Perform a bulk import of external contacts and organizations

AI-generated summary

Genesys Cloud's bulk import system provides a comprehensive solution for managing external contacts and organizations through CSV-based file uploads, requiring users to possess appropriate External Contacts permissions and custom admin roles. The platform mandates the creation of an external source prior to uploading CSV files and employs sophisticated contact matching algorithms utilizing multiple identifiers such as email and phone numbers to identify and consolidate duplicate records. The import workflow requires users to prepare CSV files, select or create import profiles, designate external sources, and configure contact matching criteria by establishing field match order. Two merging strategies are available: updating all matched contacts or updating only the first matched contact, with CSV file values automatically resolving field conflicts during merge operations. The system provides preview functionality for the first 10 rows of uploaded content and performs comprehensive data validation with detailed logging of successful and failed imports. Division management represents a critical feature within the bulk import process, requiring explicit division selection for each import with options to designate "Unassigned" divisions for organizations not utilizing division structures. However, division assignments are permanent and cannot be modified after import; contacts must be deleted and reimported to change divisional assignments. External Contacts can only link to External Organizations when both entities belong to the same division, with divisions for External Organizations established at creation time. Users assigned to specific divisions retain access to both their assigned and unassigned divisions, while the Home division serves as the default for unassigned users. Validation failures commonly result from incomplete data or missing required fields such as External Organization External ID, resulting in partial imports where failed records are excluded from the import process. The Validating Data screen displays comprehensive results showing total contacts created or updated against those failing validation, enabling users to identify and address data quality issues before finalizing imports.

PrerequisitesClick to expand

The following permissions:
- External Contacts > External Entity > Import
- External Contacts > Contact > View
- External Contacts > Import job > Add
- External Contacts > Import job > Edit
- External Contacts > Import job > View
- External Contacts > Import job > View All
- External Contacts > Import CSV job > Add
- External Contacts > Import settings > Add
- External Contacts > Import settings > Delete
- External Contacts > Import settings > Edit
- External Contacts > Import settings > View
- External Contacts > Import settings > View All
- External Contacts > Import CSV settings > Add
- External Contacts > Import CSV settings > Delete
- External Contacts > Import CSV settings > Edit
- External Contacts > Import CSV settings > View
- External Contacts > Import CSV upload > Add
- External Contacts > Import CSV upload > View
External Sources permissions:
- External Contacts > externalSource > Add
- External Contacts > externalSource > Delete
- External Contacts > externalSource > Edit
A custom External Contacts admin role
A prepared .csv file

1. Click Directory > External Contacts.
2. Click Menu > Contacts > External Contacts and Organizations.
3. Click Bulk Import. For more information, see Prepare a source .csv file.
  Note: If you use the Bulk Import feature, create an external source before uploading a .csv file.
4. To upload the prepared .csv file, drop the file or select the file.
5. After the file validates, to proceed to the Import Profile and Settings page, click Next.
6. In the Set up your Import Profile section, select a previously saved import profile. To create a new import profile, click Create new import setting and provide a name.
7. Select the External Source. For more information, see External Sources.
8. In the Match Contacts By section, choose what identifiers to match external contacts with existing contacts. If multiple contacts that have the same email or phone exist, the order of the match criteria indicates how contacts match. If multiple emails or phone numbers exist in your .csv, then the system uses this order to check them. Drag the fields to change the order. If no match is found, a new contact is created.
  Note: This function is only available for external contacts.
9. In the Merge Matched Contacts section, choose how contacts merge:
  - Merge and update all matched contacts merges all contacts matching the selected identifiers. The merge operation combines all the values across different fields into one record and if conflict occurs, the merge operation uses the value from the CSV file to update the record. For more information, see Merge Examples.
  - Update first matched contact only allows the first matched contact to be updated.
    Note: This function is only partially available for Organizations, where organizations are only matched by External Organization External ID.
10. In the Division Assignment section, select a division to be assigned to the contacts being imported from the .csv file. Select a division explicitly for every import and the selected division is not saved as part of the imported profile for future imports. Select Unassigned if your organization does not use divisions or if the contacts being imported must be visible to all users who have appropriate permission set, regardless of division assignment.
  Note: You cannot modify division of a contact after it is imported to Genesys Cloud. In case you assigned an incorrect division to a contact or if you want to modify division of a contact in future, you must delete the contact and reimport the contact with the required division assignment.
11. In the Import Field option, choose the fields to be imported.
  - To preview the first 10 rows of the uploaded content, click the or buttons in the first column.
12. Click Next to save the current import settings and begin data validation.
13. In the Validating Data screen, check the Data Validation logs for validation results.
  Note: The Contacts Imported field indicates the total number of contacts that were created or updated during import. The Contacts Not Imported field indicates the total number of contacts that did not import. A couple of scenarios on how import is handled are:
  - If the file has 1000 rows and 15 of them fail Data validation due to an incomplete email address, only 985 records import.
  - If the file has 1000 rows and the External Organization External ID field for all records is empty, and the CSV file has an External Organization Name for all the rows, none of the contacts import.
14. To complete the validated contacts import, click Import.
  Notes:
  - Existing contacts are by default assigned to an unassigned division. To assign division for existing contacts, delete the contacts and recreate them by reimporting the contacts with the correct division assignment.
  - If your organization does not want to use divisions for external contacts, Genesys Cloud assigns contacts to an unassigned division by default during contact creation.
  - Unassigned in the Division list is the same as * in API and same as null in the database.
  - User permissions for external contacts and divisions are tied to specific division other than the unassigned division. If the division is not assigned, then the user is assigned to the Home division by default. For more information, see Divisions for External Contacts overview. Users assigned to a specific division can access unassigned division as well.
  - You can link an External Contact to an External Organization only when they both belong to the same division.
  - Divisions for External Organizations are set when the org is created. If an org is imported with a contact, they both are stored in the same division.

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Perform a bulk import of external contacts and organizations

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