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Import Files : Structure and Content

Table of Contents

How to Create Import Files that can be uploaded to our site #

You can read through this posting to learn how to create your import files. Learn how to upload excel and csv files with your customer and/or appointment information.

Import Files can contain either “Contact Information”, “Appointment Information”, or Both.  Importing your contacts and/or your appointment information through import files is simply one way of many to add information to your account.

Here are a few additional ways to add appointments (reminders). #

  1. You can add appointments through the website interface.
  2. They can be uploaded to our site through import files (.csv, .xls). (This Post)
  3. They can be added on-the-fly through calendars.

Customers can also be added several ways.   #

Here is a link to a tutorial that will explain the basics of creating and uploading import files. For more info and templates, read through this posting.

Downloadable Templates #

Contact List Only #
Download File
Full Import File #
Download File

Creating and Importing a “Contact List”. #

You can import a contact list to our site with all of your existing customers information. *Note – You do not NEED to add a contact list first. You can add customers as you add reminders instead. Read below for the full “Import File Template”.

Click Here to Download Our Contact List Template #

1. Create an Excel File with the following Headers. *Note, the headers are required for a ‘Contact Info Only’ import file.

  • FirstName (**OPTIONAL: The first name of your customer)
  • LastName (**OPTIONAL: The last name of your customer)
    FullName (**OPTIONAL: The full name of your customer separated by a space)
  • PriPhone (REQUIRED: The 10 digit primary phone number of your customer)
  • SecPhone (OPTIONAL: The 10 digit secondary phone number of your customer)
  • EmailAddress (*OPTIONAL: Your customers email address)
  • CustID (**OPTIONAL: Your alphanumeric customer ID if you use one)
  • Language (**OPTIONAL: Either “English” or “Spanish”. Defaults to English) (If left blank then we won’t change the current language preference).

*NOTE : Email Address is optional. However, if you have an email type reminder scheduled for a customer with no email address, the reminder will not be sent.


**NOTE : FirstName OR LastName is required if you do not enter a CustomerID


**NOTE : If you cannot split the customer name into First and Last, then you will use the “FullName” field.

2. Verify that every row contains the required fields listed above. In Example 1 Below, all 3 rows are valid.

3. Save the file as a CSV (Comma Delimited) .csv file

Sample Contact List

Creating and Importing an “Import File With Appointment Information”. #

You can import files though our site with customer and appointment information

Click Here to Download Our Import File Template #

  • 1. Create an Excel File with the following Headers. *Note, the headers are optional but if there are no headers then the columns must appear in the exact order below.
    • FirstName (**OPTIONAL : The first name of your customer)
    • LastName (**OPTIONAL : The last name of your customer)
    • FullName (**OPTIONAL: The full name of your customer separated by a space)
    • PriPhone (**OPTIONAL : The 10 digit primary phone number of your customer)
    • SecPhone (OPTIONAL : The 10 digit secondary phone number of your customer)
    • EmailAddress (OPTIONAL : Your customers email address)
    • CustID (**OPTIONAL : Your alphanumeric customer ID if you use one)
    • ApptDate (REQUIRED : Appointment Date in the format of MM/DD/YYYY
    • ApptTime (REQUIRED : Appointment time in any of these formats: HHMM in 24 hour format, HHMMam/pm, HHMMa/p, HH:MMam/pm, HH:MMa/p)
    • ApptEndTime (**OPTIONAL : Appointment time in any of these formats: HHMM in 24 hour format, HHMMam/pm, HHMMa/p, HH:MMam/pm, HH:MMa/p)
    • ApptDateTime (You may use this field to pass in a DateTime variable instead of ApptDate+ApptTime but it must be a valid datetime field)
    • ReminderType OPTIONAL – This field can contain any of the following values:
      • Leave Blank (If you leave it blank then it will send the default reminder type) *See the “Setting up default reminder types” section.
      • ‘Call’, ‘Text’, or ‘Email’ (If you enter one of these values then it will send the first reminder type that matches the outreach method that you specify. If you are planning on using this then it is wise to only create one reminder type of each outreach method (call, text, and email).
      • ReminderTypeID (When you create a reminder type you will see the reminder type ID. If you specify the ReminderTypeID then it will send the reminder type that matches the ReminderTypeID.
      • ReminderTypeDescription (When you create a reminder type you will see the reminder type Description. If you specify the Reminder Type Description then it will send the reminder type that matches the Reminder Type Description.
      • ‘Cancelled’ (If you send this string then the reminder will not go out **NOTE- If you pass in CustID and the CustID matches a record in your customer list then you do not need to send Name, Phone, or Email info.
    • CustomField1 OPTIONAL – If you use custom fields in your reminder types, add them here. You can automatically use our URL Shortener by passing in a url in this field in parentheses using the term ShortenURL, like this ShortenURL(https://www.google.com).
    • CustomField2 OPTIONAL – If you use custom fields in your reminder types, add them here. You can automatically use our URL Shortener by passing in a url in this field in parentheses using the term ShortenURL, like this ShortenURL(https://www.google.com).
    • CustomField3 OPTIONAL – If you use custom fields in your reminder types, add them here. You can automatically use our URL Shortener by passing in a url in this field in parentheses using the term ShortenURL, like this ShortenURL(https://www.google.com).
    • Language OPTIONAL: Either “English” or “Spanish”. Defaults to English (If left blank then we won’t change the current language preference).
  • 2. Verify that every row contains the required fields listed above. *Note Email Address is optional. However, if you have an email type reminder scheduled for a customer with no email address, the reminder will not be sent. In Example 2 Below, all 3 rows are valid. Example 2.
    Import Files with Appointment Information
  • 3. Save the file as a CSV (Comma Delimited) .csv file

