Block Phone Numbers or Phone Number Patterns

You can prevent sending text messages to unauthorized phone numbers by blocking those numbers or by blocking those numbers that match a specific pattern.

To do this, you need to add the phone numbers or phone number patterns to a CSV file, compress the file, and then upload it using the Recruiting Messaging Configuration task.

These are the specifications of the CSV file:

• Each compressed file should contain only one CSV file.
• The file size must not exceed 2 MB.
• You must upload separate files, one for phone numbers and another for phone number patterns.

Here are a few things to consider about the file used for uploading phone numbers:

• The CSV file must contain only one column and it must not be empty.
• If the phone number contains a + sign or a comma or brackets, you must enclose them within double quotes.
• The phone number must include the country code and area code.

Here are a few things to consider about the file used for uploading phone number patterns:

• The CSV file must contain only one column and it must not be empty.
• You need to use regular expression patterns for phone number patterns. For example, to block phone numbers beginning with 1800, use a regular expression such as 1800.*

Note: Using this task, you can also unblock phone numbers or phone number patterns that were blocked earlier.

1. In the Setup and Maintenance work area, go to:
   • Offering: Recruiting and Candidate Experience
   • Functional Area: Recruiting and Candidate Experience Management
   • Task: Recruiting Messaging Configuration
2. In the Block Phone Numbers or Patterns section, click Edit.

   If you haven’t uploaded phone numbers or phone number patterns so far, before you click Edit, you can download a sample file from the downloadable links available in this section.

3. From the Manage Phone Numbers or Patterns list, select one of these options:
   • Add Phone Numbers: Block phone numbers.
   • Add Phone Numbers: Block phone number patterns.
   • Delete Phone Numbers: Unblock phone numbers.
   • Delete Phone Number Patterns: Unblock phone number patterns.
4. Upload the CSV file that contains the blocked numbers or patterns. To unblock phone numbers, you must use another CSV file.
   If you'd blocked some phone numbers earlier, the new phone numbers that you upload now will get added to the blocked list.
5. Click Save.

What to do next

Using this task, you can also download the list of blocked phone numbers or phone number patterns by clicking the respective download links. You can also generate a report from the Reports for Text Messages section in this task to understand how many text messages were blocked per country.

When you specify the blocked phone numbers or phone number patterns, any text messages that are sent to the blocked numbers or patterns will be blocked in Recruiting. You can see the Blocked status and the reason for the block in the Text Messages section of the Messages tab. In the Redwood version of Recruiting, you can resend blocked messages, if you unblock the phone numbers or phone number patterns.