Migrate from Help Sumo to Zoho Desk

Help Sumo Tickets map 1:1 to Zoho Desk Tickets. Each ticket's status, priority, assignee, created timestamp, and updated timestamp migrate directly. We resolve Help Sumo assignee email to Zoho Desk agent email for OwnerId lookup. Ticket number in Help Sumo is stored as a custom field ticketNumber__c in Zoho Desk because Zoho Desk generates its own ticket number sequence on import.

Help Sumo stores customer profiles with name, email, company, and contact history as flat records linked to tickets. We split these into Zoho Desk Contacts (person-level) and Accounts (organization-level). The Help Sumo company field maps to Account Name; the name and email map to Contact Last Name and Email. A Help Sumo customer without a company name creates a Contact only; we flag these for manual Account assignment post-migration.

Help Sumo agents map to Zoho Desk Agents. We match by email address. Before migration, we require the customer to provision matching Zoho Desk agents (Support Administrator role if they need layout configuration access, standard Agent otherwise). Agents without a Zoho Desk match go to a reconciliation queue. Note: Zoho Desk does not migrate cases assigned to deactivated agents; we flag any Help Sumo agent with inactive status before migration.

Help Sumo flat-label tags migrate directly to Zoho Desk tags. Tag names transfer as-is; tag color and tag group metadata (if used in Help Sumo) do not have a Zoho Desk equivalent and are noted in the migration manifest. We resolve tag name conflicts (duplicate names) by appending a numeric suffix.

Help Sumo conversation threads with chronological message entries, timestamps, and author attribution map to Zoho Desk Ticket Threads (the structured reply sequence) and Comments (individual entries within the thread). Internal notes in Help Sumo map to Zoho Desk private Comments. Author email resolves to the Zoho Desk Agent record. Note: Zoho Desk's Zwitch native tool does not preserve thread direction (incoming vs outgoing); we map thread direction explicitly from Help Sumo's is_public flag.

Help Sumo knowledge base article content and metadata (title, body, category, publication status) migrate to Zoho Desk Knowledge Base articles. Article URLs are regenerated in Zoho Desk based on slug; we flag this for the customer so they can update any publicly referenced KB links after cutover. Article attachments migrate as binary blobs alongside the parent article; the Zoho Desk native import drops KB attachments, so we handle these separately via Zoho Desk's file attachment API.

Files attached to tickets or knowledge base articles migrate as binary blobs linked to the parent record. We flag attachments exceeding Zoho Desk size limits (configurable per plan, typically 20 MB) and note any file types not supported by Zoho Desk's attachment model. Attachment filenames preserve the original name; the Zoho Desk system generates its own attachment ID on insert.

Help Sumo custom fields on tickets (string, integer, date, checkbox types) map to Zoho Desk custom fields. Zoho Desk custom fields are scoped to individual departments, not globally to the account. During scoping we identify every Help Sumo custom field, confirm which Zoho Desk department receives each ticket type, and create the equivalent custom field in that department before migration. Custom field API names in Zoho Desk follow the format FIELD_NAME format; we map Help Sumo snake_case names to Zoho Desk title-case API names and preserve the original field label for readability.

If Help Sumo tracks products linked to tickets (product name, version, serial number as custom fields or related records), these map to Zoho Desk Products. Products must exist in Zoho Desk before tickets referencing them are imported so that the product lookup is satisfied at insert time. We extract unique product names from Help Sumo ticket data and create Zoho Desk Product records with the original product identifier preserved in a custom field.

Help Sumo tasks linked to tickets (follow-up items, internal reminders) migrate to Zoho Desk Tasks attached to the corresponding ticket. Task status, due date, assignee, and description transfer directly. We resolve assignee email to Zoho Desk Agent OwnerId at migration time.

Help Sumo call records linked to tickets (call duration, disposition, recording URL if available) migrate to Zoho Desk Call records. Call logs attach to the Zoho Desk ticket via the parent ticket reference. Call duration in seconds maps to the Duration field; disposition notes map to a custom field call_disposition__c if the standard disposition field is not present in the destination plan tier.

Help Sumo events (scheduled meetings, callbacks linked to tickets) migrate to Zoho Desk Events. Start time, end time, location, and attendee list transfer to the Zoho Desk Event record. Attendees resolve to Zoho Desk Contact or Agent records by email match. Events without a matching parent ticket are imported as standalone calendar events without a ticket linkage.