Migrate from UserEcho to Zoho Desk

EchoDesk ticket records map to Zoho Desk Tickets with status, priority, assignee, and custom fields preserved. The full reply thread migrates as threaded comments using Zoho Desk's Thread or Comment object. We resolve assignee by email against the Zoho Desk agent roster created in the agent phase. UserEcho priority and status enums map to Zoho Desk picklist values that we configure before import. Custom fields from UserEcho must be pre-created in Zoho Desk under the relevant department before import begins because Zoho Desk custom fields are department-scoped.

EchoForum community topics with vote scores, status labels (planned, under review, completed), and nested comment threads require routing decision during scoping. Zoho Desk has no native EchoForum equivalent; we offer two patterns: route topics as Zoho Desk Tickets tagged forum_source with vote count stored in a custom field, or route them to Zoho Desk's Shared Spaces Ideas module if the customer licenses that feature. The customer's choice depends on whether they want forum posts visible to end-users via a help center portal versus internal-only triage. Vote counts and status labels migrate as custom fields in both patterns.

EchoSmart KB articles with publication status, category assignments, and attachment references map to Zoho Desk Knowledge Base Articles. Article body content and category hierarchy migrate directly. Note that Zoho Desk's native Zwitch tool does not migrate KB article attachments; we handle this gap by downloading each attachment file from UserEcho during extraction and re-uploading to Zoho Desk's document store via the Attachments API, preserving original filenames and MIME types. Category hierarchy from UserEcho reconstructs as Zoho Desk Sections and sub-sections.

EchoChat transcripts with timestamp, agent identifier, visitor identifier, and status require a scoping decision before migration. Zoho Desk has no native chat transcript object, so we offer two patterns: convert each EchoChat session into a Zoho Desk Ticket with the transcript body in the first comment and the Chat source tagged, or create individual Task records with Call subtype and the transcript as the task description. The customer's choice depends on whether they want chat history threaded under a ticket or as separate activity records on the contact timeline.

UserEcho agent profiles (any user with moderation, response, or admin access) map to Zoho Desk Agents. We extract display name, email address, and role flags and match by email against the Zoho Desk agent roster. Agents are created in Zoho Desk before any ticket import because Ticket records require an OwnerId reference. End-user profiles (customers who submitted tickets or forum posts) map to Zoho Desk Contacts and are not granted agent access, avoiding artificial seat billing inflation on the destination.

UserEcho end-user profiles (customers and forum visitors) map to Zoho Desk Contacts. We extract display name and email address. If the customer uses UserEcho's optional account linking for customers, we map those to Zoho Desk Accounts and link the Contact to the Account via AccountId. Phone number, street address, and social handles migrate to Zoho Desk Contact fields where present. Anonymous or partially-complete profiles migrate with available fields populated and a source flag indicating EchoDesk, EchoForum, or EchoChat origin.

UserEcho Forum and KB categories form a two-level hierarchy (parent category and sub-category) applied across EchoForum topics and EchoSmart articles. We export category names and hierarchy and reconstruct them as Zoho Desk Departments. EchoForum parent categories map to top-level Departments; sub-categories map to Zoho Desk sub-departments or Shared Space teams. The category structure is reconstructed before article and topic import so that category assignments are valid at insert time.

UserEcho applies tags across Tickets, Forum Topics, and KB Articles. We export tag names and their object associations. In Zoho Desk, tags are recreated as flat label sets on the corresponding object (Ticket Tags, KB Article Tags). Note that Zoho Desk's native Zwitch tool drops tags during migration; we handle tag preservation by extracting the full tag object, storing it in a temporary mapping table, and inserting via the Zoho Desk API after records are created. Tag color and display metadata do not transfer.

Files attached to EchoDesk tickets are downloaded individually from UserEcho during extraction and re-uploaded to Zoho Desk ticket records via the attachment upload API. We preserve original filenames and MIME types. Inline images embedded in ticket reply bodies are extracted as separate file downloads and re-uploaded to Zoho Desk's document store, with the image URLs updated in the migrated body content to point to the new Zoho-hosted location.

Files attached to EchoSmart KB articles migrate as KB article attachments in Zoho Desk. Note that Zoho Desk's native Zwitch tool explicitly does not migrate KB article attachments; this is a documented Zwitch gap. We close this gap by extracting each attachment from UserEcho during the KB article phase, downloading the file blob, and uploading to Zoho Desk via the Knowledge Base attachment endpoint, associating the file with the migrated article record.

Files attached to EchoForum posts migrate as attachments on the Zoho Desk record holding the forum post (Ticket or Shared Space Idea depending on routing choice). We download each file from UserEcho, re-upload to Zoho Desk, and link via the appropriate object attachment endpoint. Original filenames and MIME types are preserved.

UserEcho custom fields on tickets and end-user profiles migrate to Zoho Desk custom fields. The critical requirement is that Zoho Desk custom fields must be created in the destination department before import begins; they cannot be created inline during the data load. We extract the full custom field schema from UserEcho during discovery, create matching custom fields in Zoho Desk via the Layout and Fields API under the relevant department, and then map field values during the record insert phase. Field type mapping from UserEcho string, integer, checkbox, and dropdown types maps to Zoho Desk string, integer, checkbox, and picklist fields respectively.