WhatsApp is introducing usernames, making it easier for users to connect with businesses without sharing their phone number. To support this change, Meta uses Scoped IDs: unique identifiers that ensure conversations remain linked to the same user, even if that username changes over time. Want to understand exactly how this works? Read our blog.
Spotler Message and Spotler Engage are fully prepared for this change. Standard integrations will continue to work as usual, so no action is required from your side. The biggest impact isn’t on the platform itself, but on your internal processes, CRM connections, chatbot flows, and ways of working. This checklist helps you identify what may need to be adjusted within your organisation.
1. Map your dependencies on phone numbers
What to keep in mind
Soon, a WhatsApp user’s phone number may no longer be automatically available. This affects things such as customer recognition, CRM integrations, routing, reporting and callback requests.
What you can do
Identify where phone numbers are currently used in your processes and systems. For each dependency, determine what needs to change once phone numbers are no longer automatically available.
How does this work at Spotler?
Spotler Message and Spotler Engage already support Scoped IDs technically.
Do you use custom integrations, external systems or internal automations that rely on phone numbers? Check whether these will continue to function properly.
2. Adjust your customer identification
What to keep in mind
If a customer contacts you using a username, you will not have a phone number available for lookup. This makes it harder to immediately recognise the customer or link them to an existing profile.
What you can do
Determine which alternative data points you can use to identify customers, such as an email address, customer number, order number or a combination of identifiers. Update your processes accordingly.
How does this work at Spotler?
Spotler supports WhatsApp Scoped IDs as a primary identifier and links Scoped IDs to existing customer profiles, ensuring conversations and history remain intact.
Does your process ask for additional customer data for identification purposes? Check whether these steps still work when no phone number is available.
Do you use Call Deflection from telephony to WhatsApp? Verify whether employees and automated processes can still recognise and assist customers without a phone number. Where needed, request additional information during the WhatsApp conversation.
3. Actively request contact details
What to keep in mind
If a customer requests a callback or another form of follow-up, you need a phone number. However, this may no longer be automatically available.
What you can do
Update conversations, forms and chatbot flows so phone numbers are explicitly requested when needed.
How does this work at Spotler?
In many cases, this requires an adjustment to your own processes, chatbot flows, and work instructions. Spotler cannot display a phone number if a user chooses not to share it via WhatsApp.
To make it easier to request phone numbers from WhatsApp users, Meta has made an interactive button available: REQUEST_CONTACT_INFO. This button can be added to utility and marketing templates, or sent as an interactive message. When a user clicks this button, the WhatsApp phone number is shared in the conversation. In addition, a contacts webhook is triggered containing the user’s phone number. Note: If a WhatsApp user shares contact details using WhatsApp’s Share Contact feature instead, the webhook will also include the shared contact’s vCard.
4. Review your chatbot and automation flows
What to keep in mind
Many chatbot dialogues and automated workflows still assume a phone number is available. Without one, flows may fail or behave incorrectly.
What you can do
Review your automated processes and add steps where needed to request missing contact details or identification information.
How does this work at Spotler?
The Spotler infrastructure supports Scoped IDs, but the logic within your own chatbot or automation flows may need to be adjusted wherever they explicitly work with phone numbers.
5. Check your CRM and system integrations
What to keep in mind
Many CRM systems use the phone number as unique identifiers to recognise customers or exchange data. If phone numbers are no longer consistently available, integrations may stop functioning correctly.
What you can do
Check whether your integrations keep working without a phone number, and determine whether you need to use a different unique identifier, such as the Scoped ID.
How does this work at Spotler?
Standard integrations via Spotler Message and Spotler Engage will keep working. Spotler can process both phone numbers and Scoped IDs.
Do you have custom or external CRM integrations? Make sure to verify that these continue to function.
6. Store the Scoped ID with every customer profile
What to keep in mind
Every WhatsApp user will soon receive a Scoped ID, even if that person hasn’t set a username. You’ll receive this ID as well.
What you can do
Store the Scoped ID in each customer profile within your CRM. If a user later switches to a username and no longer shares a phone number, you’ll still be able to recognise that person and link them to the right profile.
How does this work at Spotler?
Spotler automatically receives and processes the Scoped ID and links it to the existing customer profile.
Do you store customer data in an external CRM or other system? Ensure the Scoped ID is also stored there as a dedicated field.
7. Prevent duplicate customer profiles
What to keep in mind
If a phone number is missing, there’s a greater chance a customer won’t be automatically recognised and will instead be created as a new profile. This leads to duplicate records and messy data.
What you can do
Take a critical look at how customer profiles are matched and add extra checks or enrichment steps where needed to maintain data quality.
How does this work at Spotler?
Spotler links new Scoped IDs to existing customer profiles if a phone number was previously available, so conversation history is preserved.
Do you use external data sources or systems outside Spotler for profile matching? Additional setup may be required.
8. Check your verification and privacy processes
What to keep in mind
Some organisations use the phone number as a verification method before sharing account or personal data. If that number is no longer available, these processes may break down.
What you can do
Determine which alternative verification methods are needed to safely identify customers.
Hoe zit dat bij Spotler?
This is outside the scope of what Spotler can support directly. If a user chooses not to share their phone number, alternative verification methods need to be put in place.
9. Inform and train employees
What to keep in mind
Employees are used to customer information such as a phone number being automatically available. This will not always be the case going forward, requiring a different way of working.
What you can do
Update work instructions, scripts and training so employees know what information to request and how to identify customers without a phone number.
How does this work at Spotler?
This is something your organisation needs to manage internally. Make sure employees understand how to act when only a username or Scoped ID is available.
10. Check consent and opt-in processes
What to keep in mind
If a phone number is no longer automatically available, it can become harder to link a WhatsApp contact to existing marketing consents. This can affect how you register and manage consent.
What you can do
Check whether your opt-in, consent, and preference management processes still function correctly when identification no longer relies on a phone number.
How does this work at Spotler?
This depends on how your organisation manages consent registration. For many organisations, this is especially relevant in combination with CRM or marketing platforms.
11. Test your WhatsApp customer journey without a phone number
What to keep in mind
Dependencies often only become visible when you actively walk through your processes. Everything may look fine on paper, but real-world behaviour can be different.
What you can do
Walk through your key customer journeys as if no phone number were available and verify whether all processes, automations and follow-up actions still function properly.
How does this work at Spotler?
Spotler Message and Spotler Engage are fully prepared for this change and require no migration or reconfiguration for customers using standard integrations.
We strongly recommend testing your own processes, CRM connections, and automations.
