Consolidate and Retire Legacy Fields

Navigate to Data Management > Cleanse Data, and select the record type from the top menu.

To get a full picture of all the existing fields you have, click the Export button in Step 1.

This will generate a CSV file with properties for all of the fields currently in your database. The CSV helps you identify outdated and unused legacy fields quickly and easily. Learn more about interpreting these properties in the Pro Tip: Understanding Field Properties below.

All fields, not just those that seem unused or unimportant, need to be examined to ensure they are being used correctly. Then you can explore the field data to decide if it needs to be merged or can be deleted outright to remove clutter and improve organization. 

Once you've identified a field that calls for further analysis, select the Field Name from the dropdown under Step 2. (This does the same thing as checking the box by the field name in Step 1.)

Once selected, the different values found in this field will populate the Record Viewer at the bottom of the page. The Count reflects the number of times a value is used.

Explore the different field values to identify inconsistent or irrelevant data and identify what needs cleanup. Use the checkbox to expand a value set. 

This opens up a secondary Viewer below the first, where you can review the individual records that have the selected value.

To see more information for each of the resulting records, you can alter the columns included in this Record Viewer by using the Layout tab in Step 2. 

Filter Out Records That Don’t Need Changing

When you're looking to fix specific values, use the filter to work only with an appropriate subset of your data. You can filter your data using any field in your database.

Under Step 2, click the Filter tab and select the field to work with. Use the Condition to set the rule that the data in the selected field must meet.

Filtering is a critical feature for examining and identifying legacy fields. For instance, you could filter your fields by a specific amount of time using the "Create Date" field, such as records that have been created in the last six months.

Or you could filter by fields like "Last Activity Date," and set a date to surface fields that haven't had any activity in a long time.

Click the Search button and the Record Viewer at the bottom of the page will be updated.

Understanding how to interpret the information about each field can provide clues on issues and highlight possible data-cleansing tasks.

Field Label vs. Name

The Field Label is shown in the CRM interface while the Name is the column header in the backend database.

If there are two fields with a similar Field Label, such as "Phone" versus "Phone Number," looking at the underlying field Name may reveal different information that clarifies the actual purpose. You may want to update one of the Field Labels to reflect the difference.

Type, Value, and Writable

• Type – Field type, such as a picklist, number, text string, date, timestamp, true/false (boolean), etc.
• Value – Describes the type of data stored in the field such as text, number, date, true/false, etc.
• Writable – A checked/TRUE value indicates the field can be edited. 

Unique Values (Distinct)

This is the count of different values that appear in this field across all records. This is a great place to look and see if there is data worth exploring. You could answer a question such as, "How many different job titles do we have?" It can also indicate a problem in fields where only a few values should be used, such as Industry, or Product fields. This is especially relevant on fields that should be limited to a picklist, or Yes/No values. 

Empty Values 

This is the number of records that don't have any value in the field.

Any field with a high number of Empty Values could indicate the field is unused or abandoned and needs cleanup. If there are 1000 records in your CRM and 950 don't have a value, this could indicate an abandoned or underused field.

Or, it could indicate a syncing issue between Insycle and your CRM. If you see field data in your CRM but the Empty Values number is high, contact Insycle support.

There are a few things to look into,

1. Under Step 2 in the Filter tab, make sure that you have clicked the Search button.
2. Ensure that your filter is accurate, and not too specific. For instance, if you are using the "is" operator in your filter, you might broaden the Condition using "contains" or "starts with" to identify other records with slight differences.

If you don't see data in the relevant field in Insycle, but the field contains data in your CRM, it is likely a field syncing issue. In this case, contact support through live chat to request a manual sync for the field.

Navigate to Data Management > Transform Data, and select the record type in the top menu. 

Under Step 1, configure the Filter to look for records that have a Mobile Phone Number value, but do not have a Phone Number value. This way, if a record already has a phone number, it won't be overwritten.

If it makes more sense to overwrite existing data in the Phone Number field, remove the "Phone Number doesn't exist" filter.

Click the Search button, and a preview of the records that match this filter will load in the Record Viewer at the bottom of the page.

Under Step 2, set up the Function to Move the Mobile Phone Number field data into the Phone Number field. This will apply to all records that match the filter set in Step 1.

• The Move function takes your data from one field and moves it to another, deleting the data in the source field. When retiring legacy fields, you'll most likely use the Move function and then delete the empty field from the CRM.
• The Copy function copies the data and duplicates it in another field, leaving the data in the source field. If there is a situation where you want the data in a new field, but also want it to remain in the legacy field for archiving or other purposes, you could use Copy.

You may also want to do some cleanup on the value while it is being moved. 

Preview Changes in the CSV Report

With the filters and functions set up, you can preview the changes in a CSV file. It's important to verify that your formatting is working as expected before those changes are pushed to your live database.

Under Step 3, click the Review button, then select Preview in the popup.

On the Notify tab, you can select recipients for the emailed CSV report and add additional context to the message. (Make sure to hit Enter after each email address.)

On the When tab, click Run Now and select which records to apply the change to (in most cases this will be All), then click the Run Now button.

Open the CSV file from your email in a spreadsheet application and review the (Before) and (After) values for each field. If the results don't look the way you expected, go back to your filters and functions and try making some adjustments before previewing again.

Apply Changes to the CRM

If everything in your CSV preview looks correct, return to Insycle and move forward with applying the changes to the live CRM data.

Click the Review button under Step 3 and select Update Mode. 

On the When tab, you should use Run Now the first time you apply these changes to the CRM.

Once you've moved data from your legacy, Mobile Phone Number field to your active, Phone Number field, you can delete the Mobile Phone Number field from your CRM.

After you've seen the results in the CRM and you are satisfied with how the operation runs, you can save all of the configurations as a template.

There are several built-in templates that can be used to format or move phone numbers:

See the blog post on phone number formatting for more.