Automation#33: Automate Splitting Names for Existing Contact Records
An organized directory – who doesn't love one?
Previously, we explored how to split contact names into First Name and Last Name for new contacts in Zoho Desk. But what about existing contacts already in your database? This week, we bring you a custom function that automates this process, ensuring a well-structured and easily searchable contact list.
Handling Existing Contacts
- On ticket creation for an existing contact, this custom function will scan the email and split the name stored in the "Last Name" field into "First Name" and "Last Name."
- To avoid unnecessary modifications, we introduce a checkbox in the contact layout. This allows you to mark contacts that have already been split, preventing duplicate actions.
Let's walk through the steps needed to ensure a smooth and error-free execution.
I. Create a Checkbox Field in the Contacts Layout
a. Go to Setup >> Customization >> Layouts and Fields >> Select the Contacts module >> Select the layout >> Drag the checkbox field >> Give a desired name for the checkbox (e.g., Name Split).
b. Click on the gear icon of the checkbox field, select Edit Properties, and note the API name. This API name must be pasted into the custom function on line 4.
c. Uncheck the Enable by Default checkbox if it is marked.
II. Configure Custom Function within the Workflow Rule
Prerequisites
1. Create a connection
1.1 Go to Setup(S) and choose Connections under Developer Space.
1.2 Click Create Connection.
1.3 Select Zoho OAuth under Default Connection.
1.4 Set the connection name as deskcontact.
1.5 Under Scope, choose the below scope values:
Desk.contacts.UPDATEDesk.contacts.READ
1.6 Click Create and Connect.
1.7 Click Connect and click Accept.
Connection is created successfully.
2. Create a Workflow Rule
2.1. Go to Setup, choose Workflows under Automation.
2.2 Under Workflows, click Rules >> Create Rule.
In the Basic Information section,
2.3. Select Tickets from the drop-down menu under Module.
2.4. Enter a Rule Name and Description for the rule.
2.5. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, create the rule and activate it later.
2.6. Click Next.
In the Execute on section, follow these steps:
2.7. Select Create.
2.8. Click Next.
2.9. In the Criteria section, add criteria if required. click Next.
2.10. In the Actions section, click the + icon and select New next to Custom Functions.
2.11. Enter a Name and Description for the custom function. Choose Tickets under Module.
2.12 Under Argument Mapping, give a desired Method Name. Map the arguments as below:
2.12 Under Argument Mapping, give a desired Method Name. Map the arguments as below:
2.12.1 In the Argument Name field, type contactId and select Contact ID under the Contacts Section.
2.13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:
- //------------- User Input ----------
- orgId = "60xxxxxxxx0"; //replace with your Org ID
- operator = ".";
- checkBoxFieldAPIName = "enter_the_field_api_name"; //Enter API name of the checkbox
- //---------------------------------
- logs = Map();
- try {
- contacts = zoho.desk.getRecordById(orgId,"contacts",contactId, "deskcontact");
- firstName = contacts.get("firstName");
- lastName = contacts.get("lastName");
- if(lastName.contains(operator))
- {
- if(operator.contains(".")){
- lastName = lastName.subString(0,lastName.indexOf("@"));
- }
- firstName = lastName.subString(0,lastName.indexOf(operator)).trim();
- lastName = lastName.subString(lastName.indexOf(operator) + 1);
- updateContact = zoho.desk.update(orgId,"contacts",contactId,{"firstName":firstName,"lastName":lastName,"cf":{checkBoxFieldAPIName:true}},"deskcontact");
- }
- }
- catch (errorInfo)
- {
- logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
- }
- info "logs: \n" + logs;
- if(logs.containKey("errorInfo"))
- {
- throws "Error happen in the CF execution";
- }
NOTE
a. In Line 2, Enter your OrgId with " ". To access OrgId, go to Setup (S) >> Developer Space >> APIs >> API Authentication.
b. In Line 4, enter the API name of the check box created within the Contacts layout.
Information
This custom function will split the contact name as First Name and Last Name based on the "." operator between the names in the email.
2.14. Click Save to save the custom function.
2.15. Click Save again to save the workflow.
By implementing this custom function and workflow rule, you can automate the process of splitting contact names within Zoho Desk, ensuring a clean and organized database, which will enhance searchability.
We hope this guide helps streamline your contact management! If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to share in the comments. Happy Organizing!
Best regards,
Lydia |Zoho Desk
Topic Participants
Lydia | Zoho Desk
info
Shivani | Zoho Desk
Sticky Posts
Register for Zoho Desk Beta Community
With the start of the year, we have decided to take a small step in making the life of our customers a little easier. We now have easy access to all our upcoming features and a faster way to request for beta access. We open betas for some of our featuresShare your Zoho Desk story with us!
Tell us how you use Zoho Desk for your business and inspire others with your story. Be it a simple workflow rule that helps you navigate complex processes or a macro that saves your team a lot of time; share it here and help the community learn and grow with shared knowledge.Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels
Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing. Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal. When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues.Welcome to Zoho Desk Community - Say hello here!
