Block Phone Numbers or Phone Number Patterns

You can prevent sending SMS or WhatsApp messages to unauthorized phone numbers by blocking those numbers or by blocking those numbers that match a specific pattern. After you add the blocked list, any SMS or WhatsApp messages that are sent to these numbers or patterns will be blocked in Recruiting. You can see the Blocked status and the reason for the block when you open the SMS or WhatsApp message.

An error message is displayed to candidates on the career site when they provide a number that's on the blocked numbers and patterns list.

To enable this feature, 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. If you haven’t uploaded phone numbers or phone number patterns so far, you can download a sample file from the downloadable links available in the Block Phone Numbers or Patterns section. Next, click Edit in this section.
3. From the Manage Phone Numbers or Patterns list, select one of these options:
   • Add Phone Numbers: Block phone numbers.
   • Add Patterns: Block phone number patterns.
   • Delete Phone Numbers: Unblock phone numbers.
   • Delete Patterns: Unblock phone number patterns.
4. For each of the above actions, upload a separate CSV file that contains the numbers or patterns. So if you’re using a CSV file to block some phone numbers, you must upload a different CSV file for unblocking some phone numbers.
   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

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

In the Redwood version of Recruiting, you can resend blocked SMS messages, if you unblock the phone numbers or phone number patterns.