Automation#33: Automate Splitting Names for Existing Contact Records

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.UPDATE
Desk.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:       
         2.12.1 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:
  1. //------------- User Input ----------
  2. orgId = "60xxxxxxxx0"; //replace with your Org ID
  3. operator = "."; 
  4. checkBoxFieldAPIName = "enter_the_field_api_name"; //Enter API name of the checkbox
  5. //---------------------------------
  6. logs = Map();
  7. try {
  8. contacts = zoho.desk.getRecordById(orgId,"contacts",contactId, "deskcontact");
  9. firstName = contacts.get("firstName");
  10. lastName = contacts.get("lastName");
  11. if(lastName.contains(operator))
  12. {
  13.        if(operator.contains(".")){
  14.          lastName = lastName.subString(0,lastName.indexOf("@"));
  15.        }
  16.        firstName = lastName.subString(0,lastName.indexOf(operator)).trim();
  17.        lastName = lastName.subString(lastName.indexOf(operator) + 1);
  18.        updateContact = zoho.desk.update(orgId,"contacts",contactId,{"firstName":firstName,"lastName":lastName,"cf":{checkBoxFieldAPIName:true}},"deskcontact");
  19.    }
  20. }
  21. catch (errorInfo)
  22. {
  23. logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
  24. }
  25. info "logs: \n" + logs;

  27. if(logs.containKey("errorInfo"))
  28. {
  29. throws "Error happen in the CF execution";
  30. }
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

    • 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 features

    • Share 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 here

    • Webinar 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

    • DANE IS NOT implemented

      According to the answer of @Sagar S , "DANE has been implemented". on this topic Allow me to disagree, DANE is not implemented at least not to the EU area. The Zoho domain is not under DNSSEC protection and the related TLSA DNS records

    • Enhance Your CRM Experience with Zoho Webinars in Sandbox Environments

      Greetings all, Zoho Webinars will now be available for testing and deployment in Zoho CRM's sandbox environment. Sandboxes offer a safe way to replicate production environments and enable risk-free testing, training, and refining processes before making

    • Increase the elegant comparator to more than 5 users

      Hi Team Requesting to increase the elegant comparators number of custom users to more than 5, this is such a crucial tool in dashboarding but 5 users is simply not enough.

    • No emails coming in

      Hi, I am not receiving any emails, I have tried to send myself an email from another acct and I am not receiving anything, possibly for the last few days. Bit desperate as we are a nursery and not getting important emails from our parents.

    • Problem with Schedule Email parameters in "Send Reply to an Email" API

      Hello, This is my Json script: { "fromAddress": "test@gmail.com", "toAddress": "{{8.fromAddress}}", "subject": "{{8.subject}}", "content": "{{4.result}}", "action": "reply", "isSchedule": true, "scheduleType": 6, "timeZone": "Europe/Lisbon", "scheduleTime":

    • What's New? - May 2025 | Zoho Backstage

      Hi everyone, A May-zing month for you! As summer rolls in and event season picks up the pace, we’ve been working on a set of updates in Zoho Backstage to help make your day-to-day life a little easier. This month’s improvements are all about tackling

    • Integrate Zia AI into Zobot with Support for Hebrew and Bot Context

      Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings. We would like to submit a feature request that would significantly enhance the functionality and intelligence of Zobot: native integration of Zia AI into Zobot scripts and blocks—with full support for Hebrew language

    • Mail Merge: Need Transparent Background for Signatures

      I'm using ZohoCRM and Zoho sign to send documents to customers to sign. We use zohoCRM's "Mail merge" option to create the templates. The problem is that those "Signature" fields have a solid white background so it looks like a stamp on the page instead

    • Zoho Flows

      Basically I can't build a connection that works between Excel on OneDrive and Zoho. I wanted to have 1 flow checking on a row added to an excel file and then intiate an import of that row. I'm doing that manually now and thought that this could be automated.

    • Zoho time tracking with automated screenshots

      Time tracking option with automated screen shots would be an exeptuonally good feature, any plans to develop something like that?

    • Sharing my portal URL with clients outside the project

      Hi I need help making my project public for anyone to check on my task. I'm a freelance artist and I use trello to keep track on my client's projects however I wanted to do an upgrade. Went on here and so far I'm loving it. However, I'm having an issue sharing my url to those to see progress. They said they needed an account to access my project. How do I fix this? Without them needing an account.

    • Zoho Campaigns Forms not Responsive on Website

      I have a mobile responsive Zoho Sites website and when I add a Zoho Campaigns form, it is not responsive. I have used the website code and ensured that the 'responsive' checkbox is selected. But, the form is not responsive to mobile. I have attached a

    • Oldest mail on top?

      I am old, and probably missing something simple, but how do I flip my zoho mail so oldest mail is on top?  Thanks in advance, and a HUGE thank you to the entire ZOHO team.  You just keep getting better!

    • Desk API to add or change commenterId to a comment

      Please let me know how to add comments on tickets for different agents using the API. When adding a comment it will take commenterId but then ignores that and used the API agentId. Did not see in API docs which values are readonly. I pleased to see commentedTime worked for past times. Regards, Glenn

    • How send a ticket attachment using the Sendreply API in Zoho Desk

      API document references : you make use of the Upload file API and gather the attachment ID. This ID is be passed with the Send email Reply API to deliver responses with the attachment intact. Code template is as below: // ORGID ORGID = "XXXXXXX"; // Masked

    • First Insight - Find your Fields

      The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories Find your Fields What are fields? Fields are crucial in ticketing modules that capture information about Tickets, Customers, Organizations, Products, and more. Depending on the kind of data being stored, users can

    • Automation#30: Auto-Update Time Entry to the Nearest 5 Minutes

      Hello Everyone, Time tracking is a feature in Zoho Desk to help businesses stay organized and efficient. For Zylker Techfix, this feature has helped to track the duration of gadget services to generate accurate bills. However, Zylker Techfix faced a unique

    • Email adding to existing ticket

      hello Is there some syntax i can add e.g. to the subject line / body of my email that when it reaches the Zoho portal will add the request to an existing ticket. e.g {123} Currently if i have an open ticket and a customer emails me direct, i then forward

    • How to define different shift timings for each weekday in Zoho People?

