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

    • Send email template "permission denied to access the api"

      Hello, Per the title, I'm trying to send a Zoho CRM Email template based on the advice given here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/specify-an-email-template-when-sending-emails-in-custom-functions (I'd prefer to send right from Deluge

    • 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 now

    • Add Prebuilt "Partner Finder" Template with Native Zoho CRM Integration in Zoho Sites To: Zoho Sites Product Team

      Hi Zoho Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request a prebuilt "Partner Finder" template for Zoho Sites, modeled after your excellent implementation here: 🔗 https://www.zoho.com/partners/find-partner-results.html ✅ Use Case: Our organization

    • Shortcut to fill a range of cells

      Good evening: I'm writing because I haven't been able to find a feature that allows you to select a range of cells, type in one of them, and then use a key combination to type in all of them. In Excel, the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Enter. I haven't found

    • Introducing Dark Mode / Light Mode : A New Look For Your CRM

      Hello Users, We are excited to announce a highly anticipated feature - the launch of Day, Night and Auto Mode implementation in Zoho CRM's NextGen user interface! This feature is designed to provide a visually appealing and comfortable experience for

    • Object required error

      Hi, I am getting an 'Object required' error on the line Call HideColumnsOutsideRange(ws, startOfWeek, endOfWeek) when I run the ShowCurrentWeek macro but not when I run the ShowCurrentMonth macro. Any ideas? Regards, GW Option Explicit Sub HideColumnsOutsideRange(ws

    • Zoho CRM - Rename "Estimates" in CRM Finance Suite Integration to "Quotes"

      I'm not sure if it's been 2 or 3 years now since Zoho Books renamed Estimates to Quotes. I still see "Estimates" in the Zoho CRM integration. Could this be added to Translation settings so that some customisation could be made on an account by account

    • Its 2022, can our customers log into CRM on their mobiles? Zoho Response: Maybe Later

      I am a long time Zoho CRM user. I have just started using the client portal feature. On the plus side I have found it very fast and very easy (for someone used to the CRM config) to set up a subset of module views that make a potentially extremely useful

    • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

      The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest update

    • New Series Announcement - Ecommerce Marketing Tips

      Running an online business is more than just having a website. It’s about getting the right customers to discover you, trust you, and keep coming back. To support your growth journey, we’re launching a weekly Marketing Tips series right here on Zoho Commerce

    • Marketing Tip #7: Add a blog to your online store

      A blog is more than content. It’s a magnet for new customers. Sharing product guides, styling tips, or industry insights through blog posts builds trust and helps you rank higher on search engines. Try this today: Write one blog post answering a common

    • Kanban view on Zoho CRM mobile app!

      What is Kanban? The name doesn't sound English, right? Yes, Kanban is a Japanese word which means 'Card you can see'. As per the meaning, Kanban in CRM is a type of list view in which the records will be displayed in cards and categorized under the given

    • Allow Regular Users to Directly Transfer Ownership of Files & Folders

      Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement related to file and folder ownership management in Zoho WorkDrive. At the moment, a regular user cannot directly transfer ownership of their files or folders

    • STOCK history in zohosheets

      is it possible to get historical stock value using stock function in zoho sheets? i could not see from and to period in the helper document.

    • Triggering 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 Bhadra

    • 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 the

    • Trigger Zapier on Deluge Insert Into Function?

      Hello, To get around the limitation of not being able to trigger a Zapier Zap on Record Update(this would be extremely useful to be able to do btw), I have created a Deluge script to copy the data from Form A to a Trigger Form B using the Insert Into expression from a Custom Action button on a Report from Form A.  This action does not trigger the Zapier Zap whereas manually adding a record or duplicating an existing record does trigger the Zap. Is Insert Into not the same as a manual Add in the context

    • Can you inject JS in an HML+CSS+Deluge Page?

      I have an HTML + CSS + Deluge page and need just a little vanilla JS functionality. However, it seems like Zoho Creator does not allow that. I'm required to create a JS widget. Is this correct? If so: 1. Won't this quickly consume my API limit if there

    • Display Client Name in Zoho Creator Client Portal Dashboard

      Hello Zoho Creator Team, We hope you are doing well. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for providing a personalized portal experience. However, there is currently

    • Unified Inbox for all, including fetched mails

      I fetch mails from different third-parties mailboxes. But I need to switch mailbox too see fetched mails. It's strange. All mailboxes have one shared disk space for own mail and fetched mail, but why do we need to switch mailbox (on the left bottom) to

    • Zoho unified inbox

      The new changes have definitely improved things for switching between accounts.  But zoho still desperately needs a unified inbox.  It sucks to have to enter filters and folders for each and every inbox.  This seems like such a simple thing, i wonder why Zoho hasn't done it?

