Here is how we handle contact merging. Learn about what to expect depending on your account settings and contact sources.
User Level:
Admin
Merged Contacts
Contact merging is what happens when we take contact records from different sources, such as an integration, API or file, and decide if any incoming contacts match existing ones in your CloudTalk contact list.
What is a merged contact?
A merged contact results from a record which appeared in multiple lists. Merged contacts result in a single contact, which has:
a union of all listed phone numbers and emails
only the newest value of other attributes
For example, let's say you have a John Jones on your CloudTalk contacts list:
Contact Name | Contact Phone #s | Contact Email |
John Jones | +1-319-555-5677, +1-319-555-4929 |
You decide to upload more contacts from a CSV file, where there is a record of a person with a matching phone number, stored as John J:
Contact Name | Contact Phone #s | Contact Email |
John J | +1-712-555-3956 |
Based on this matching phone number, our system will register these two contacts as the same person, putting together the two records into one. After merging, the resulting contact would look something like this:
Contact Name | Contact Phone #s | Contact Email |
John J | +1-319-555-5677, +1-319-555-4929, +1-712-555-3956 |
Notice the newest form of the contact name, John J, was adopted. Email and phone numbers were aggregated.
Merge Rules + Configuration
Conditions for contact merging are different depending on where you import your contacts from. While you are able to set some rules for how contacts coming from integrations are merged, these rules will not apply to contacts coming from another API or CSV file, nor will they work for contacts added individually within our dashboard or CloudTalk Phone apps.
Integration Contacts
You can configure how you want contacts from integrations to merge. These settings will apply to all of our supported integrations.
CSV and public API contact imports will not be affected by these settings.
Configure Integration Merge Settings
From our legacy dashboard, navigate to Account > Settings. Under the General header, scroll to Merge settings.
For Merge integration leads with contacts by, select a rule for when imported leads can be merged with CloudTalk contacts:
Phone number—A phone number must match between a lead and contact.
Email—An email must match between a lead and contact.
Phone number and email—Both a phone number and an email must match between a lead and contact.
Don't merge—Never merge CloudTalk contacts with leads imported from integrations.
For Merge integration contacts by, select a rule for when contacts imported from integrations can be merged with existing CloudTalk contacts:
Phone number—A phone number must match between contacts.
Email—An email must match between contacts.
Phone number and email—Both a phone number and an email must match between contacts.
Don't merge—Never merge CloudTalk contacts with contacts imported from integrations.
Save Settings to apply your changes.
Leads are unassociated numbers.
They are created in situations where agents make or receive calls from new numbers which aren't yet attached to a contact.
Call + SMS Export
When contacts and leads are merged, CloudTalk contacts will be linked to the most recent update of their integration counterparts. Calls will be exported to their matching contacts or leads.
When Merging is Disabled
After finishing a call on our Phone app within your integration, you will have the option to add the call to an existing contact. In the Wrap up... screen, select the + add contact icon and Assign to existing contact.
Unanswered calls, voicemails, messages, and calls not manually assigned will synch to the most recently updated contact in CloudTalk.
CSV Contacts
CloudTalk will merge an imported contact with an existing CloudTalk contact if both contacts have a match for either:
phone number
email
Conditions for merging will be prioritized in the listed order. This means if a CSV contact has a matching phone number with John but a matching email with Mary, the new contact will merge with John's contact because the phone number match takes priority.
We do not merge when...
Already imported contacts are updated in CloudTalk.
A new contact is created directly in CloudTalk which has the same phone number and/or email address as a contact previously imported from an integration.
Contacts are added or updated through a public API (not one of our supported integrations).
If you need further assistance or have any questions, you can contact our Support team. We are always here to help you!