Migrate from Textline to Zoho CRM

Textline Contacts (Address Book) map directly to Zoho CRM Contacts. Standard fields (name, phone, email, notes) migrate at all plan tiers. Custom address book fields (available on Standard and Pro) map to Zoho custom fields created during schema alignment. We preserve tags as a multi-select picklist or separate Tags module depending on Zoho edition. Contacts are imported before Conversations so that ContactId is resolved for Activity parent lookups.

Textline Conversation messages map to Zoho CRM Activities. Each outbound message becomes a Task with Subject containing the phone number, Description containing the message body, and a custom field capturing direction (inbound/outbound). Each inbound reply becomes a separate Task linked to the same Contact. We set ActivityDate to the original message timestamp for timeline ordering. MMS attachments are preserved as URLs in a custom field; Zoho does not natively re-download media, so attachment re-hosting requires a separate media handling step.

Textline Departments group phone numbers by location or function. Zoho CRM has no native Department object; we map Departments to Zoho User assignments (each Agent becomes a Zoho User with the Department name as a custom field or Role) or Territory records if territory-based reporting is needed. We document the full department-to-phone-number mapping during scoping for the admin to configure in Zoho.

Textline Agents map to Zoho CRM Users. We resolve by email match. Agent names and department assignments migrate as User fields and custom fields. Zoho User profiles and roles must be configured manually post-migration; we deliver a mapping table that maps each Textline Agent's permission level to the nearest Zoho profile and role combination.

Textline canned reply templates migrate as Zoho CRM Email Templates (plain text or HTML) if the destination is used for email follow-up, or as Blueprint-guided steps if the customer uses Zoho CRM's process automation for consistent response workflows. We export template body and shortcut codes; the admin rebuilds the template library in Zoho's Template section.

Custom address book fields on Textline Contacts (Standard and Pro only) map to Zoho CRM Contact custom fields. Field types (text, dropdown, date) are recreated in Zoho with equivalent types. If the source account is on Essentials, no custom fields exist to migrate. We confirm plan tier during scoping and adjust the migration scope accordingly.

Textline Announcements are bulk outbound messages sent to contact segments. These map to Zoho CRM Campaigns (type: Email) with associated Email Templates. The contact lists used in Announcements become Campaign Member lists. We export announcement history (date, subject, recipient count) and recreate the Campaign record in Zoho.

Tags applied to Textline Contacts migrate as a flat tag list on each Zoho Contact record. We use a custom multi-select picklist field if the tag count is under 60 (Zoho's picklist limit); if the customer has more than 60 distinct tags, we create a separate Tags module with lookup relationships to Contact. The customer chooses the strategy during scoping.

Textline Routes (inbound message routing rules) are not exposed via the public API and cannot be migrated programmatically. We document the routing logic during discovery — which phone numbers route to which departments and agents under which conditions — and deliver a written routing inventory. The customer's Zoho admin rebuilds equivalent logic using Zoho Workflow Rules or Blueprint assignment actions.

Textline Automations (keyword-triggered, time-triggered, or contact-action-triggered) are not migrated as code. We export the automation rule definition (trigger, conditions, actions) for each active Automation and deliver a written inventory. The customer's admin rebuilds these in Zoho Workflows, which supports similar trigger types but with a different rule-building interface.

Textline Metrics (NPS, CSAT scores, agent performance statistics) are aggregated reporting data with no direct migration target in Zoho CRM. We note the existence of these records and their time range in the migration inventory. If NPS and CSAT history is business-critical, we recommend a separate export into a BI tool or a custom Zoho Analytics dashboard built from migrated Activity data.