User Permissions: Role-based restrictions, If you are unable to import files, please reach out to your team's administrator.
Prerequisites: Before importing your data, make sure that you have completely configured your Apps. This is essential for the Template CSV file to include all the fields for your Apps.
In this tutorial, we will cover the following topics:
- What to do Before you Import your Data
- Getting your CSV Files Ready
- Import Sequence
- Begin Importing Data
-
Imports by Type
- Importing Notes
- Understanding Import Errors
- Managing Imports
What do Before you Import your Data
1. Decide what applications you need and which you don't.
If you haven't done so already, decide which apps would absolutely need in Servis.ai. This is important because your apps is where all of your data will reside. What are the most important needs you have as an organization?
Here are the default applications that come with Servis.ai:
- Accounts: This app includes the information of the Account, Company, or Organization of the Contact. In some of the existing setups, this App could be deactivated.
- Contacts: This app handles the contact information, it could also be called Leads, Customers, etc.
- Opportunities: This is where you keep track of your Sales pipeline, meaning it could be called Sales or Deals. There are some cases in which this app is used with a different purpose in mind, like Projects.
- Products: if you have inventory this is the perfect place to keep track of it.
- Projects: Any work that requires a long-term commitment and planning can be tracked here.
- Quotes: Keep track of quotes generated for customers or even internally.
- Tickets: IT and Support departments often use tickets to keep track of issues. You can do all of that in Servis.ai.
- Tasks: You can create tasks in various places throughout Servis.ai. This app is where you can view, organize, and create them.
Deactivating Apps
If you decide you don't need any of the applications above you simply disable it so that it doesn't show up in your menu or home screen.
To Deactivate an App go to Admin Settings > Apps and then click on the application you would like to deactivate. The "Deactivate App" button will be in the top-right corner of the screen.
You can reactivate Apps by going to Settings > Apps > Deactivated Apps. Hover over the three-button menu next to the App you want and then click 'Activate'.
Creating Apps
Maybe the App you need doesn't come with Servis.ai. Not a problem. You can create your Apps!
To learn more about how to create your own Apps please visit the following Articles:
2. Configure Your Applications.
Once you've decided which Apps to keep, deactivate, or create you need to configure them. Please visit the following Articles:
3. Ensure all of your Applications have the Form Fields you Need.
This is a very important step before importing your data. Your Form Fields determine how your data is organized. They also dictate how your CSV file will look which you will use to import data into Servis.ai.
To learn more about how to create and manage Form Fields in your Apps please visit the following article:
Getting your CSV Files Ready
Importing data through a CSV file is the fastest way to create or update your data in Servis.ai. Our importer includes a template you can download to get your data ready.
Best Practice: It is advised that when updating your data through import, you only update the data you want to change.
For example, if a Contact record in your Servis.ai instance has 100 fields and you want to update the Contact Owner field via import, all you should include is the ID of the Contact and the Contact Owner field.
The very first step needed to start the import process is to get your files ready. This involves a couple of steps.
Download CSV Template
You can start off by downloading the CSV template available for each of your apps. In the left menu, click on the App's name and click on any of the available views.
Then click on the 'Import' button in the top right corner of the screen. It's the icon with the arrow pointing up.
This will take you to the Import Wizard. From here you can download your CSV template. The download will begin right when you click 'Download a handy CSV template', it will change depending on which App you are.
Note: You will need to repeat this process for each of your Apps, as the template CSV file is configured to match the form fields for each application.
Here's an example of what the CSV file looks like for my Contacts App.
Each column heading matched the Fields that I have in my Contacts App. Compare what you see for one of my contacts below to the fields in the CSV file.
Adding and Cleaning Your Data
Now that you have your template file, it's time to fill it with your data. At this time we recommend that you clean your data to make sure you import quality data. This clean-up includes making sure that you are only adding relevant information for yourself and your team. And that phone numbers, addresses, emails, etc.. are well-formatted.
Let's go over some things to be aware of when getting your data ready for Servis.ai.
Reference and Unique Fields
There are some things you need to keep in mind when importing data to 'Unique' and 'Reference Fields' within Servis.ai.
What is a Unique Field?
Unique Fields are simply a way to ensure you don't have duplicates in your records. This is why it's best used for fields like company names, email addresses, or phone numbers.
The recommended unique fields for the most common Apps are:
| APP | RECOMMENDED FIELD |
| Contacts | Work Email |
| Accounts | Name |
| Opportunities | Name |
When importing data into Servis.ai, you may need to link records from one app to another. Here’s how to do it correctly based on the type of field you’re working with.
