• E-mail clients
• CRM systems
• Other practice management software
• Internet sites
• Other installations of ContactsLaw
• Electronic forms, payment gateways, etc

Creating the workload

The supported formats/sources will vary, depending on the plug-ins installed in your environment. Some plug-ins may allow you to browse for file(s) or drag-and-drop into the wizard, others may provide a special screen for selecting the contact(s) you want to import. Each object or file you add may contain several contacts, and you can import multiple objects/files simultaneously, across several different sources.

Data quality

After you have created a workload containing the contacts to import, ContactsLaw will analyse the data for any anomalies and quality control issues. The most common issue that may arise is when the data being imported uses all-uppercase letters in text fields. If any such problems are detected, the wizard will display them, along with information about how many contacts are affected by each problem.

If instructed to, ContactsLaw will attempt to fix these problems automatically. Be aware that this process may not yield the desired results. If correction is applied, you should review the contacts manually at the final step of the wizard.

Dealing with duplicates

The import wizard will automatically remove any duplicate contacts in the import list. If any items in the list match existing contacts in ContactsLaw, the potential duplicates will be listed, to be resolved manually. If one or more matches are found, you can elect to:

• Import anyway - Choose this option if the imported contact is not the existing contact, or if it is unclear whether they are the same person/company.
• Merge contacts - This option will add all new information provided by the importer to the existing contact while preserving existing addresses, communications and related contacts. Choose this option if both contacts represent the same person/company, but neither record is complete.
• Use existing contact - Choose this option if both contacts represent the same person/company and the imported contact is less complete than the existing record.

Incomplete/problematic data

All of the fields available during full creation creation are available to imported contacts, however not all formats/sources will be able to populate the complete set. If any data must be manually provided, the importer will prompt for it. Some fields, such as a referral source or prospective workgroup, must be matched to a corresponding item in ContactsLaw. If this lookup process fails, the importer will prompt for the correct value.

If you are unable to complete missing information on a particular contact, you can choose to exclude it from the import. Any information absent from the imported contact can be added once the wizard completes.

Reviewing contacts to be imported

At the final step of the wizard, the contact(s) which will be imported are listed, along with any remaining errors (which indicate that a contact is unsuitable for importing). You can double-click a contact to preview its summary page or right-click and select from other reviewing options.

See also

Importing files
[How to] Import contacts from a spreadsheet