Overwriting Existing Data With an Import File #

If you are integrating into our site using import files and would like your complete data set to be overwritten with each import file, we offer a way to do that.

When & Why would you want to use this feature? #

  • If your data set changes periodically throughout the day, it may be a cleaner option to send us one nightly file rather than many smaller files that contain new appointments as soon as they are created.
  • Often times, office admins may cancel and/or reschedule appointments frequently during the day. This can cause inconsistencies in the data set as well as false reminders being sent out. For example, if an admin schedules an appointment for a patient and then cancels or moves the appointment, we may have already received the file and sent a reminder – even though it was canceled a few seconds after it was created.
  •  Receiving a full data set nightly, after the close of business, ensures that we have an updated data set with all of your upcoming appointments. Any appointments that we have that are NOT in the data set will be canceled or removed.

How to Use This Feature: #

  1. Ensure that your file contains your full data set.
  2. Ensure that your file does not contain any records that have been canceled. However, you can include canceled appointments if you mark them as canceled using the word “Canceled” or “Cancelled” in the Reminder Type column.
  3.  By “Full Data Set”, you only need to send us data as many days in advance as you are sending your reminders. In other words, if the first reminder is sent 30 days prior to the appointment, send us 30 days worth of data every night. If you only send reminders 2 days in advance, you only need to send us 2 days worth of data at a time.
  4. The file should only contain future appointments.
  5. Put the words “ReplaceAll” anywhere in the file name. There should be no space between the 2 words but capitalization does not matter.
  6. If needed, you can send additional files that DO NOT replace the data set as long as the words “ReplaceAll” are not in the file name.

**Note – Use caution when using this feature as your entire data set could get deleted if the file contains incorrect or empty data.
 

Additional Must Know Info about Import Files #

Please keep the following IMPORTANT INFORMATION in mind when creating an import file

  • If you DO NOT specify the Reminder Type in the import file, your default reminder type will be used.
  • Appointment Time and Appointment Date MUST be in the format specified above.
  • If the FirstName and LastName and Phone Number (Pri or Sec) Matches a Record in the Contact List, EmailAddress and CustomerID will be Updated.
  • If the FirstName and LastName Matches a Record in the Contact List but Phone Number (Pri or Sec) do not match, an additional record will be created. This is important to know because it would certainly be possible to have several customers with the same first and last name. It’s usually not a problem if you upload nightly files with Appointment Info since we always match those with all 3 fields. However, if you use a calendar this could be a problem since we only match by First and Last name in the calendar title. If this is the case, you would either need to store a Unique FirstName and LastName for customers with the same name or pass a CustomerID through Calendar TAGS.
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