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With WhatsApp usernames, some people write to you without sharing their number: Jelou identifies them by their BSUID and {{$user.phone}} arrives empty. If your workflows need the phone (to look up the customer, verify their identity, or send them a template), turn on Request phone before routing and the project will ask for it before handling them.

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How it works

When someone without a number writes on WhatsApp, their message doesn’t go to AI Routing right away:
1

The number is requested

Jelou replies with the Request message and a button to share their contact. The person’s first message is held.
2

It asks again if they reply with something else

If they write text, send audio, or anything other than their contact, they receive the Retry message with the same button.
3

The original message is handled

As soon as they share their contact, the held message goes to routing as if they had just sent it. The workflow that handles it already receives the number in {{$user.phone}}.
Once the person has shared their number, Jelou remembers it and doesn’t ask again on that WhatsApp number.
It only applies to WhatsApp and only to people who arrive without a number. People who write with a visible phone, groups, and every other channel still go straight to routing.

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Turn it on

You can set it up in any of these places:
1

Turn on the switch

Turn on Request phone before routing. The two messages the person receives appear.
2

Write the messages

Fill in the Request message, sent the first time, and the Retry message, sent if they reply with something else. Both are required while the step is on and accept up to 1024 characters.
3

Save

Click Save, Update, or Create project, depending on where you are. The change applies to the next messages that reach the project.
Explain in the message why you need the number and that tapping the button is enough. For example: To continue, share your number with the button.

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Turn it off

Turn off the switch and save. The request and retry messages you wrote are deleted: if you turn it on again, you’ll need to write them again.
If you only turn off the switch without saving, the messages stay in the form and come back when you turn it on again.

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Frequently asked questions

Up to 24 hours from the first request; retries don’t restart the countdown. After that, the held message is discarded: if the person writes again without having shared their number, they’re asked again and their latest message is held.
The held message is discarded and the conversation continues with the agent in the Inbox.
The workflow you start takes priority: the number request is canceled and the person stays in that workflow.
Yes. The cloned project inherits the original’s setting, including its messages. That’s why the modal doesn’t show it when you choose Clone existing; if you want to change it, do it afterwards in the new project’s settings, under General.

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Next steps

Business Scoped User ID (BSUID)

Understand why some people arrive without a number.

Request contact

Ask for the contact at a specific point of a workflow.