Using a Reference Field
If a field refers to a record from another app (a Reference Field), you must use the record’s ID instead of its name when importing data. The column header in your CSV file should match the name of the field in your app.
Importing Data to a Unique Field
If a Unique Field has been set up in your app, you should use this field instead of the record ID during import. If no Unique Field is enabled, continue using the record ID.
The column header for a Unique Field should follow this format:
[Reference Field Name].[Unique Field Name]
Example:
For the field Account.Name:
- Account is the name of the Reference Field.
- Name is the Unique Field being used to identify the record.
This method works through Dot.Walking, which allows apps with Reference Fields to pull specific data from related records.
To learn more about it dive in to this article.
Multi-Select Choice Lists
Multi-Select Choice Lists allow you to select multiple values for one field. To import more than one value via the CSV file you simply need to divide each value with a comma.
So if you have three values you would add them under the Choice List column as follows:
value one, value two, value three
Import Sequence
Given the existing relationships in the data, the import process should follow a specific order. The name of the Apps may vary based on your team's configuration but the order should be:
- Accounts (or Organizations)
- Contacts (Leads or Customers)
- Opportunities (Deals or Sales).
It has to be done following this order, as we need to include either the FA ID or Unique Field Value to create the relationship between the two apps when importing your data. The same applies to any Custom app that includes a reference to another App, either the FA ID or Unique Field Value are needed to create those relationships as well.
To simplify this process, we recommend that you specify Unique fields for each of your Apps before you begin importing data.
First Steps
Download the template for your Apps and fill in the information you require. If you already have the information in another spreadsheet, we recommend that you organize your information based on the template to make sure that you have all the fields in your app or create new in case you are missing some.
Note: It is not necessary to fill out all the fields. In case you don't want to add information for a given field, then remove the column from the file before importing.
Formatting dates/times/numbers
Correctly configuring your date time format is an essential step in the preparation of your import file. Servis.ai uses the international standard (ISO 8601) for the import process. This format allows you to use one sequence to define a date and when needed, time in a single cell.
The simplest way to remember formatting in this system is to always list your date and time values from largest to smallest.
Date: Year, Month, Day
Time: Hour, Minute, Second
Let's quickly add this format to Microsoft Excel, with the largest to smallest values in mind. Navigate to Format Cells > Number > Custom. From here, copy and paste in the following format.
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
Click 'Ok' to save and your format is all set for Servis.ai Date Time import. Let's quickly review.
| FORMAT | DESCRIPTION |
| YYYY-MM-DD | Date-only |
| YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS | Date and time, with a space between the date and time. Time is in the 24-hour clock format |
| 00:00 | ISO standard for midnight time |
We'll use March 9th, 2022 at 3:15 PM as an example
| 2022-03-09 | Date-only |
| 2022-03-09 15:15 | Date and time. Notice since we do not need to specify seconds, SS can be omitted. Date information is required at minimum for import. |
| 2022-03-09 15:15:30 | Date and time, including value for seconds |
Note: If your organization needs to utilize UTC, add your Z value directly after the time without a space. Z is the zone designator for the zero UTC offset.
Begin Importing Data
There are a few different ways you can navigate to importing data for each of your applications in Servis.ai.
Enter into any of your applications and click on the 'Import' button in the top right corner of the screen. For this example, the import button on the Contacts App.
Then click on the Import button on the next screen.
Step 1
You can now either drag and drop your CSV file to where it says 'Click or drop your file here' or you can click on the folder icon and choose the file from your computer. The import process will begin right away.
Once the process is complete you'll see the green checkmark along with a summary of the number of rows that have been imported. Click on 'Next' to go to the next step in the process.
Step 2
Once your CSV file has been processed Servis.ai will give you a chance to verify that all of your information has been mapped to the correct fields. If you used the template as a base for your file all the information should be mapped correctly.
Field Mapping
This feature allows you to match a column in your file to an existing field, in case they don't share the same name. You can also create fields right there using the different options from the 'Advanced Settings' dropdown:
- Fail of No Match: Doesn't includes the record and adds it to the error report on the CSV.
- Ignore if No Match: Doesn't includes the record.
- Add if No Match: Creates a new choice for the field.
And then are the options for Unique Fields:
- Use as ID. Ignore if No Match
- Use as ID. Add if No Match
If needed you can go through each cell to ensure that all of the information in your CSV is beingmapped to the correct field within your Servis.ai app. Otherwise, you can click next to move to the next step.
Once you have all your fields correctly mapped, click the 'Save' button.
