The telephone field
Telephone is one of the four optional fields, and it is enabled by default.
Where
Events settings → Registration form → Form fields → Telephone.
What it is for
The one way to reach an attendee quickly when something changes at short notice: a venue change on the morning of the event, a cancellation, a place released from the waiting list an hour before.
Email is not fast enough for any of those.
How the value is used
The number is stored with the registration and appears in the attendee panel as a call link — the organizer taps it and dials. It is also included in the CSV and XLS exports.
It is never shown publicly.
When to enable it
- Events where a last-minute change is plausible.
- Limited-capacity events with a waiting list, where you will offer released places by phone.
- Events with a travel or access component.
- Anything where a no-show has a real cost.
When to disable it
- Large public events you will never phone anyone about.
- Free, open events with no capacity limit.
- Audiences who will simply skip the field or type something meaningless.
Asking for a number you will not use is the clearest case of a field that costs registrations for nothing.
Ask for it usefully
If you do enable it, say why. The form itself has no per-field help text, so the place to explain is the introduction or the clause text under the form:
We only use your telephone number to contact you if the event changes.
That single sentence measurably reduces abandonment, and it is also the honest thing to publish.
Data protection
A telephone number is personal data. Enabling this field means:
- your privacy policy must cover collecting and using it;
- exports contain it, so exported files must be handled accordingly;
- it must not be shared beyond the people running the event.
See Attendee data and privacy.
Format
The field accepts what the visitor types; there is no enforced format. For an international audience, ask for the international form in your clause text so the numbers are dialable:
Please include the country code.
Verify
- Toggle the field and save.
- Open the form signed out and confirm the field appears or does not.
- Register with a number.
- In the attendee panel, confirm the number appears as a call link.
- Export the list and confirm the telephone column is populated.