In OnceHub, the Email and Phone fields are more than just contact methods, they are unique identifiers. These fields allow OnceHub to recognize a contact and determine if they are a new visitor or an existing contact in your Contact Database.

OnceHub provides full flexibility to choose which identifiers you collect across both web-based (GUI) and Phone Booking channels. Your choice of identifier typically depends on your booking channel:

• Web-based Scheduling (GUI): By default, Email is set as a mandatory field to ensure guests receive calendar invites and automated notifications.
• Phone Booking: The Phone field should be used as the contact identifier as this reduces friction during conversational scheduling while allowing for SMS confirmations.

1. Collecting Email as Your Identifier

Collecting an email address as the primary identifier is the recommended setup for all web-based scheduling. This ensures that all calendar invites and automated notifications are delivered.

How to set Email as the Identifier:

1. Navigate to your Booking Form editor.
2. Select the Contact Email field to open its settings on the right-hand panel.
3. Toggle Answer required to ON.
4. Click Save to confirm the changes.

If you are using Phone Booking

For the best Phone Booking experience, the Contact Email field’s Do not ask for email address when bookings are made via phone booking setting is enabled by default.

This setting allows you to maintain a single Booking Calendar for both web-based (GUI) and Phone Booking guests. It prevents forcing a caller to provide an email address during the phone conversation flow. Add a Phone field and enable SMS notifications in the Notifications tab to ensure your guest still receives all necessary reminders. 

2. Collecting Only Mobile Phone Number as Your Identifier

For Phone Booking and phone-first businesses where speed is critical or guests prefer SMS notifications, setting the Phone field as the identifier is ideal.

How to set Phone as the Identifier:

1. Navigate to the Booking Form editor.
2. Drag the Phone field into your form.
3. Toggle Answer required to ON.
   IMPORTANT: We highly recommend selecting the Contact details and SMS (requires consent) checkbox to ensure compliance and SMS notification delivery.
4. Click Save to confirm the changes.

To learn more, read our Scheduling Without Email: What You Need To Know article.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What happens if Email and Mobile Phone are both collected?

If both fields are provided, Email remains the primary identifier. OnceHub will prioritize matching the contact based on their email address. The phone number will be updated or added to that specific contact record.

What if I do not collect Email OR Mobile Phone?

If neither field is collected:

• OnceHub cannot recognize the guest. A new contact will be created for every activity.
• OnceHub will have no way to send calendar invites or notifications.

To learn more, read our How OnceHub Associate Activities with a Contact article.