Step 3
You'll get a number for the rows and fields that are ready to be imported. Once you've confirmed the numbers are correct click 'Start Import'.
The import process will begin right away. As your CSV file is being processed you will see a 'Processed' column that will populate with the total records that have successfully imported. This is updated in intervals of 1000 during the Import.
The import process will be ready once the Status is 'Completed'.
The Added and Updated columns will show how many records were successfully Added and Updated, you will notice you can click on the value. Click on each column's number to generate a CSV of those records by column.
In the 'Failed' column you may notice some rows have failed to import. This means an import error has happened. To learn more about the most common errors when importing data, please visit the 'Understanding Import Errors' section of this tutorial.
Imports by Type
Importing Accounts
1.Prepare Your File:
- Follow the recommendations in the First Steps section to get your file ready.
- Export your file as a CSV.
2.Start the Import Process:
- Go to Import Accounts and click the ‘Import Accounts’ button.
3.Upload Your File:
- In the import window:
- Click the blue rectangle to select your file from your computer’s file manager, or drag and drop your file into the window.
- Click the Next button to proceed.
Importing Contacts
1.Prepare Your File:
- Follow the recommendations in the First Steps section to get your file ready.
- Export your file as a CSV.
2.Set Up Relationships:
- If you want to create a relationship between contacts and their accounts:
- Ensure the Account Name field in your Account App is marked as Unique.
- This allows the Account Name to establish the relationship.
3.Import Your File:
- Go to your Contacts App and click 'Import Contacts'.
- In the import window:
- Click the blue rectangle to select your file or drag and drop it.
- Click Next to proceed.
4.Verify Field Mapping:
- Confirm that all the information in your file is mapped correctly to the fields in Servis.ai.
- For detailed guidance, refer to the Field Mapping section of the tutorial.
5.Begin the Import Process:
- Once everything is mapped correctly, the import process will start automatically.
- For more details, see the Import Process section of the tutorial.
Importing Opportunities
1.Prepare Your File:
- Follow the recommendations in the First Steps section to get your file ready.
- Export your file as a CSV.
2.Set Up Relationships:
- To create relationships between opportunities, the main point of contact, and the account:
- In your Account App, ensure the Account Name field (or your preferred field) is marked as Unique.
- In your Contacts App, define a field as Unique. The recommended option is ‘Work Email,’ but you can use any field that fits your needs—just make sure it’s included in your file.
3.Start the Import Process:
- Go to your Opportunities App and click ‘Import Opportunities.’
- In the import window:
- Click the blue rectangle to select your file from your computer’s file manager, or drag and drop your file.
- Click Next to proceed.
4.Verify Field Mapping:
- Check that all the information in your file is correctly mapped to the fields in Servis.ai.
- Refer to the Field Mapping section of the tutorial for detailed guidance.
5.Complete the Import Process:
- Once mapping is verified, the import process will start automatically.
- For more information, review the ‘Import Process’ section of the tutorial.
Importing Lines
What is a Line?
Lines in Servis.ai are like Apps within an App. When you create a Line you have most of the same settings you have in your main App. This makes importing to your Lines a little different than importing data to the main application.
Navigate to your Line
In this example, I've created a line in the Opportunities App called "Test Line". After your Line is created you should have a view for it under "My Views" in the app menu. Select that view.
Download the CSV Template
Click on the 'Import' button to start the import wizard. Just as you would if you were importing data to the main app.
Then click the Import button again in the top right corner of the screen.
Now you can download a CSV template that's mapped for the fields in your line instead of the main application.
Prepare the CSV Template
The CSV column names will match the fields you've created within your line. The one difference is the 'Parent ID'. This is where you need to enter the ID number for the main record this line is attached to.
The Parent ID column refers to the ID of the record that will contain the Lines. This is the 9-digit system code available for all records. This means that you will need to import your data to the Parent App first in order to be able to import your Lines.
If your Lines include reference fields, you will need to use the record ID instead of the name.
You can find the ID in the detailed view of any record in your application. Here's an example:
Importing Images
Note: In order to import images for the Image field type, you will need to add the URL of the image. If your image is stored on your computer, you will need to upload it to a cloud service in order to get the image URL.
Uploading your image assets to your organization's Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, etc. will ensure that the URL you use in this field will continue to host your image, even when that file is updated in your cloud service.
If the image is in your organization's cloud and in a shared folder, make sure the folder it is stored in is set to public.
Importing Notes
You may have notes that you would like to import and attach to specific records in your app. There is a way to this! Let's go through the steps.
