Custom Function to Format Phone / Mobile numbers in Australian Standard format

Custom Function to Format Phone / Mobile numbers in Australian Standard format

So I got sick of phone numbers being formatted incorrectly and Zoho not doing anything to standardise phone numbers to meet E.164 formats. So I went and coded my own function to fix this.
And figured I'd share with the community

This is specifically for Australian numbers. 

The CF will take all mobile, local landline, 1800 & 1300 numbers and format them into the format we are used to in Australia.
It will also add the country code +61 to the prefix so you can call directly from the CRM.

It works with all 10 digit numbers (0400 000 000 or 03 9000 0000)
And with all 9 digit numbers (400 000 000 or 3 9000 0000)
IE works with both the starting 0 or without the starting 0 (ie 03 9000 1111 or 3 9000 1111)


The numbers will be formatted as below


All mobile numbers    0400111222 --> +61 400 111 222
                                       400111222 --> +61 400 111 222
All local numbers        0390001111 --> +61 3 9000 1111
                                       390001111 --> +61 3 9000 1111
1800 numbers            
1800111222 --> +61 1800 111 222
1300 numbers            1300111222 --> +61 1300 111 222

For the local numbers it will work with all states area codes (02, 03, 07, 08)

Anything that isn't the above will be ignored and stay the way it was. IE 131122 will stay like that
As will any numbers that aren't 9 or 10 digits long. (ie +61400111222 wont be formatted with spaces)

**NB I may do a V2 to format numbers that are +61 already but not planning that for a while.

This function is specifically for the Leads module.
It is Phone/Mobile Field agnostic. In that it will take whatever value is in the Phone Field, format it return it to the Phone Field. and what ever is in the Mobile Field, format and return it to Mobile Field.

I did this specifically as we use Phone to be the contacts Primary contact number and Mobile to be their Secondary contact Number.

It should be pretty easy to adapt to Contacts Module or any other module. You only need to change line 1 & 211.


Setting up with Workflow and Triggering the Function:
This applies for CRM
  1. Go to Setup --> Automation --> Workflow Rules --> Create Rule --> Under Module, select Leads --> Give a Rule name and Description (ie Format Phone Numbers Australia) --> Next
  2. When = Select "On a Record action" --> "Create or Edit" --> Next
  3. Condition = In Conditions, choose "All Leads" --> Next.
  4. Instant Actions --> Function --> New Function --> Write your own --> Add a Function name (ie Format_Phone_Numbers_Au), Display Name (ie Format Phone Numbers Australia), Description --> Create
  5. Copy paste the code from below and proceed to save the code.
  6. "Edit the Arguments" --> Key is id, in Param Value type # and choose your fields (ie Leads and Lead Id) the end result should read id = Leads - Lead Id --> Save
  7. Save the Function 
  8. Save the Workflow.


NOTE: there is probably a better more efficient way of achieving this.
So if anyone know a better way to code the above I'd love to hear.

EDIT: I had to upload the code separately due to restrictions in the post lengths.

EDIT 2: now updated to work with brackets (03) 9000 1111 and hyphens 0400-000-000

EDIT 3: updated to work with the country code already added but no + ie 61400111222  


The number formatting will work with the following

All mobile numbers    --> +61 400 111 222
  1. 0400 111 222
  2. 400111222
  3. 0400-111-222
  4. 61400111222
All local numbers  --> +61 3 9000 1111
(works with 02, 03, 07, 08) 
  1. 0390001111                  
  2. 390001111
  3. (03) 9000 1111
  4. (03) 9000-1111
1800 numbers  --> +61 1800 111 222
  1. 1800111222
  2. 1800 111 222
1300 numbers  --> +61 1300 111 222
  1. 1300111222 
  2. 1300 111 222 


EDIT: May 2025

Theres been some requests about cleaning up existing phone numbers for leads/contacts.

To do this there are a few steps to do.

Step 1 - create a new Custom Function called "Format Phone Numbers Au - mass update"
(or what ever you want to name it)

Use the same code as the single run fuction and add a recurring "loop" section to the start of the code, and a small closing at the end.
The way I have it setup is to use the following opening code before Line 1. 
Line 6 of the below code replaces Line 1 in the full code.

