Automation#31: Automate Splitting Names for New Contact Records

Hello Everyone, 

This week, we present to you a custom function, which allows you to split the first and last names from the user's email ID based on the separator used in the ID.

Having grown into a large firm, Zylker Techfix aims to optimize its processes, data management, and organization. By default, contacts are created by extracting the customers' names from the email addresses and saving them in the "Last Name" field in the Customers' module. 

To create an organized directory, Zylker Techfix wanted to separate the first and last names from the email address using the (.) separator in the email ID. 
This custom function allowed them to achieve this with their contacts. Now, you can organize your contacts within Zoho Desk too.

Follow the steps below to configure the 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 Desk under Default Connection.

  1.4 Set the connection name as deskcontact.

  1.5 Disable the toggle for User Credentials of Login User.

  1.6 Under Scope, choose the below scope values:

Desk.contacts.UPDATE

Desk.contacts.READ

  1.7 Click Create and Connect.

  1.8 Click Connect and click Accept.

Connection is created successfully.

Create a Workflow Rule

1. Go to Setup(S), choose Workflows under Automation. 

2. Under Workflows, click Create Rule.

In the Basic Information section,

3. Select Contacts from the drop-down menu under Module.

4. Enter a Rule Name and Description for the rule.

5. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, create the rule and activate it later.

6. Click Next.

 

In the Execute on section, follow these steps:

7. Select Create.   

8. Click Next.

 

9. In the Criteria section, add criteria if required. click Next.
 

10. In the Actions section, click the + icon and select New next to Custom Functions.

11. Under Basic Information, enter Name and Description for the custom function. Choose Contacts under Module.
12. Under Argument Mapping, give a desired Method Name. Map the arguments as below: 
       12.1 In the Argument Name field, type contactId and select Contact ID under the Contacts Section.                                

13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:

1. //------------- User Inputs ----------
2. orgId = "60xxxxxxxx0"; //replace with your Org ID
3. operator = "."; 
4. //---------------------------------
5. logs = Map();
6. try {
7. contacts = zoho.desk.getRecordById(orgId,"contacts",contactId, "deskcontact");
8. firstName = contacts.get("firstName");
9. lastName = contacts.get("lastName");
10. if(lastName.contains(operator))
11. {
12.        if(operator.contains(".")){
13.          lastName = lastName.subString(0,lastName.indexOf("@"));
14.        }
15.        firstName = lastName.subString(0,lastName.indexOf(operator)).trim();
16.        lastName = lastName.subString(lastName.indexOf(operator) + 1);
17.        updateContact = zoho.desk.update(orgId,"contacts",contactId,{"firstName":firstName,"lastName":lastName},"deskcontact");
18.    }
19. }
20. catch (errorInfo)
21. {
22. logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
23. }
24. info "logs: \n" + logs;
25. 
    
26. if(logs.containKey("errorInfo"))
27. {
28. throws "Error happen in the CF execution";
29. }
    

NOTE

a. In Line 2, Enter your OrgId with  "  ".

To access OrgId, go to Setup (S) >> Developer Space >> APIs >> API Authentication.

14. Click Save to save the custom function.

15. Click Save again to save the workflow.

Context

Once configured, this function splits the first and last names for incoming new contacts. This custom function applies to new contacts and new incoming tickets.

We hope this custom function helps you manage your contacts efficiently. Share your feedback and connect with us for more tips and insights. 

See you next week!

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 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

• Mail Merge templates in Sandbox

  Rolled out for all DCs Hello everyone, You can now create and test Mail Merge templates directly in Sandbox, making it easier to validate document generation without affecting your live organization. Why this matters Mail Merge templates are often used

• Convert MBOX to PST File Using Free Methods

  MBOX is a mailbox format that is used by various email clients and services, such as Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Eudora, and Google Takeout. Yet, in order to be able to open your MBOX emails in Microsoft Outlook, you have to convert them from MBOX to PST

• Zoho Books | Product updates | October 2026

  Hello users, October brings a range of new features and enhancements to Zoho Books, designed to simplify compliance, streamline accounting workflows, and improve inventory management. From the launch of the Nigeria Edition and France’s e-invoicing capabilities

• Dashboard Table of “My New Work Orders” Changes View

  Hi FSM Team, We noticed an inconsistency with the Dashboard Table of “My New Work Orders.” Initially, the table is configured to use the “My New Work Orders” view. When we go to the Home page, the table displays a different set of records. When we return

• Tips & Tricks #6 | Zoho Vault: Audita actividad, Gestiona accesos, Comparte credenciales & mucho más.