First, you need to navigate to the Notes app. Go to Activities > Notes.
Click on the 'Import' button in the top right of the screen.
This will take you to the Import Wizard which is identical to the one for importing your records in your applications. We recommend using the link shown below to download the CSV file template.
To ensure that your notes are attached to the correct record you'll need two things:
1. The record ID: This can be found by entering the detail screen of any record in your app. Here's an example of where to find it in a record from Contacts.
2. Application Name: This needs to be entered into the CSV file as singular instead of plural. In this case, we're importing to the Contacts app so we need to use 'Contact'.
Here's what it looks like in our CSV template. You'll need to enter the ID twice. In the 'Source Record' and 'Contact' columns.
Now you can drag and drop your CSV template into the wizard and import your notes. Make sure to check that all of your fields have been mapped correctly before finishing the import.
Understanding Import Errors
As your CSV file is imported, errors in individual rows may occur. Here’s how the system manages these situations and how you can review and fix them:
Error Handling During Import:
- Rows with errors will fail to import, but the process will continue for the rest of the file.
- An Error Description column will highlight the specific issue for each failed row.
Reviewing Failed Rows:
- At the end of the import, you’ll see a summary with Processed, Added, Updated, and Failed columns.
- Click on the number on Failed to download a new CSV containing:
- All failed rows.
- Error descriptions conveniently displayed in a new column.
Error Threshold:
- The system identifies up to 1000 errors. If this threshold is reached, the import process will be canceled.
- The resulting Failed CSV will include:
- Rows that failed.
- Unprocessed rows before the failure occurred.
File Size and Time Limits:
- No Size Limit: The system can handle large files, so size will not cause an import error.
- Time Limit: If the import process exceeds 24 hours, it will timeout automatically.
- As a guideline, importing 100K records takes approximately 3 hours, depending on the number of columns.
Pro Tip:
For very large files, consider splitting them into smaller imports to ensure faster processing and avoid potential timeouts.
Error Description Meanings
Sometimes there are issues with an import. You'll notice in the screenshot we've been told that two rows failed. If you click on the number next to Failed Rows you'll be prompted to download a CSV which will contain the reason for the error.
Skipped
- Skipped does not indicate an error in the row.
- It means the error threshold (1000) was reached, and the import process was stopped before the row could be processed.
- As a result, the row was skipped during the import.
The Reference Value Could Not be Found
This error typically occurs in columns that map to Choice List or Reference fields. It means the value in that cell of the file does not exist in Servis.ai.
To solve this error:
- Ensure the value in your file matches exactly with the options in Servis.ai. Values are case-sensitive.
- If the Choice or Reference doesn’t exist, create it in Servis.ai first, then try importing your file again.
This is Not a Valid Number
This error occurs when a field expects a number (either an integer or a decimal) but receives a value that doesn’t meet this requirement.
This is Not a Valid Number: Null
This error may occur if the App you’re importing into contains Calculated Fields and your file includes values for those Fields. Calculated Fields cannot be directly imported, leading to this error.
This is Not a Valid Date
This error occurs when the date field does not follow the expected format. To avoid this error:
- Ensure the date includes the day, month, and year.
- Use a 4-digit year format.
- Format the date as YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., 2020-06-04).
This is Not a Valid Email Address
This error occurs when the email address is improperly formatted. Common issues include:
- Missing the @ sign.
- Missing the domain extension (e.g., .com, .net, .edu, etc.).
Ensure the email address is complete and correctly formatted to resolve this issue.
This is Not a Valid Phone Number
This error typically occurs when the phone number includes an extension. Extensions should be stored in a separate field.
To avoid this error:
- Ensure the phone number is in a valid format.
- The number can include ‘()’ and/or ‘-’, but extensions must be excluded.
This Value Violates Unique Field
This error occurs when your file contains duplicate information in a field configured as “Unique” in your app.
To avoid this error:
- Ensure the field marked as “Unique” in your app does not have duplicate values in your file.
- The system checks existing records, and if a value already exists, it will trigger this error message.
Troubleshooting
For more details on understanding errors during data imports, check out the article in our Knowledge Base: Troubleshoot: Importing Your Data.
Managing Imports
You can view all past imports and check on their status from the import page of any application.
Note: These records are deleted 90 days after the import.
1.- Processed
This will show you how many records have been processed.
2.- Added
the number of new records that were added to FreeAgent.
3.- Uploaded
The number of existing records that were updated.
4.- Failed
The number of records that failed to import or update.
5.- Created by
The user that started the data import.