      Hi everyone, We’re using Zoho People for attendance tracking and need to configure a standard 39-hour workweek that is structured like this: Monday to Thursday: 8 hours per day Friday: 7 hours Currently, our service provider has set up the workweek as

    • add two date range

      Hi, How can I add two date range selections to compare two different column values in a single pivot view? I have attached a snap for your reference.

    • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.26.5.0)

      Hello Community, Trident for Windows is here with exciting new features to elevate your email communication and enhance productivity. Let’s dive into what’s new! Open .eml files in Trident. You can now open .eml files directly using Trident. This makes

    • Adjust The max character in Specification Field

      Is there another way to adjust the maximum character limit for the Specifications field in Zoho Commerce? I need to accept responses with fewer than 200 characters.

    • Customize the Sign In And Sign Up in Zoho Commerce

      Is there another way to customize the Sign In and Sign Up in website Zoho Commerce like this i want to customize to edit it like change the "Sign In" word into "Login Zoho Commerce" it is possible or other way to do that?

    • Territories : Deluge and APIs

      I am trying to work out how to filter a deluge query by territory eg "SELECT Total_Amount, Stage, Closing_Date, Created_Time, Deal_Name FROM Deals WHERE Stage in (" + varBaseCriteria + ") AND Territory = 'Territory1'" The problem being that Territory

    • Tidying up messes file system on Site

      I'm been given access to a new site that's been managed by several different people over the years, each with different ways of managing images and files. If I move an image from one folder to another, it shows a missing image icon on the site's page.

    • Move Archive Button in Zoho Mail to Main Toolbar?

      Is there a way to add the Archive Button to this tool bar so I don't have to click the three dots every time?

    • Introducing Bigin 360: Our new pricing edition with increased feature limits and pre-installed toppings

      Dear Biginners Club, Today, we're pleased to launch a brand-new pricing edition called Bigin 360, our highest pricing edition that will sit on top of Express and Premier editions. It's been over four years since our launch, and we're receiving some great

    • URL field display value

      Is it possible to give a URL stored in a project a display value, rather than showing the whole url? I have a lot of projects connected to issues filed on a separate site, each with a distinct URL. For example: https://bugs.koha-community.org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=40000

    • need payment link excl. TDS Amount.

      Dear Team Zoho, Kindly generate a payment link excluding TDS amount. So that TDS can be submitted through portal. Thanks & Regards, Arijit S.

    • CRM is very slow now

      CRM is very slow now. Plz check ASAP

    • Access error when running invokeurl

      Hi, I'm running the following code: string standalone.test_api() { LoroToken=zoho.crm.getOrgVariable("LoroToken"); info "LoroToken:"+ LoroToken; headersMap = Map(); headersMap.put("Authorization", "Bearer "+LoroToken ); headersMap.put("Content-Type",

    • Disable Column Freeze in PWA View but Keep It on Desktop — Zoho Creator Reports

      Zoho Creator offers a useful feature to freeze up to two columns in a report view, which works well on desktops. However, our users access the app on both laptops and mobile devices, and freezing columns makes reports nearly unusable on smaller screens.

    • How do I add more space to a note in ‘draw’?

      I’m taking handwritten notes using the draw note, but I don’t seem to be able to scroll down to get more room on the page. How do I make more room to take notes?

    • Overtime per week vs. per day

      In the United States 90% of the states calculate overtime as working more than 40 hours per week. It appears that Zoho People can only calculate overtime per day.  How do we fix this? Here is an example: Mon      8 hours Tues      7 hours Wed      9 hours Thur      8 hours Fri            8 hours -----       Total      40 hours (no overtime) However, Zoho people says 1 hours of overtime because the employee worked 9 hours on Wednesday. Maybe I have something setup wrong in Zoho People?  

    • Add Hebrew Language Support in SalesIQ Idle Chat Handling and Reminders

      Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings. We would like to request the addition of Hebrew language support in the Idle Chat Handling and Reminders functionality within Zoho SalesIQ. 🗣️ Background & Use Case Currently, we have successfully configured our Zobot

    • notebook synchronization - problem

      Good afternoon, Since yesterday when trying to create a new notebook, it does not let me and when creating the notes they are not synchronized with the cloud, I think the error may be with the encryption of images because in the pages appears the image

    • Notebook 3.5.0 -- Sort order Name A-Z not working

      Just updated to Notebook 3.5.0 on Windows 10. Sort order by Name, A to Z is backwards, like Z to A. Selecting Z to A still works as expected.

    • Stay organized with chat-to-ticket timers

      Hi there! Ever lost track of a customer’s message? Or found yourself scrolling through long chat threads trying to figure out what’s what? Setting up a chat-to-ticket timer can help. It decides when a reply should stay in the old ticket or create a new

    • New notecards not syncing across devices

      Hi, I'm having the same problem where my notes are not syncing from my Android to my laptop. Please help

    • Please add custom sort in Windows ver. of Notebook!

      Dear Zoho, I love the custom sort (drag and order notes) in the Android version of Notebook, but when I sync onto the Notebook on Windows, the note orders all get messed up because it doesn't support custom sorting yet. This makes it impossible to do

    • Next Page