  ¿Sabías que Zoho Vault puede hacer mucho más por la seguridad de tu equipo? Las contraseñas forman parte del día a día de cualquier persona y organización. Aplicaciones, herramientas internas, cuentas de clientes, servicios externos, plataformas de marketing,

• CRM Address Field - States with Countries in brackets

  Hi, Could you please remove the country in brackets from the Global State List, or at least allow us to edit these entries? It looks like the brackets were added during the initial data population, perhaps by someone building the list in a spreadsheet

• Inquiry Regarding Customer Hierarchy & Sub-Customer Creation via Zoho API

  Dear Zoho Support Team, Our mutual client has requested support for implementing the Customer Hierarchy (Parent/Sub-Customer structure) within our existing workflow. At the moment, all invoices are being created in Zoho under the main (parent) customer

• Zoho Tables is now part of Zoho One!

  Hey everyone! We've got some exciting news to share. Zoho Tables is now included in your Zoho One subscription at no extra cost. If you're already on Zoho One, head to your app list, add Zoho Tables, and get started right away. You don't need a separate

• Which Zoho CRM tasks would you want an AI assistant to handle?

  I’ve started delegating my Zoho CRM work to AI – and many tasks now take me half the time. It has been so useful that we’re now working to make it available to everyone. Instead of clicking through records and tabs, I simply describe what needs to be

• Introducing MCP for Zoho CommunitySpaces

  Hello everyone, Your AI assistant can now share the community workload with you. Zoho CommunitySpaces supports MCP (Model Context Protocol), so you can link an AI assistant like Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor to your community and run it through plain language

• CV-Library: The Newest Source Booster in Zoho Recruit!

  We’ve expanded your sourcing toolkit — CV-Library, one of the UK’s largest and most trusted online job boards, is now available as a Source Booster in Zoho Recruit. This gives recruiters instant access to millions of UK-based candidate profiles, all without

• Tip 52#: Ways to improve data flexibility using related list

  A related list offers an ideal solution to string related data across entities together. It enables you to pull records from any module or external source and float them as a tab within your project, sprint, epic, work item, or release detail view layout.

• Email Blast

  Hi, How do we send an email blast to thousands of customers? The email addresses are not yet saved in Zoho Desk.

• Zoho ERP | Product updates | September 2026

  Hello users, A new month, a fresh set of updates in Zoho ERP. This month brings Netting, enhancements across our verticals, and more updates to help streamline your everyday work. Explore this month’s updates and see what’s new. Introducing Netting If

• Widget Height were destroyed

  All widget heights in the Details Canvas view are broken.

• Introducing Zoho POS for Restaurants

  Hello Community, We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Zoho POS for Restaurants, unveiled at the 30th milestone edition of Zoholics India 2026. Running a restaurant involves multiple teams and workflows. A single table journey, from seating a guest

• WhatsApp Business Message Pricing Update: Effective October 1, 2026

  Hi everyone, Starting October 1, 2026, Meta is updating how WhatsApp Business messages are charged. This guide explains the new per-message pricing model, how message categories work, and what changes for service messages specifically. How Meta charges

• Task Module quick create settings

  Hello, requesting the Task module receive a quick create customization settings. We have added custom fields and have to select "More fields" at the bottom of the pop-up to access the custom fields.

• Zoho Calendar integration for Bigin

  Hello everyone, We're excited to introduce Zoho Calendar's integration in Bigin! For a while now, users have been able to sync events in Bigin with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar - but with this new topping, it syncs with Zoho Calendar as well.

• Does Updating Employee Names and Profile Pictures in Zoho One Automatically Sync Across All Zoho Applications?

  Hi Zoho Team, We are currently using Zoho One in our organization and want to centrally manage employee profile information. As a Zoho One Super Admin, if I update the employee name and profile picture for all users from the Zoho One Admin Panel, will

• Enhanced shared mailboxes: Dedicated Sent folders, Run-through filters & fresh UI

  Hi everyone, Collaborative communication is the backbone of smooth operations; whether you are handling customer support queries, managing vendor requests, or tracking sales leads. Shared mailboxes in Zoho Mail ensure your team stays on the same page

• How to Manage Two GST Numbers / Two Companies in a Single Zoho Inventory Organization?

  Hi Team, We currently have two separate legal entities: A Proprietorship Firm with its own GSTIN A Private Limited Company with a different GSTIN However, operationally, both companies deal with the same products, and we would like to manage the physical

• 10/22 15時〜 オンラインもくもく会のお知らせ | Zoho ワークアウト

  ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティグループの中野です。 10月22日（木）開催の「Zoho ワークアウト」をご案内します。 Zoho ワークアウトは、参加者それぞれが取り組みたいテーマを持ち寄り、ユーザー同士で交流しながら、 設定・検証・運用改善を進めるオンラインの「もくもく会」です。 「試してみたい設定があるけれど、なかなか時間を取れない」 「一人で進めていると、途中で手が止まってしまう」 「他のユーザーの活用方法や工夫を聞いてみたい」 そんな方は、Zoho ワークアウトで一緒に取り組んでみませんか？

• Reporting tags associated to Project in Zoho books?

