The amount of data your contact list needs depends on individual use cases.

This guide provides you with a set of instructions you will have to keep in mind before uploading your contacts and certain rules you would have to follow while you upload your contacts:


Our Contact Management platform accepts only CSV and Excel formatted files for Upload.


Clearing Duplicates

It is highly suggested that you clear your duplicated contacts before uploading.

TIP: 

If a contact is listed more than once, we will filter them out during the sending process, so you wouldn't have to worry about sending a message multiple times to the same number.


Dealing with Empty Values

If you are planning on sending text messages, and you have contacts with missing phone numbers, it is better to get them removed before uploading

For example, the highlighted contact can be removed before uploading


TIP: 

If your sheet has ‘Empty Name Fields’ (Refer Screenshot), you wouldn’t have to worry. While sending a Message Campaign [Under Distribution Menu] with personalized greetings, you can provide a default value to substitute the ‘Name’ value.


Please note that if you send a Message Campaign with personalized greetings but avoid default values, message greetings for contacts with ‘Empty Name Fields’ (Refer Screenshot) will show a blank space where you expect them to see their name.



Handling Contacts From Various Regions

It is suggested that you separate contacts from different country regions in separate sheets.

For example, the highlighted contact can be uploaded in a different sheet


TIP: 

The above step allows you to specify a country code prefix for the contacts and applied for each upload to the platform, rather than having to add the country code manually for each contact.

Check out the Scribe below to see an example on how to set up a Country Code Prefix


Custom Data fields

Certain field types are not currently supported when uploading contacts. However, you can include these fields as custom contact fields using the instructions provided in the document [click here to view]. To ensure a successful contact upload, make sure to set the input values in the correct string format. For instance, if you wish to store a date field with the date '01 Jan 2024,' input the exact string in your Excel sheet and then proceed to upload the file.


First and Last Names

Your contact's name should be separated into the ‘First Name’ field and ‘Last Name’ field.

Please look at the image below for uploading the contacts


TIP: 

In the scenario below, it is not a suggested upload format because the name field is not split into first and last names. 

This means if you want to send a ‘Personalized Greeting’ to your recipient, you are forced to use their ‘Full Name’. This will increase the length of your SMS, and give you less flexibility overall when addressing your recipients.


Removing Unused Data 

It is good practice to remove any contact data that you will not need before you upload it.

Things like home address and date of birth aren't necessary to include if you aren't referencing them in your campaigns, and removing them will give you a cleaner contact list to manage.

In the screenshot below, the highlighted column can be removed as it wouldn’t be necessary for your campaigns.


TIP:

Please ensure that there are no hidden rows in the excel file that you would want to upload. 

If the excel file has hidden rows, those rows get unhidden during the import process.


Helpful Stuff

  • Looking for definitions that revolve around the Mobile, SMS and Telco Industries, then click here
  • More information about Managing Contacts can be found here
  • Other helpful contacts-related documents can be found here

If you ever need further assistance or someone to point you in the right direction you can email the team at support@tallbob.com