WhatsApp, protection of used custom fields and phone number fixes

We launched a BETA version of the WhatsApp Business integration, which uses the official WhatsApp Business API from Meta. A WhatsApp campaign is created the same way as an SMS campaign ‑ you choose a segment and a template approved by Meta, map merge tags to contact fields, and can send yourself a test message before sending. The statistics show how many messages were delivered, read, and not delivered. The integration is connected in the More → WhatsApp section and is available on the Marketer+ and CDP plans. Sending limits and quality ratings are controlled by Meta.

A custom contact field cannot be deleted if it is used by a list segment or by a campaign ready to be sent, including campaigns that failed while sending. The application rejects the deletion and shows which campaign uses the field and what needs to be resolved. Previously, a segment with a deleted field silently returned no contacts. A field that is not used anywhere can be deleted as before.

A prefix entered without '+', for example 420 or 00420, is now written in the form +420. For Czech and Slovak numbers, the prefix is not attached again when the automation runs repeatedly ‑ previously numbers such as 420420123456789 could be created, and SMS could not be delivered to them. A prefix containing letters or an accidentally pasted full number is rejected. The automation step also no longer fails if the phone is stored in a custom field as a number, and leading spaces in the original number are removed.

A number that did not fit in the Phone field used to be silently truncated. It is now not written, and the reason is shown in the automation log for the contact ‑ the same as for a result that is not a valid phone number. The value for the Phone field must be a valid number including the prefix; the step no longer accepts a prefix alone (for example +420) or a number without a prefix. The Set only if empty mode does not overwrite a stored zero. A single faulty contact no longer fails the entire batch ‑ healthy contacts are written. Values are now also checked when the step is created; existing steps with an invalid value will keep running, but the value will need to be corrected the first time they are edited.

In segmentation by custom events, it was not possible to search by the Property field because it was linked to the wrong event data ‑ a contact with an event sent with only a property and no value could not be found. The Category, Label, Action and Property fields now match the data sent in the event, and the value can be used as a separate condition through the Value key, operator and Value on one row.