Migrate from Channel Talk to Zoho Desk

Channel Talk Managed Users map directly to Zoho Desk Contacts. Standard fields (name, email, phone) map 1:1. Custom contact properties require field-by-field type mapping because Channel Talk stores them as JSON with type metadata (text, number, date, multi-select) and Zoho Desk uses its own field schema. We create matching custom fields in Zoho Desk before import and transform values accordingly. If the customer uses Zoho CRM alongside Zoho Desk, Contacts can optionally be linked to Accounts via the AccountId field.

Channel Talk conversation threads map to Zoho Desk Tickets. Each message in the thread becomes a Ticket Thread entry. The Channel Talk conversation ID is preserved as an external reference field for audit. Conversation status (open, resolved) maps to Zoho Desk Ticket status values. We map Channel Talk conversation tags to Zoho Desk Ticket tags. Note that Zoho Desk replaces the original 'created at' timestamp with the migration completion timestamp for ticket imports; we document this in the reconciliation report.

Channel Talk Team Chats are internal collaboration threads with no direct Zoho Desk equivalent. We export team chat channels and message history as a distinct object set. The customer chooses whether to import Team Chat as Zoho Desk Notes (linked to the originating agent Contact) or as Task records with a custom type field. Authorship and timestamps are preserved in either mapping strategy.

Custom contact properties in Channel Talk require field-by-field type mapping to Zoho Desk custom fields. Channel Talk multi-select properties map to Zoho Desk multi-select picklist. Date properties map to Zoho Desk date fields. Number properties map to Zoho Desk number fields with format validation. We pre-create all destination custom fields in Zoho Desk before any record import and validate that type transformations preserve data integrity.

Channel Talk Documents (knowledge base articles) map to Zoho Desk Knowledge Base articles. Article content, category assignment, and publication status migrate. Channel Talk documents used exclusively to power chatbots may require review because chatbot intent rules do not map to Zoho Desk's article categorization schema. Knowledge base attachments are not migrated by Zoho Desk's import process; we document attachment locations separately for manual re-upload.

Tags applied to Channel Talk Contacts and Conversations migrate as flat label arrays to Zoho Desk Ticket tags. We preserve the tag vocabulary and reassign them to matching destination tags. Tag counts and co-occurrence patterns are not migrated as structured data.

Channel Talk operator accounts map to Zoho Desk Agents. We extract user profiles including name, email, and role. Agent provisioning must precede Contact and Ticket import in Zoho Desk because the platform enforces agent-first import sequencing. Any Channel Talk operator without a matching Zoho Desk Agent email is held in a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision before record import resumes.

Channel Talk Workflows trigger on conversation events, contact updates, and bot interactions with platform-specific syntax. We document each active workflow as a step-by-step sequence diagram with trigger, conditions, and actions, and deliver a recommended Zoho Desk Blueprint or workflow rule equivalent. The customer's admin rebuilds the automation logic in Zoho Desk post-migration. Workflow documentation is included in the handoff package.

Channel Talk chatbots are tied to specific workflows and document sources. We map bot configuration and intent rules to a documented specification for the customer to replicate in Zoho Desk's built-in chatbot builder or a third-party bot platform. Chatbot migration is out of scope because the intent-training data and conversation flow builder differ substantially between platforms.

The Channel Talk website widget is a configuration artifact tied to Channel Talk's infrastructure. We document the widget settings including trigger rules, appearance configuration, and integration scope for reconfiguration in Zoho Desk's widget settings or a third-party chat widget. The widget does not migrate as code.

Channel Talk analytics data (response time metrics, conversation volumes, CSAT scores) are aggregated reports rather than raw records. We do not migrate analytics snapshots as they are time-bound and non-representative of ongoing operations. We recommend establishing Zoho Desk analytics baselines post-go-live.

Channel Talk's built-in audio calling generates call records with duration and summary notes. These map to Zoho Desk Task records with TaskSubtype=Call. If Channel Talk call recordings are stored as file URLs, we document the URL reference for the customer to re-attach in Zoho Desk's file storage or a linked cloud drive.