Migrate from Front to Zoho Desk

Front Conversations map to Zoho Desk Tickets. Each conversation becomes a single ticket with the subject drawn from the first message subject or a channel-derived title. All message segments within the Front conversation are flattened into Zoho Desk ticket Comments, preserving author (as the agent or contact name), timestamp, and message body. Channel attribution (email, chat, SMS, social) is stored in a custom field ticket_source__c so agents can filter tickets by channel origin without losing that metadata. Conversation status (open, snoozed, closed, spam, duplicate) maps to Zoho Desk ticket Status (Open, Pending, On Hold, Closed, Spam). The original Front conversation ID is preserved in a custom field front_conversation_id__c for reconciliation.

Front Contacts export with name, email, phone, company (linked Company record), and custom properties. We map Front contact handles to Zoho Desk Contact Email and preserve any linked company as a Zoho Desk Account with AccountName matching the Front company name. Multi-channel handles (Twitter handle, phone, social handles) migrate to Zoho Desk Contact fields where supported; unsupported handles are stored in a custom field contact_handles__c as a text block.

Each message within a Front conversation is a distinct segment with author, body, timestamp, and type (inbound, outbound, note, assignment, channel_event). We flatten segments into Zoho Desk ticket Comments in chronological order. Inbound messages from the contact map to Zoho Desk Public Comments (visible to customers on the customer portal). Outbound agent replies map to Public Comments as well. Front internal notes (type=note) map to Zoho Desk Private Comments. Channel events (assignment changes, status changes) are logged as ticket history entries or as a custom field change log rather than as comments to reduce noise in the thread.

Front Inboxes define channel routing, team membership, and access permissions. Zoho Desk uses a Department hierarchy with Agents assigned per department. We map each Front Inbox to a Zoho Desk Department, creating the department before any ticket import so that tickets can be assigned to the correct department during insertion. If a Front team spans multiple Inboxes, we map the primary Inbox to Department and note secondary Inbox membership in a custom field on the ticket. Complex Inbox permission inheritance across Front may not translate fully into Zoho Desk's department-scoped permissions; we flag permission gaps for admin review.

Front Teammates export with name, email, role, and assignment preferences. We match teammates by email address to Zoho Desk Agents. We create the agent profile in Zoho Desk before any ticket migration so that OwnerId references on tickets are satisfied at insert time. Front role names (Admin, Member, Guest) map to Zoho Desk role equivalents (Support Administrator, Agent, Light Agent). Light Agents in Zoho Desk cannot reply or comment publicly on tickets, so Front Guests map to Light Agent with that limitation noted. Agents without a matching Zoho Desk user go to a reconciliation queue for manual provisioning before migration proceeds.

Front Channels (email, chat, SMS, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, phone) are communication sources attributed to each conversation. Zoho Desk does not have a native Channel object; instead, we create a picklist custom field ticket_source__c on the Ticket module with values for each active Front channel. We populate this field during ticket creation so agents can filter and report by channel origin. This is a configuration step that must be completed in Zoho Desk before migration begins.

Front Tags are flat labels applied at conversation level. We export all conversation tags and map them to Zoho Desk Tags on the ticket. Zoho Desk tags support tag colors and tag groups, but Front tag group hierarchy does not carry over structurally; we import tags as flat labels and note tag group organization as a post-migration configuration step. Tags applied to Contacts in Front map to Zoho Desk Contact Tags.

Front supports custom fields on conversations (text, number, date, dropdown, boolean). Zoho Desk custom fields are scoped per department and available on Tickets, Contacts, Accounts, and other modules. We map Front custom field values to Zoho Desk custom fields of compatible data type during ticket creation. Type coercion occurs where Front's field type does not have a direct Zoho Desk equivalent (for example, a Front boolean dropdown may map to a Zoho Desk checkbox or a picklist with Yes/No). We surface the full field-level comparison before committing to the import and flag any truncation, coercion, or structure loss.

Front Companies (linked to Contacts) export with name, domain, phone, and address. We map Front Companies to Zoho Desk Accounts. The Account Name maps directly from the Front Company name. Any linked address, phone, or website data migrates to the corresponding Zoho Desk Account fields. Account creation must precede Contact import so that the Account-Contact relationship is resolved at insert time.

Front Automation Rules are event-condition-action triggers that assign conversations, add tags, send automated replies, or update conversation properties based on conditions. Zoho Desk has its own Trigger system with different event models, conditions, and actions. We do not migrate Rules as code. We document every active Rule during discovery: trigger event, conditions, actions, and associated delay steps. We deliver a written inventory with each Rule mapped to a recommended Zoho Desk Trigger or Blueprint equivalent. The customer's admin rebuilds the triggers in Zoho Desk post-migration.

Front Workflows are multi-step process automations with conditions, branches, and delays distinct from simple Rules. Zoho Desk Blueprint provides guided ticket processes with defined steps and milestones. We document every active Front Workflow (step sequence, conditions, assignees, delays) and deliver it as a reference spec for the customer to reimplement as a Zoho Desk Blueprint or Workflow Rule. The automation engine does not port automatically because the step logic, delay model, and action types differ between platforms.

Front Notes attached to conversations or contacts export with text content and attribution. We map Front Notes to Zoho Desk Private Comments on the relevant ticket so that the internal context is preserved within the ticket thread. Notes attached to Contacts migrate to the Contact record's description field or a custom field if the customer's Zoho Desk configuration supports it.

Front Knowledge Base articles, category hierarchy, and translated versions can be exported. We map articles to Zoho Desk Solutions (the KB equivalent) with content and structure preserved. Published status migrates as Article Status in Zoho Desk. Category hierarchy from Front maps to Zoho Desk Sections within a Category; however, deeply nested hierarchies with multiple translation versions may lose structure in transit and require post-migration reorganization. We flag the full category and translation structure during discovery.

Front Analytics exports (Messages export, Full events export) are CSV files with timestamps in the requesting user's timezone. We export available analytics data and note that Front's reporting configuration (dashboard layouts, custom metrics, SLA metrics) does not transfer to Zoho Desk Reports. The customer rebuilds key reports in Zoho Desk's report builder post-migration. We provide a list of available data fields from the analytics export so the customer knows which metrics are available for rebuilding.