Uploading Contacts

Import contacts in bulk using CSV or Excel files. The system automatically detects columns and normalizes phone numbers.

Upload now: Open the Contacts page and click "Upload Contacts" to get started.

Supported Formats#

Maximum 10,000 contacts per upload.

Step-by-Step Guide#

1. Navigate to Contacts#

Go to Automation → Contacts in the sidebar.

2. Click Upload Contacts#

Click the "Upload Contacts" button in the top right.

3. Select or Create Contact List#

Choose an existing contact list or create a new one:

• Existing List: Select from dropdown
• New List: Click "Create New Contact List" and enter a name

4. Download Template (Optional)#

Click "Download Template" to get a pre-formatted CSV with the correct columns.

5. Upload Your File#

Drag and drop your file or click to browse. The system will:

1. Parse the file
2. Detect column mappings
3. Validate phone numbers
4. Show preview of detected columns

6. Review and Confirm#

Check the upload summary:

• Total rows processed
• Valid contacts imported
• Duplicates skipped
• Invalid rows (with errors)

CSV Format#

Required Column#

The only required column is phone number. Accepted column names:

phone_number, phone, mobile, mobile_number, contact, telephone, tel, cell

Optional Columns#

Example CSV#

phone_number,name,email,order_id,product_name
+919876543210,Rahul Kumar,[email protected],ORD-001,Premium Widget
9876543211,Priya Singh,[email protected],ORD-002,Basic Widget
09876543212,Amit Patel,,ORD-003,Pro Widget

Phone Number Validation#

Auto-Formatting#

The system automatically formats phone numbers:

Indian Number Detection#

10-digit numbers starting with 6-9 are assumed to be Indian numbers and prefixed with +91.

Invalid Numbers#

These will be skipped with errors:

• Less than 10 digits
• Non-numeric characters (except +)
• Empty values

Handling Duplicates#

Within Same Upload#

If the same phone number appears multiple times in your file, all instances are imported (no deduplication within file).

Across Uploads#

When uploading to an existing contact list:

• New phone numbers are added
• Existing phone numbers are skipped
• Duplicate count shown in summary

Custom Fields#

Any column that doesn't match phone/name/email is stored as a custom field:

phone_number,name,order_id,delivery_date,priority
+919876543210,Rahul,ORD-001,2024-01-15,high

Custom fields available:

• order_id: "ORD-001"
• delivery_date: "2024-01-15"
• priority: "high"

These can be used as variables in campaigns: {{order_id}}, {{delivery_date}}, etc.

Best Practices#

1. Use UTF-8 Encoding: Save CSV with UTF-8 for Indian names and special characters
2. Clean Data First: Remove empty rows and fix formatting issues
3. Include Names: Names make call history much more useful
4. Test Small Batch: Upload 10-20 contacts first to verify format
5. Consistent Format: Use same column names across all uploads

Troubleshooting#

"No phone column detected"#

Rename your phone column to one of: phone_number, phone, mobile, contact

"Invalid phone number" errors#

Check that numbers:

• Have at least 10 digits
• Don't contain letters or special characters
• Include country code for non-Indian numbers

Upload stuck or slow#

• Check file size (max 10 MB)
• Reduce number of rows (max 10,000)
• Try CSV format instead of Excel

Next Steps#

• Managing Contacts - Search and manage uploaded contacts
• CSV Upload for Campaigns - Using contacts with campaigns