  Hi, I know you can add reporting tags to contact, articles and transactions. Is it possible to add reporting tags to Project. We Zoho reports I would be able to generate reports by tags. Sometimes tags for a contact is different for projects (ie Projects

• Reporting Tags in Profit and Loss Reports Analysis

  Hello Community and Zoho Books Product Team, I would like to highlight a limitation I encountered with Reporting Tags in Zoho Books. Reporting Tags Not Applying to Automated Inventory Journal Postings from Product Invoices. For inventory product invoices,

• Spam Quarantine: Manage suspicious emails in Zoho Mail

  When an email is quarantined by spam processing, it need not always be blocked right away. Some emails may be marked incorrectly, or may need to be reviewed before a final decision is made. The Spam Quarantine feature in the Zoho Mail Admin Console gives

• What is the difference between "Reply" and "Public Comment" in a ticket?

  Hey, my company is thinking about switching to Zoho Desk but we do not understand the difference between the "Reply" and the "Public Comment" feature. When should we use which? And why? What is the difference between them? Thank you for your help! Kindest

• Comments Vs. Replies

  I'm curious as to the difference between a "Reply" and a "Comment" on a ticket. It appears that "Replies" are what's used to determine response time SLA's and there are also used to automatically re-open tickets. I'm just trying to understand the key differences so I can educate both our clientele and our back-end users on which function/feature to use to better improve the ticket lifecycle. If anyone has any insight it would be appreciated. Thanks!

• What's New in Zoho Inventory | July & August 2026

  Hello users, The July and August 2026 releases bring a range of new features and improvements across the product. From the Nigeria Edition and Super Admin enhancements to Sri Lanka IRD-compliant invoicing, Loyalty Program Management, and improvements

• Forms data export bug

  The export csv with a password has changed for the worst. It is less secure by not allowing complex passwords. Just last week and the last year (at least) I was able to use a complex, secure password. Export CSV moreover doesn't even work if I use a simple

• Fax and email questions

  Does Zoho offer faxing capability? If so, how to do it? And, why is has my email inbox stopped in 2019? There are no more emails since then. Also if I delete all of those emails, will they delete it from my gmail account (I'm linked to a gmail email address).

• Create a single record from multiple images with ICR

  Hello all, Zia's Intelligent Character Recognition can now create a single record from multiple images based on the configured ICR rule. Users can upload up to three images at once, such as an ID, a passport, and a business card, and Zia will extract

• How to present an Analytic on a CRM dashboard and filter it on loginuser id

  How to present an Analytic on a CRM dashboard and filter it on loginuser id? I want to display an Analytics pivot table (as a widget) on a CRM dashboard and have the pivot filtered on the loginuser. I want additional user-filters available, such as date,

• CNIL - Suivi de Pixel

  Bonjour à tous, À la suite de la nouvelle recommandation de la CNIL sur les pixels de suivi dans les e-mails, savez-vous si Zoho Campaigns permet : de conditionner le suivi des ouvertures au consentement de chaque contact ; de proposer un lien permettant

• Live connection to DS files in Zoho Creator / ChatGPT

  As an idea, we are using ChatGPT to build with Zoho Creator (outside of Zia), which is works brilliantly to assist write deluge, provide test suggesitons etc. Currently we are uploading the DS files which are very point in time, it would be great to have

• Setting default From address when replying to request

  At the moment, if I want to reply to a request, the From field has three options, company@zohosupport.com, support@company.zohosupport.com, and support@company.com. The first two are really internal address that should never be seen by the customer and

• Zoho Payroll: Product Updates - Q3, FY2026

  Over the past quarter, Zoho Payroll has added several updates to make payroll easier to process, configure, and manage. The most notable improvements cover bank integrations, reimbursement support, payslip enhancements, employee exit documentation, payroll

• Convert OLM to PST on Mac and Windows Using Free Methods

  When your Outlook for Mac data is stored in an OLM file and you want to use it with Outlook for Windows, the simplest approach to transfer your emails and other mailbox information is to convert the OLM file to a PST file. OLM is primarily associated

• Add Payment Information (like Bank details)

  I am using the Free plan of Zoho Books. I need to add the bank details/ UPI details on the invoice. How can I do that. I have added the details in the Bank Section.

• Placeholders for Multi-Level Discount

  I am using custom templates for Invoices and all other modules. Since i have activated multi-level discount (an early-access feature from zoho) "discount at line-item and transaction level", I need placeholders for using them in my custom templates. With

• Next Page