Phone Numbers
Upcoming WhatsApp features on EIIƎ will use contact phone numbers for sending messages. Changes in this update improve the handling of phone numbers to minimise problems with incompatible numbers. An essential element is the country code.
Entering Numbers
Entering numbers on Contact forms has changes slightly. When you create a contact or update a contact to add a new number the input prompts for a phone number and an optional note. Type in international format, e.g. +44 1224 111111. As you type the phone the input will attempt to update the, adding a GB international code if you don't include this. You can delete the entry using the bin / trash icon. You can optionally add a note, e.g. 'Control Room', 'Personal', 'Duty phone' if it is of interest.
You can add second and additional numbers by clicking the button. When you have more than one number the first number entered is assumed to be a primary number. Change this to another number using the selector adjacent to the numbers. Primary numbers are displayed if phone numbers are included in tables.
Migrating data
IPGN Solutions migrated your existing phone number data, attempting to convert to international numbers, and checking the number is likely valid. When migrating the existing numbers we used the existing international code, or where this wasn't included we deduced an international number as follows:
- if the contact has an address then use the country in the associated address
- if no address then assume a GB number.
Discrepancies noted during the migration have been passed to your system adminstrator, and are included in the notes field for the contact.
For reference, we use an established library to check phone number formats. The library is similar to the one used in this demo number checker: https://libphonenumber.appspot.com/ (opens in a new tab). You can check expected number formats based on public information. Wikipedia provides a convenient format, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Ghana (opens in a new tab)