  1. string button.Format_Phone_Numbers_Au_mass_update(String leadIDs)
  2. {
  3. idList = leadIDs.toList("|||");
  4. for each  rec in idList
  5. {
  6. a = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Leads",rec);

Then to close the function replace the final Map (line 208-213) with the following

  1. }
  2. mp = Map();
  3. mp.put("Phone",nph);
  4. mp.put("Mobile",nmob);
  5. update = zoho.crm.updateRecord("Leads",rec,mp);
  6. info mp;
  7. info update;
  8. }
  9. return "Success";
  10. }

This new function will take your selected list of Leads and then "for each Record in the idList will run the function"

Step 2 - Create a Mass Update Button in the List view of the Leads/Contacts Module

Go to Settings > Customizations > Modules and Fields > [Module Tab} > Leads
Then go the the Buttons tab > Create New Botton

Button Name: Phone Numbers Mass Update
Define action: Function
Select Page: In List
Select Position: Mass Action Menu  (preview to see where the botton will be placed)
Configured Function: Select the function you created in the above step

Doing the above will create a new botton in the main list view for the Module. 
To use the button you need to select the entries you want to run the function then click the button.

Step 3 - Create a custom View for your Leads/Contacts so that you have less than 1000 

Zoho CRM Limits mass update functions to run for max of 1000 entries at a time. So if you have 10,000's leads you need to figure out how to narrow your view down to less than 1000 entries.

One way is to create a View with specific criteria like 
Email starts with A - this will show all leads with email address beginning with A
If this is still more than 1000 then figure out how to reduce it further to less than 1000

Step 4 - Select all records
Select the check box of the view at the top of the Column. This will select all records in the current window.
Windows are limted to 100 records, so you need to select all 1000 
You will then see a Blue text option to "Select All records in this view". Click this and all records will be selected.
If you have more than 1000 records in the view you wont be able to do the following step so make sure you've limited the view.

Step 5 - click the Mass Update button

Click the Mass Update Button you created above in Step 2. This will run the fuction for all the entries.
It'll take some time and entries will be added to the execution que. If you are interested you can check the api usage to make sure you keep your usage under the daily limit.

Step 6 - Figure out how to vary your list View for the next batch

Rinse and repeat Step 3-5. 
Figure out how to change the View so you see the next 1000 batch but exclude the ones you have already done.

Step 7 - Finish

Make sure you remove the Button you created in Step 2, otherwise someone will definitily run it in future when you dont want them to.


    Access your files securely from anywhere









                          Zoho Developer Community




                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts





                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                    Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                      Zoho Books Resources


                                                                        Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                          Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                            Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                              Qntrl Resources


                                                                                Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                    Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                    • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                      CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                    • Kaizen

                                                                                      Kaizen

                                                                                    • Functions

                                                                                      Functions

                                                                                    • Meetups

                                                                                      Meetups

                                                                                    • Kbase

                                                                                      Kbase

                                                                                    • Resources

                                                                                      Resources

                                                                                    • Digest

                                                                                      Digest

                                                                                    • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      CRM Marketplace

                                                                                    • MVP Corner

                                                                                      MVP Corner







                                                                                        Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                        Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                        Get Started Now


                                                                                          Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                            Zoho Writer

                                                                                            Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                                                                                Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                    ご検討中の方




                                                                                                          • Recent Topics

                                                                                                          • Zoho Invoice Customer Login Portal

                                                                                                            Are there any plans for a customer portal to Zoho Invoice, ala Freshbooks?  I would like customers that I invoice to be able to login to review invoices and invoice history.  I have not switched from Freshbooks for this very reason.
                                                                                                          • Exporting tickets

                                                                                                            I went to Setup -> Organization -> Import/Export in order to export tickets but found 2 issues: 1. The email body never gets exported. 2. There are some large numbers (like 5.57E+16) under certain columns of the exported CSV file. I could not find any export options. Please can you help with this?
                                                                                                          • Editing the Ticket Properties column

                                                                                                            This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I cannot figure out how to configure/edit the sections (and their fields) in this column: For example, we have a custom "Resolution" field, which parked itself in the "Ticket Information" section of this
                                                                                                          • Copy field information to clipboard

                                                                                                            I need to be able to transfer some field information in to the clipboard, so that I can then paste it in to our helpdesk system. Is there a way I could add a button to a detail report that does this?
                                                                                                          • Issuing reconciling a bank statement

                                                                                                            HELP! I'm trying to reconcile a bank statement. The prior month reconciled perfectly. Beginning balance is correct yet I'm off by the same amount each time. Both myself and my office manager, separately and together, have tried to complete this reconciliation
                                                                                                          • Use the searchBy parameter to find user by email address

                                                                                                            I'm trying to find a user is Zoho Desk via the Api. In the documentation I see that there is the possibility to add a searchBy parameter in the request. But I can't find how the search values should be formatted. I've tried multiple things and get either
                                                                                                          • Correlated subqueries not supported in Zoho Analytics. This creates huge limitations

