Automatically format phone number when entered manually
Phone numbers are often copied from emails or websites and pasted into Maximizer. If the formatting is not manually changed to the standard format of (000) 000-0000, lists and entries are inconsistent. It would be very helpful to have the phone number fields apply the standard formatting of (000) 000-0000 regardless of how the number was entered, much like the way a manual entry of an Outlook contact is handled. For example, all of the following entries would be reformatted to (604) 601-8000:
a. 6046018000 (currently this the ONLY formatting entry that does this)
b. 604.601.8000
c. 604-601-8000
d. (604)601-8000 (add space after parentheses)
e. 601-8000 (would automatically add local area code as optionaly configuration)
done in version 2017
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@Steve, we chose to follow industry standards for the phone format to ensure consistency and address most people's needs. I'm sorry to see that this impacts your business, but hope the following article helps you to strip out all phone formatting after you export to excel and then apply the phone format that you want: https://exceljet.net/formula/clean-and-reformat-telephone-numbers (the formula to strip out formatting is near the top of the article, and then the explanation about how to format it the way you want is in the comments near the end of the article)
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Steve Almond commented
I agree with the importance of uniform formatting of the phone numbers, but I should have the flexibility to choose what that formatting is going to look like in our Maximizer database. Maximizer has had a default format of 000-000-0000 for some time now and we have adopted that. We produce a directory using our database and now going forward we are going to have two different phone number formats in our database which is going to cost me money in graphic design changes. I am not pleased with that!
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Simon Pickard commented
Paul Battaini makes a very valid point. In the UK mobile numbers are formatted differently to land-lines so flexibility is needed.
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Richard Harris commented
Yes Jin in answer to your comment, I think individuals may have differing format requirements so it should be possible to set up system to meet our individual needs if possible.
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Jin Yu commented
The phone numbers are not always displayed in the same format. We need to consider phone numbers for different regions. For example, the phone number in UK may look like: +33 (0) 134 766 900. Do you think if we should have a preference setting for users to define the format of phone numbers?
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Oliver commented
Standardizing phone numbers is also important if you are trying to use any telephony application (e.g. Skype). This page has some good info on that subject:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc728034(v=ws.10).aspx -
Richard Harris commented
It should be possible to set up the format that suits the user. Remember all users are not US based! International format as indicated by John Boulton is the way to go as this is the accepted format when sending SMS for example and works when you are in a roaming situation. It would be really good to force everyone to enter numbers in the same format (layout chosen by the individual company to suit their needs).
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Holinger Sean-Lee commented
It should be optional, not Automatically. Some of our Customers would have Problems if the Phonenumbers are formatet Automatically.
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Soren Fabricius commented
In the regirsty datbase you can change this by adding the string
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maximizer Software\Maximizer\Modules\AMGR\INTL]
"Phone Mask"="## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##"Here you can make your own format for the phone number
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John Boulton commented
I'd find the addition of international access codes more useful than any prescribed format - and certainly NOT a North American centric implementation. All my phone numbers are saved as per international norms, ie +1 604 601 8000 - avoiding all optional brackets.
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Paul Battaini commented
This should be expanded to allow for other countries phone formats (without having to change a per-install registry key). There should be a database level setting for EACH phone field, since in AU our mobiles are formatted differently to all other numbers. There should also be an option to set Phone Formatting as mandatory.
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Nina commented
This could be useful also when subject are imported.