Migrate from SAAS First to Zoho Desk

SAAS First tickets map directly to Zoho Desk tickets. The ticket subject becomes Ticket Subject, ticket status maps to Zoho Desk status values (Open, Pending, On Hold, Closed), priority maps to Priority, and the SAAS First channel metadata (email, chat, phone, social) maps to Channel. Original SAAS First creation timestamps cannot populate Zoho Desk's Created Time field (which is read-only), so we embed the original timestamp in the first ticket comment prefixed with 'Migrated from SAAS First: [original timestamp]' for audit continuity. Custom fields migrate to department-scoped custom fields that we create in Zoho Desk before import.

SAAS First conversation threads map to Zoho Desk ticket threads. Each message in the thread becomes a Thread entry with the original author (agent or customer), timestamp, and content preserved. We preserve the thread ordering by inserting entries in chronological sequence. Internal notes in SAAS First map to Zoho Desk internal comments that are only visible to agents with appropriate permissions.

SAAS First ticket attachments migrate as Zoho Desk ticket attachments linked to the corresponding thread entry. We download attachments from SAAS First's API, preserve original filenames and MIME types, and upload via Zoho Desk's attachment API. Inline images embedded in ticket content migrate as separate attachment records with the content preserved inline in the thread body.

SAAS First customer records map to Zoho Desk contacts. Email address serves as the dedupe key. First name, last name, phone, and any custom profile fields map to their Zoho Desk equivalents. Contact-level custom fields migrate to the Contact module's layout, which we extend before migration if those fields do not yet exist in the destination department.

SAAS First organization records map to Zoho Desk accounts. Company name becomes Account Name, domain maps to Website, and any custom company-level fields migrate as custom fields on the Account module. Accounts are imported before Contacts so that the Account-Contact lookup relationship is satisfied at insert time.

SAAS First agents map to Zoho Desk agents. We match by email address. If a Zoho Desk agent account does not yet exist for a given SAAS First agent, we flag that agent in a reconciliation queue and the customer provisions the corresponding Zoho Desk user before migration resumes. Agent role, department assignment, and availability status transfer where the destination schema supports those fields. Cases assigned to deactivated SAAS First agents cannot be transferred to Zoho Desk per Zoho's migration constraints; we flag these in the pre-migration audit.

SAAS First ticket tags migrate to Zoho Desk tags. Tags serve as both a ticket classification and a reporting dimension in Zoho Desk. We preserve the full tag vocabulary from SAAS First and create matching tags in Zoho Desk before the ticket import phase.

SAAS First departments (if present) map to Zoho Desk departments. Zoho Desk requires departments to exist before ticket import so that ticket department assignments are valid. We create departments in Zoho Desk during the schema preparation phase, matching department names exactly from SAAS First where they exist, or creating a default Support department for tickets without an assigned department in the source.

SAAS First agent teams map to Zoho Desk teams. Zoho Desk's Team feature requires Turn on Team Assignment in the portal settings before teams can receive ticket assignments. We create the teams during setup and document the Team Assignment toggle for the customer's admin to enable before cutover.

SAAS First knowledge base articles map to Zoho Desk help center articles. Article title, body content, author, and publish status transfer. Note: Zoho Desk's native KB migration does not transfer attachments within articles; we handle inline image attachments separately by downloading from the source and re-uploading to Zoho Desk's article attachments. Article categorization maps to Zoho Desk categories and sections that we pre-create during the KB setup phase.

SAAS First products (if tracked in the helpdesk for product-specific tickets) map to Zoho Desk products. Product name, SKU, and description transfer. Products are imported before tickets so that product-linked tickets resolve their product lookup at insert time.

SAAS First custom fields on tickets, contacts, accounts, and organizations map to Zoho Desk custom fields in the corresponding module. Zoho Desk custom fields are department-scoped: a custom field created in one department is not automatically available in another. We create custom fields in each destination department that will receive tickets, matching the SAAS First data type (text, number, date, picklist, checkbox) to the nearest Zoho Desk field type. Custom field labels are truncated to Zoho's 50-character maximum. The Free edition of Zoho Desk does not support custom fields; we confirm the destination Zoho Desk edition (Standard, Professional, or Enterprise) before planning the custom field migration scope.