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Phone number formats

OmniLead stores every phone number in E.164 format. Here's what that means, how numbers are normalized and how to import them.

2 min readLast updated

Phone numbers arrive in every shape: (415) 555-0123, 0044 20 7946 0000, +49 30 901820. OmniLead converts each one to a single international format, E.164, so numbers are consistent, dialable from anywhere and easy to deduplicate.

What E.164 looks like

An E.164 number is a plus sign, the country calling code and the national number, with no spaces, dashes or brackets. It has at most 15 digits.

As writtenCountryE.164
(415) 555-0123United States+14155550123
020 7946 0000United Kingdom+442079460000
030 901820Germany+4930901820
0044 20 7946 0000United Kingdom+442079460000
1-800-555-0199United States+18005550199

In the app, numbers are displayed in a readable international form, such as +1 415 555 0123, but they're stored and exported in E.164.

How OmniLead normalizes numbers

  1. Read the raw number

    The crawler, a provider or your CSV supplies the number as written.

  2. Work out the country

    If the number starts with + or an international prefix such as 00, the country code is taken from it. Otherwise OmniLead uses the country of the organization's address.

  3. Validate it

    The number is checked against that country's numbering plan: length, area codes and number type.

  4. Store it

    Valid numbers are stored in E.164 with their type (mobile, fixed line, toll-free) where it can be determined, and with their source.

Numbers that fail validation aren't shown as contact details. The raw text stays visible in the provenance popover so you can judge it yourself.

Extensions

Extensions aren't part of E.164. OmniLead keeps them in a separate field and shows them after the number, for example +1 415 555 0123 ext. 204. When you export, the extension goes in its own phone_extension column.

Importing phone numbers

When you import a CSV, OmniLead normalizes the phone column the same way.

  • Include the country code where you can, such as +44 20 7946 0000.
  • If your file has local numbers only, map a Country column too, or choose a default country in the import settings. OmniLead uses it for numbers without a country code.
  • Rows with numbers that can't be parsed are flagged in the preview. You can import them without the phone number or fix the file and try again.

See Import a CSV for the full import flow.

Mobile numbers and privacy

OmniLead shows phone numbers that organizations publish for business contact, such as switchboards, office lines and published direct lines. It doesn't collect personal mobile numbers from non-public sources.

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