    • Marketer’s Space - Multi-Channel Campaigns for the Biggest Shopping Week with Zoho Marketing Automation

      Hello marketers, Welcome back to another post in Marketers Space! The biggest shopping week of the year is almost here, and it’s your moment to shine without the stress. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, being present across email,

    • Is there a problem with sharing workdrive files with links since last night?

      As per title, we can't access folders/files through share links since last night. I created ticket but we need quick solution and didn't hear back from the support yet. The files are still accessible by the main account but all zoho files that we are

    • Enable Screen Recording in Zoho WorkDrive Mobile Apps (Android & iOS)

      Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, How are you? We are enthusiastic Zoho One users and rely heavily on Zoho WorkDrive for internal collaboration and content sharing. The screen-recording feature in the WorkDrive web app (similar to Loom) is extremely useful- however,

    • Production Management Tool (MRP / BOM)

      Hi Guys, is there any recommended App available that works with zoho and covers the needed applications for a production? What we need is a system that covers the BOM (bill of materials), MRP (material ressources planning), MRP II (manufacturing ressources

    • Function #53: Transaction Level Profitability for Invoices

      Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! We have previously provided custom functions for calculating the profitability of a quote and a sales order. There may be instances where the invoice may differ from its corresponding quote or sales order.

    • Bug in Zoho Cliq Signup Flow – "%s" Placeholder Visible Instead of Product Name

      Hi Zoho Team, I would like to report a UI bug in the Zoho Cliq signup/enable flow. During the step where Cliq asks to enable the product for the company, the following text appears: Great! Your company is already available in Zoho, so you just have to

    • Zoho Invoice Customer Login Portal

      Are there any plans for a customer portal to Zoho Invoice, ala Freshbooks?  I would like customers that I invoice to be able to login to review invoices and invoice history.  I have not switched from Freshbooks for this very reason.

    • Exporting tickets

      I went to Setup -> Organization -> Import/Export in order to export tickets but found 2 issues: 1. The email body never gets exported. 2. There are some large numbers (like 5.57E+16) under certain columns of the exported CSV file. I could not find any export options. Please can you help with this?

    • Editing the Ticket Properties column

      This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I cannot figure out how to configure/edit the sections (and their fields) in this column: For example, we have a custom "Resolution" field, which parked itself in the "Ticket Information" section of this

    • Copy field information to clipboard

      I need to be able to transfer some field information in to the clipboard, so that I can then paste it in to our helpdesk system. Is there a way I could add a button to a detail report that does this?

    • Issuing reconciling a bank statement

      HELP! I'm trying to reconcile a bank statement. The prior month reconciled perfectly. Beginning balance is correct yet I'm off by the same amount each time. Both myself and my office manager, separately and together, have tried to complete this reconciliation

    • Unknown table or alias 'A1'

      I would like to create a subquery but i am getting the following error: Unknown table or alias 'A1' used in select query. This is the sql statement:  SELECT A1.active_paying_customers, A1.active_trial_customers, A1.new_paying_signup, date(A1.date_active_customers), 

    • Detect and ignore bots in visitors

      The SalesIQ visitor numbers are basically useless to us because there is no bot detection. We get the same bots coming in from the same countries looking at the same pages every day. It can't be that difficult to tell the difference between an actual

    • Add Real-Time Microphone Audio-Level Indicator During Screen Recording

      Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement to the Zoho WorkDrive screen-recording experience. Current Limitation: During a recording session, there is no visual indication that the microphone is

    • Zero Personalization of the File Sharing Experience

      By now (2025) this is the maximum level of personalization available for a Zoho sharing link. We gently asked Zoho if we could modify at least the background, and they replied that it cannot be customized. We're truly disappointed – and surprised every

    • External Share > Edit: Cannot Create Zoho Files

      Hi Zoho, When we create an external share link with Edit permission, our external users are unable to create a Zoho file (Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet and Zoho Show). They can only upload files. They can edit the Zoho files if we create them internally and

    • Two factor authentication for helpdesk users

      The company i work for wants use the helpdesk site in Zoho desk, as a place for their distribution partners to ask question and look for information about our product. The things there is suppose to go up there is somewhat confidential between my company

    • Users Not Automatically Being Added To WorkDrive Team

      I have already created a ticket for this issue, but the support team doesn't seem to understand what's happening. Our organization started with a trial of Zoho Workplace around November 10, 2025. I created 10 users, including myself. I sent out the invites,

    • Kiosk can't merge picklist or multiselect

      There is no ability to load a multiselect or picklikst field into a kiosk with the values that have been previously selected. So, I essentially have 3 unacceptable options: 1.)Load the value into a text string and include instructions like this: "Picklist

    • Next Page