Adding contacts in bulk

Before you start importing you need to prepare a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file.

If you already have a CSV file containing the contact information make sure that it meets the following requirements for a correct data import:

• the first row is a header record containing column/field names. The required fields are: First Name and Last Name for importing persons, Company Name for companies.
• there is one contact record per row;
• there are no unnecessary commas in your file;
• the selected file contains less than 10000 rows, otherwise it should be divided into smaller parts.

You can also create a CSV file from any spreadsheets using our Documents module.

Enter your ONLYOFFICE portal and click the CRM link.

In case you have already logged in to the portal and been using it for some time, to access the CRM module from any portal page, use the drop-down list in the top left corner of the page and select the corresponding option.

Click the button next to the Create New... button in the upper left corner and select the Import contacts option from the drop-down list. The Import Contacts page will open.

Click the Select a CSV file link. Browse your computer hard disk drive for the necessary file. Once the file is located click the Open button to load it into the system.

The file will be loaded and displayed in place of the link. To replace it use the Edit link next to the file name.

For proper importing you need to set your CSV file settings:

• Delimiter

  A CSV file uses commas to separate values, however many implementations of CSV import/export tools allow other delimiters to be used: semicolon, colon, tabulation, space. Use this drop-down list to select the character used to separate values in your CSV file.

• Encoding

  Specify the encoding type used while saving your CSV file. The default type is UTF-8.

• Text Delimiter

  Use this drop-down list to specify the character used to enclose the fields in your CSV file.

After that select the action which will be performed with the duplicate records in case there are some. Check the Skip option to import contacts keeping the existing contacts, use the Overwrite option if you wish to import them overwriting the existing ones or leave the default Duplicate option checked if you need to duplicate the coinciding contacts. You will be able to merge them later following the instructions here.

If your CSV file has a header row with the column titles make sure that the Ignore the first row when importing case is checked.

By default, the access to the imported contacts will be granted to the current user only.

To assign managers to these contacts click the Add user link and select a person from the list. Use the filter field at the top to facilitate the search.

To make these contacts public and grant access to all the CRM users, check the Allow all CRM users access this contact option.

When the file is selected and all the parameters are set click the Continue button at the bottom to proceed to the next step.

Before importing your customer data you need to verify the available information. You will see the table with three columns:

• File column - the first row of your CSV file containing the column/field names.

• Corresponding CRM field - the CRM field corresponding to the field/column name from your file if there is one.

  If the system does not find any corresponding CRM field automatically, open the drop-down list and select the necessary one manually.

• Value - the available file column value. To verify all the file information use the Next record/Previous record links at the top.

To be able to import persons you need to match at least one column from your file with the First Name and another with the Last Name fields of the CRM. The same is for the company import, you will need to match the Company Name field to be able to import a company.

After you check the customer data click the Start importing contacts button below the contact list to launch the process.

That's all. All the selected contacts will be imported and displayed in the Contacts list. Do not forget to keep your contacts up-to-date!