Hello everyone! Though we have been here for a while, it’s time to formally establish the Zoho Desk Community; we’re really happy to have you all here! This can be the place where you take a moment to introduce yourself to the rest of the community. We’d love to hear all about you, what you do, what company or industry you work for, how you use Zoho Desk and anything else that you will like to share! Here’s a little about me. I am Chinmayee. I have been associated with Zoho since 2014. I joined hereWebinar 1: Blueprint for Customer Service
With the launch of a host of new features in Zoho Desk, we thought it’ll be great to have a few webinars to help our customers make the most of them. We’re starting off with our most talked about feature, Blueprint in Zoho Desk. You can register for the Blueprint webinar here: The webinar will be delivered by our in-house product experts. This is a good opportunity to ask questions to our experts and understand how Blueprint can help you automate your service processes. We look forward to seeing
Recent Topics
Enhancements to Zoho Meeting Annotator
Hello Zoho Meeting Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to share a few improvement suggestions regarding the Zoho Meeting Annotator used during screen sharing. While the current version provides helpful annotation tools, there are several limitationsCliq iOS can't see shared screen
Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? RegardsTriggering rules on lead conversion
There is no field on the Rule list for rule conversion to trigger an alert on liead conversion to a potential. I assigned a rule to file on any creation or update of a lead. The lead was changed a lead to a potential but no rule was fired. Rajesh BhadraHow to calculate separate totals for Product Line Items filtered by category in Quotes?
Hello! I'm working with Quotes in Zoho CRM and need help calculating conditional totals for line items. Current setup: I have two tables in my Quote template (Zoho Writer), both displaying Quoted Line Items Table 1 (top): Shows all products where ProductAdd "Fetch Composite Item" Action for Inventory
I want to make a Flow that uses information returned in the GET call for Composite Items, and it's not currently available in Zoho Flow. Please consider adding this functionality.Zoho Social/Marketing Plus - Addition to "Monitor" function
It would be very helpful if the Monitor function would allow us to add a column to monitor hashtags in addition to pages and mentions. This is a common and very valuable function in other social listening tools.Almacenamiento
Hola, Quisiera saber como podría hacer para bajar el almacenamiento de 5gb a mis usuarios, en otras palabras los quiero ir limitando de la cuota real, y luego ir agregando poco a poco la cantidad hasta llegar a los 5gb que me dan en el plan free.Zoho Invoice Now Supports VeriFactu for Businesses in Spain
Starting from January 1, 2026, Spain requires real-time invoice reporting for all B2B transactions. From July 2026, this requirement will extend to B2C transactions as well. All reporting must be carried out through the VeriFactu to AEAT (Agencia EstatalWill I Get a Refund If I Downgrade Zoho Mail?
Hello, We upgraded an email account for our new employee. However, the employee left after one month, and now I've reduced the number of Zoho Mail users from 7 to 6. Can we get a refund for the remaining portion of our annual payment?Zoho Billing Now Supports VeriFactu for Businesses in Spain
Starting from January 1, 2026, Spain requires real-time invoice reporting for all B2B transactions. From July 2026, this requirement will extend to B2C transactions as well. All reporting must be carried out through the VeriFactu to AEAT (Agencia Estatalhow to add subform over sigma in the CRM
my new module don't have any subform available any way to add this from sigma or from the crmIntroducing the revamped What's New page
Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that Zoho Campaigns' What's New page has undergone a complete revamp. We've bid the old page adieu after a long time and have introduced a new, sleeker-looking page. Without further ado, let's dive into the mainZoho Books - France
L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilitéName autocomplete
Hi, During searching emails the web tool does not always propose the auto-completion of the saved emails. As a result I either have to go to contacts and look up the exact email, or the exact full name including the middle name and any dots, which is very annoying. For example I have a contact that I emailed in the past that has "First M. Last" <email@email.com> type of contact. When I start typing 'First' the email may or may not pop up in the autocomplete menu. Then if I start typing "first last"Using a CRM Client Script Button to create a Books Invoice
Hello, I need help handling error messages returned to my client script from a function. The scenario I have setup a client script button which is available from each Deal. This CS executes a crm function, which in turn creates an invoice based on theWhy Format section gets disabled when we create Merge Template over PDF
I need some assistance I have a Client who is going to give certificates to users who passes his exam. So, I am using mail merge but in ZOHO writer after I upload the PDF and create merge Template over PDF the format Section gets disabled. My problemPossible to connect Zoho CRM's Sandbox with Zoho Creator's Sandbox?
We are making some big changes on our CRM so we are testing it out in CRM's Sandbox. We also have a Zoho Creator app that we need to test. Is it possible to connect Zoho CRM's Sandbox to Zoho Creator's Sandbox so that I can perform those tests?How do i follow up my email campaign in-thread
Is there a way to follow up the email campaign so that it is in-thread using zoho campaigns? eg customer gets original email with subject line "hello" then 5 days later follow up would be with subject line "RE: hello".Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.29.0)
Hello everyone! Trident for macOS (v1.29.0) is here with new features and enhancements to enhance your business communication. Let's take a quick look at them. Access shared mailboxes. You can now view and access shared mailboxes in Trident, which areBooks is extremely slow again today !
