacts added manually.

[AD42]

Bump

[atotheme]

Big upvote! We also need the ability to assign a default Country Code in bulk - currently, working through thousands of contacts and the Country Code must be selected manually for every new contact. 

[MBernstein92]

Please add this feature!

[jmbray]

+1 this is a nice feature but could use an upgrade because of the issues others have mentioned. It would be nice to have a more automated validation based on HubSpot country code. Bulk updating. It makes our SMS and third-party systems not work well. Even our querying the HubSpot API is not consistent based on searching a contact by phone number (for our lead reporting and other such functions). Thx HS product team!

[DDean7]

this is SUPER important to my business ans would save a stack of time 

[IMcDonald]

Hi folks,

I’m Ian, the Product Manager for HubSpot’s Forms tool.

Thank you all for taking the time to submit, upvote, and comment on this Idea. I'm happy to report that we are now enforcing phone number validation on all phone number properties as part of the new Hubspot Forms Editor. You can opt-in to the public beta here. 

Ian

[AD42]

@IMcDonald Great. Step in the wrong direction just like the menu bar. Can we disable it if it goes to the main build? It's a huge pain...and if it's forced hubspot will be unusable for my case use.

[TMHW]

This beta solution seems to only be a formatting fix in forms. What about bulk editing for fix phone number formats so we can send out marketing SMS messages? I'm shocked this hasn't been addressed yet.

[ebpitkow]

@IMcDonald What's the beta called? I can't find it to opt in. Thanks!

[SCalabretta]

I don't understand how this beta can be used to format the mobile phone property in forms--can someone enlighten me??