Migrate from Helpy to Zoho Desk

Helpy Customer records (name, email, company, locale) export via CSV and map to Zoho Desk Contact. Required Zoho Desk columns are ContactExtId (external ID from Helpy), Last Name (required), First Name (optional), Email (optional). If a Contact with the same email already exists in Zoho Desk, the system maps to the existing record. We extract the original Helpy customer ID as ContactExtId for reconciliation. Companies in Helpy (if present) map to Accounts in Zoho Desk first so that the AccountExtId lookup is satisfied before Contact import.

Helpy Company records map to Zoho Desk Account via Accounts_XX.csv with required fields AccountExtId and Account Name. Optional fields including Phone, Email, Website, Industry, Street, City, Description, and Annual Revenue migrate where present in the Helpy export. Account is created before any Contact import so that the AccountExtId lookup on Contact resolves at insert time. If the source Helpy instance does not track companies, the customer contacts land as standalone Contacts without Account linkage.

Helpy agent provisioning is manual via admin settings since agents are not a standalone CSV import type. We create the Zoho Desk Agent accounts via Agents_XX.csv before any ticket migration, using agentExtId, Last Name, First Name, Full Name, and Email. Required fields are agentExtId, Last Name, and Email. Agents are associated with the departments in Zoho Desk where tickets will be imported. We hold any Helpy assignee references that cannot resolve to an email-matched Zoho User in a reconciliation queue.

Helpy Tickets export as a standalone CSV type with fields for subject, body, priority, status, assignee, and channel. We map to Zoho Desk's Tickets_XX.csv format with required TicketExtId, Subject, and Description. Status values from Helpy (open, pending, resolved, closed) map to Zoho Desk status equivalents. Priority maps to Zoho Desk priority. Assignee email resolves to the agentExtId in Zoho Desk before the ticket insert pass. Original Helpy ticket number is preserved as TicketExtId.

Helpy Ticket Replies are a separate CSV import type referenced by parent ticket number. We sort all reply records by timestamp before formatting to ensure chronological sequence. Zoho Desk receives Replies as Threads and Ticket Comments via the Threads_XX.csv format. Each reply references the parent ticket by the Helpy ticket number translated to the Zoho Desk TicketExtId. If a reply references a non-existent parent ticket, Zoho Desk silently drops it; we verify parent-ticket existence in the destination before the reply pass begins.

Helpy KB Articles map to Zoho Desk Articles, but the target section hierarchy must exist first. Zoho Desk organizes articles under Sections and Sub-sections. We import Zoho Desk Sections first, wait for the API to return section IDs, then map each Helpy doc to its section via the Articles_XX.csv format with Title, Body, and Section ID. Article content migrates as HTML or markdown depending on the target Zoho Desk configuration. Meta fields from Helpy migrate to custom article fields or description as applicable.

Helpy Categories (the top-level KB organizer) map to Zoho Desk Sections. Categories must be imported before any KB Article pass because Docs reference category IDs in their CSV row. We create Sections_XX.csv with Section Name and parent section reference where applicable, preserving the Helpy category hierarchy as a flat or nested section structure in Zoho Desk. The section IDs returned by Zoho Desk after the section import feed the section ID references in the Article pass.

Helpy's CSV import does not support inline attachments. We flag attachment-heavy tickets during scoping, extract file references from the source CSV export, and upload them to a managed CDN bucket with a reference mapping table. Post-migration, the customer's admin reattaches files to the corresponding Zoho Desk tickets. We do not perform attachment migration as standard scope because neither the Helpy export nor the Zoho Desk CSV import path handles binary file ingestion.

Helpy ticket tags are not always present in the CSV import template depending on the installed version. We audit the target Helpy instance's schema during discovery and include tags in the ticket row if the column is present. In Zoho Desk, tags migrate as a comma-separated tag field or as a custom field depending on the customer's preference expressed during scoping. If Zoho Desk tagging is not used, tags are documented in a post-migration reference file.

Helpy supports custom metadata on tickets but the CSV schema varies by installation. We audit the target Helpy instance's custom field configuration during discovery and create matching custom fields in Zoho Desk via Setup > Layouts and Fields before any ticket import. Custom field values from Helpy map to the Zoho Desk custom field API names. Fields that cannot be expressed in Zoho Desk's schema are flagged for post-migration manual entry or excluded from scope with documented reason.

Helpy's automation rules (triggers and automations) are not exportable via CSV and have no documented API for bulk migration. We do not migrate automations as code. During discovery we document the existing automation logic including trigger conditions, actions, and delays, and we deliver a written inventory with recommended Blueprint or Assignment Rule equivalents in Zoho Desk. The customer's admin rebuilds these post-migration.

Zoho Desk's assisted CSV migration does not migrate created_at timestamps by default. We provide a customization option where timestamps are appended to the ticket description body with author attribution so the original creation date is preserved in the record even without native timestamp migration. Customers can also request a Zoho Desk API-level migration pass for timestamp preservation at additional scope cost.