Everything is running slowly even with 500mb connection speedCyclic dependencies in many-to-many relationships...
I have an application which includes a form for companies, and a form for contacts. Each company can be assigned 1 technical and 1 administrative contact. I have this working okay so far, but I want to copy the scripts used so far to a new empty application. When I import the scripts it fails with a message that says: Problem encountered while creating the application Error in resolving form dependency:Cyclic dependency among the forms:[Company, Contact] What can I do to resolve this? After all,Zoho Workdrive for Office, "vsto runtime not found"
Hi all, I have been trying to get ZohoWorkdrive_MS-addin_1.4.exe installed, but I keep getting the error "VSTO Runtime Not Found!" - even though I have installed it ... Anyone else hear had problems with the MS addin? FYI, I am using O365 on A Dell laptop running Win 10 Home - fully patched and up-to-date. I have tried compatibility modes and running explicitly as Administrator - the usual steps. Any advice would be appreciated.Zia’s AI Assist now helps you write clearer notes — in seconds
After helping recruiters craft job descriptions, emails, and assessments, Zia’s AI Assist is now stepping in to make note-taking effortless too. Whether you’re recording feedback after an interview or sharing quick updates with your team, you can nowZoho API to create ticket
I'm developing an integration to create tickets via API, but, locally it works (send and recieve requests). In production it also works sending requests, but, my file don't recieve any response data. My URL is available in Zoho API Console and I haveAutomate Timesheet Approvals with Multi-level Approval Rules
Introducing Approval Rules for Timesheets in Zoho Projects. With this automation, teams can manage how timesheets are reviewed and approved by setting up rules with criteria and assigning approvers to handle submissions. Timesheet, when associated toBuilding Toppings #1 - Serving your needs with Bigin Toppings
Hey Biginners! We're excited to kick off our Developer Community series on building toppings for Bigin, and our goal is to provide an accessible, beginner-friendly, and relevant path for every developer. Imagine creating tiny pieces of software that unlockCan we create Sprint with tasks from Multiple projects?
Hi Team, We were using Zoho Sprints for quite sometime. Currently we have started the process of Sprint method. We couldnt create the active sprint board with the tasks from multiple projects. I would like to know whether this is possible or Any timelineTip of the Week #74– Create automated workflows in MS Power Automate
Zoho TeamInbox now connects directly with Microsoft Power Automate, letting you streamline everyday routines tasks such as from sending emails to managing threads, with automated workflows. About the integration Zoho TeamInbox integrates with MicrosoftAccount validation
Hello everyone, I registered my account on ZeptoMail to use the system, but the problem is that the verification period on Zepto's end has already passed and I have limited functionality.Paste issues in ZOHO crm notes
Hi, since a week or so I have issues with the paste function in ZOHO CRM. I use "notes" to copy paste texts from Outlook emails and since a week or so, the pasting doesnt function as it should: some text just disappears and it gives a lot of empty lines/enters.....Is it possible to add a gradient color to a newsletter im designing?
From where i sit it looks like you can only choose a single color but not combine 2 colors?New Feature: Audit Log in Zoho Bookings
Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re excited to introduce Audit Log, a new feature designed to help you track all key actions related to your appointments. With Audit Log, you can maintain transparency, strengthen security, and ensure accountability.Custom validation in CRM schema
Validation rules in CRM layouts work nicely, good docs by @Kiran Karthik P https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/validation-rules/articles/create-validation-rules I'd prefer validating data input 'closer to the schema'Customised Funnel
We are running the standard plan for our ZOHO CRM. I have been asked if there is a way to combine data from the Calls module, Deals module and Contact Module into 1 funnel, similar to the view you can get when viewing Deals By Stages, you can see theAccount disabled
I have an issue I need help with. Whilst trialing ZOHO CRM I created the following: Account1 (-------------) using m__ame@m__rg___s__i__.___.__ and 2 personal emails Account2 (-------------) using a personal email and 2 users _al__1@______________._o_.__Blocked Email
We are a Zoho One subscriber and use Yahoo as our MX provider. A few times each year, for the past four years, CRM blocks one or more of my Zoho One users from receiving internal email from CRM. This includes "@mentions" in all modules, and emails frommessage var is empty in bot mention handler
Hi, I'm encountering a problem: in my bot's mention handler, I want to retrieve the text the user typed when mentioning the bot. Example: On the #tests-cyril channel, I send this message: “@Donna hello how are you ?” I expect the system variable "message"Remembrance Day to Remember – Recalling Values
The phrase “at the eleventh hour” refers to the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, when the hostilities of World War I came to an end—but it still holds meaning today. Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the US) is observed on NovemberEnhancing Zia's service with better contextual responses and article generation
Hello everyone, We are enhancing Zia's Generative AI service to make your support experience smarter. Here's how: Increased accuracy with Qwen One of the key challenges in AI is delivering responses that are both contextually accurate and empathetic whileHow to display two measures (sales and price) divided by categories on one line chart
Hi everyone, I’m having trouble figuring out how to display two columns on a line chart with category breakdowns. What I need is a line chart where one line represents Sales and the other represents Price. However, the Price data is divided into aroundNext Page