Migrate from Dossier Inbox to Zoho Desk

Dossier Inbox Conversations map to Zoho Desk Tickets. Each conversation's thread ID, subject, created date, and last activity date migrate. The conversation status (open, resolved, archived) maps to Zoho Desk Ticket Status. We apply the channel split during this phase: conversations originating from email channels receive a channel designation of Email, and those from the chat widget receive Live Chat designation so they land in the correct queue. Created timestamps are preserved in the first ticket comment using a standardized date header workaround since Zoho Desk's standard CSV import does not preserve the original Created at date by default.

Individual emails and chat messages within a Dossier Inbox Conversation map to Zoho Desk Thread entries and Comments. Sender, recipient, timestamp, body content, and any inline image references migrate. We handle HTML-to-plaintext conversion for email bodies and apply the chat widget session flag for messages originating from the website chat integration. Attachment references on messages migrate to Zoho Desk Ticket Attachments and are re-linked post-import. The message order within each conversation is preserved by sequencing comments by their original timestamp.

Dossier Inbox Contact profiles (name, email address, metadata) split into Zoho Desk Contact and Account records. Customer contacts with a recognized company domain are linked to a corresponding Account; individual contacts without a company association are created as standalone Contacts. We use email address as the dedupe key. Any contact metadata fields in Dossier Inbox (such as phone or custom fields) map to custom Contact fields in Zoho Desk. The split is computed at migration time based on the presence of an organization field in the source contact record.

Dossier Inbox group mailboxes (e.g. [email protected], [email protected]) map to Zoho Desk Departments. We export the mailbox configuration and associate the department with the conversations routed through it during migration. Department-level custom fields, SLAs, and routing rules are configured in Zoho Desk before migration so that incoming tickets land in the correct department automatically after cutover. If the customer has a single mailbox on Dossier Inbox, it maps to the default Zoho Desk department.

Dossier Inbox Team Members (name, email, role) map to Zoho Desk Agent records. We match by email as the reconciliation key. Any Dossier Inbox role metadata is stored as a Zoho Desk custom field on the Agent record. Agents must be pre-provisioned in Zoho Desk before migration begins because the CSV import workflow requires OwnerId references to be valid. Deactivated agents in Zoho Desk cannot receive migrated tickets; we flag any mismatches in a reconciliation report for the customer's admin before the import phase starts.

Dossier Inbox conversation labels migrate to Zoho Desk Tags. We create an explicit label-to-tag name mapping during scoping because label names may not be valid tag names in Zoho Desk (special characters, length limits). Labels with no equivalent tag in Zoho Desk are created as new tags during migration. The full label assignment per conversation is preserved as tag associations on each migrated Ticket. CC'd email addresses on conversations do not migrate through the standard import; we document these in a separate report for the customer's admin to re-add manually or via custom field.

File attachments on Dossier Inbox messages are exported to cloud storage (Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive depending on the customer's sync configuration) and re-linked in Zoho Desk as Ticket Attachments. We handle file size limits by splitting oversized batches across multiple import jobs. Zoho Desk's standard import accepts attachments as part of the ticket CSV import workflow. Note that Knowledge Base article attachments do not migrate through the standard Zoho Desk import; if the customer has a knowledge base in Dossier Inbox, we flag this for manual rebuild or a separate KB migration scope.

Website chat widget sessions from Dossier Inbox are exported as Conversation records with a distinct source flag. During migration, these sessions land in Zoho Desk as Tickets with the Channel field set to Live Chat rather than Email. This ensures chat sessions appear in Zoho Desk's live chat queue and agent interface, not mixed with email tickets. Chat session metadata (session start time, page URL, browser information if available) is preserved in ticket custom fields or the first comment for agent context.

Dossier Inbox conversations carry metadata such as priority level, assignee, and any custom internal notes that do not fit standard ticket fields. We create matching custom fields in Zoho Desk (per-department, as Zoho Desk custom fields are scoped to departments), load the custom field schema before migration, and map metadata values into the corresponding custom fields during the ticket import. If Dossier Inbox uses internal note threads, we merge these into the ticket comment thread with an [Internal Note] prefix so agents can distinguish them from customer-facing replies.

If Dossier Inbox conversations reference products or services (e.g. in subject lines or message bodies), and the customer maintains a product catalog, we export product references and map them to Zoho Desk Product records. Products in Zoho Desk are required if the customer uses the Products module for tracking and reporting; we confirm product mapping scope during scoping. Standard price book entries are created alongside Product2 records during import.

Dossier Inbox internal tasks (assignment, follow-up reminders) attached to conversations map to Zoho Desk Tasks linked to the corresponding Ticket. Task status, priority, and due date migrate. Dossier Inbox note threads map to Zoho Desk Ticket Comments with an [Internal Note] designation. Tasks created post-migration are managed within Zoho Desk's native task module rather than carried over from the legacy inbox.

The complete thread history for each Dossier Inbox conversation is preserved as an ordered sequence of Comments on the migrated Zoho Desk Ticket. The first comment contains the original conversation subject and a timestamp header with the original Created at date. Subsequent comments preserve the original sender, timestamp, and body content in chronological order. Thread branching (if present) is flattened into a linear sequence with reply indicators in the comment body to preserve conversation context.