                                                                                                            Running into a major limitation in Zoho Analytics: correlated subqueries simply don’t work, even in completely standard SQL patterns inside a JOIN. Example: LEFT JOIN "Bills" b ON d."Id" = b."Deal ID" AND EXISTS ( SELECT 1 FROM "Bill
                                                                                                          • Unknown table or alias 'A1'

                                                                                                            I would like to create a subquery but i am getting the following error: Unknown table or alias 'A1' used in select query. This is the sql statement:  SELECT A1.active_paying_customers, A1.active_trial_customers, A1.new_paying_signup, date(A1.date_active_customers), 
                                                                                                          • Detect and ignore bots in visitors

                                                                                                            The SalesIQ visitor numbers are basically useless to us because there is no bot detection. We get the same bots coming in from the same countries looking at the same pages every day. It can't be that difficult to tell the difference between an actual
                                                                                                          • Add Real-Time Microphone Audio-Level Indicator During Screen Recording

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement to the Zoho WorkDrive screen-recording experience. Current Limitation: During a recording session, there is no visual indication that the microphone is
                                                                                                          • Properly Capture Dropdowns & Hover Elements When Recording a Window/Tab

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing great. We encountered a limitation when recording a selected window or browser tab: Certain UI elements, such as dropdown lists, hover menus, and overlays, are not captured unless we record the entire screen.
                                                                                                          • Allow Recording Only a Selected Portion of the Screen

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request a more flexible recording option in Zoho WorkDrive. At the moment, we can record either the entire screen or a specific window/tab — but not a custom selected portion of the screen
                                                                                                          • Add Camera Background Blur During Recording

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope everything is well. We would like to request an enhancement to the video recording feature in Zoho WorkDrive. Currently, the camera preview displayed during a recording does not support background blur. This is an essential
                                                                                                          • Make Camera Overlay & Recording Controls Visible in All Screen-Sharing Options

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an improvement to the screen-recording experience in Zoho WorkDrive. Current Limitation: At the moment the recording controls are visible only inside the Zoho WorkDrive tab. When
                                                                                                          • Allow Admins to Transfer Ownership of Their Own Files & Folders

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement to the ownership-transfer functionality in Zoho WorkDrive, specifically regarding administrator capabilities. As administrators, we have the ability to
                                                                                                          • How to update custom multi-user field in Zoho Projects?

                                                                                                            I'm trying to update custom multi-user fields in Zoho Projects via a Deluge function in CRM. The code I have so far is below. It works for updating standard project fields and single-line custom fields, but it does not work to update multi-user fields.
                                                                                                          • Has Anyone successfully integrated Zoho and Sage Intact?

                                                                                                            Hey all, We’re evaluating Zoho One + Sage Intacct and I’m trying to connect with anyone who has actually implemented the two together.Specifically, I’d love to know: -- Which functions you kept in Zoho vs. Intacct (e.g., Product Catalog, AR/AP, invoicing,
                                                                                                          • Kaizen #57 - Mass Update API in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen series. This week, we will discuss the Mass Update API in Zoho CRM. In this post, we will cover the following: 1. Introduction 2. Mass Update Records API  3. Schedule Update and Get Status
                                                                                                          • Zero Personalization of the File Sharing Experience

                                                                                                            By now (2025) this is the maximum level of personalization available for a Zoho sharing link. We gently asked Zoho if we could modify at least the background, and they replied that it cannot be customized. We're truly disappointed – and surprised every
                                                                                                          • Create static subforms in Zoho CRM: streamline data entry with pre-defined values

                                                                                                            Last modified on (9 July, 2025): This feature was available in early access and is currently being rolled out to customers in phases. Currently available for users in the the AU, CA, and SA DCs. It will be enabled for the remaining DCs in the next couple
                                                                                                          • Canvas Flex Box containers should not require a width/height.

                                                                                                            Flexbox containers are often used as organizational concepts, to ease re-flow on mobile etc. - I cannot use % for flexbox W or H - I cannot omit W or H This means that the content cannot dictate, and a Flexbox container cannot be used merely as an organizational
                                                                                                          • Automation in Zoho Sprints

                                                                                                            Hi. I have a Sprints board with the following statuses: ToDo, InProgress, CodeReview, Testing, Preprod, Live When a ticket is moved from e.g. Testing to Preprod, the following tags should be modified: remove 'tested OK' remove 'ready for Preprod' add
                                                                                                          • Zoho / Outlook Calendar sync

                                                                                                            The current Marketplace -> Microsoft -> Meetings integration needs 2 changes. 1. The current language for the Two-Way sync option should be changed. It currently states, "Sync both your Zoho CRM Calendar and Office 365 Calendar meetings with each other."
                                                                                                          • External Share > Edit: Cannot Create Zoho Files

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho, When we create an external share link with Edit permission, our external users are unable to create a Zoho file (Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet and Zoho Show). They can only upload files. They can edit the Zoho files if we create them internally and
                                                                                                          • Custom function return type

                                                                                                            Hi, How do I create a custom deluge function in Zoho CRM that returns a string? e.g. Setup->Workflow->Custom Functions->Configure->Write own During create or edit of the function I don't see a way to change the default 'void' to anything else. Adding
                                                                                                          • Two factor authentication for helpdesk users

                                                                                                            The company i work for wants use the helpdesk site in Zoho desk, as a place for their distribution partners to ask question and look for information about our product. The things there is suppose to go up there is somewhat confidential between my company
                                                                                                          • Kiosk can't merge picklist or multiselect

                                                                                                            There is no ability to load a multiselect or picklikst field into a kiosk with the values that have been previously selected. So, I essentially have 3 unacceptable options: 1.)Load the value into a text string and include instructions like this: "Picklist
                                                                                                          • AGE field from DATE OF BIRTH Field.

                                                                                                            HI! I have a field called date of birth in my CRM (LEADS, CONTACT etc…)     How can I know the AGE today   I would like to create a field AGE. I now how to create a field but I don´t which calculation (CUSTOM FUCTION) to make ¿ANY HELP?
                                                                                                          • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

                                                                                                            Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
                                                                                                          • webhook basic authentication

                                                                                                            II want to use a webhook to send out a SMS. Unfortunately Twilio does not use an authToken but basic authentication. I created the webhook as POST and get this url: https://{username}:{password}@api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{account}/Messages?body=<BODY>&to=+155555555&from=+1555555555
                                                                                                          • How to update/remove file in zoho creator widgets using javascript API

                                                                                                            Hi Team, I have developed a widget which allows inserting and updating records I have file upload field with multiple file upload. Now while doing insert form record, I am using uploadFile API to upload files for that record. I am using updateRecord API
                                                                                                          • Contact data removes Account data when creating a quote

                                                                                                            Hi, Our customer has address fields in their quote layout which should be the address of the Account. They prefill the information, adding the account name - the address data is populated as per what is in the account - great. However when they then add
                                                                                                          • Introducing Enhanced Storage Management

                                                                                                            We’re excited to roll out two new enhancements in Zoho Recruit, Subscription Information and Storage Management — designed to give admins complete visibility into subscription details, feature limits, and storage consumption — all from one place inside
                                                                                                          • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.34.4.0)

                                                                                                            Hello Community! Trident for Windows just got better! With this update we have features that make your daily work easier and more efficient. We've added some features that are exclusive to our app and we're sure you'll find them useful. Let’s dive into
                                                                                                          • Report Hover Setting

                                                                                                            Would be great if we will able to show information to the user while hovering a record in a report.
                                                                                                          • Vertical images displayed as horizontal

                                                                                                            Some pictures that originally are in vertical position are displayed in horizontal after the upload. It seems that system rotates them by 90 degrees. How can I fix this issue?
                                                                                                          • Zoho Desk iOS update: Custom buttons, follow/ unfollow option on tickets

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! In the most recent Zoho Desk iOS app update, we have brought in support to access the custom buttons configured on web app(desk.zoho.com). Using custom buttons you can seamlessly execute predefined actions directly from their mobile devices,
                                                                                                          • Zoho Desk iOS app update: Saved filters and sort options

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! Saved filters created on the web(desk.zoho.com) for tickets are now accessible on the Zoho Desk iOS app. You can easily rename, delete, or clear filters on the go. We have also introduced Sort options on the ticket listing screen, allowing
                                                                                                          • Introducing VeriFactu Support in Zoho Books

                                                                                                            Hello users, Spain has introduced the VeriFactu system under Real Decreto 1007/2023 to ensure integrity, traceability, and anti-fraud compliance in e-invoicing. Starting January 1, 2026, all B2B invoices must be reported to Agencia Estatal de Administración
                                                                                                          • Big Things Just Dropped in the SalesIQ Universe: Top Upgrades You’ll Love in Nova’25

                                                                                                            Nova'25 has landed, and it’s packed with meaningful upgrades to help you engage smarter, work faster, and scale with ease. Whether you're into proactive messaging, smarter automation, or better admin control, there's something here for everyone. Here's
                                                                                                          • Next Page