Merge duplicate contacts
Bectify keeps one contact per phone number. When the same customer reaches you from two numbers, for example a mobile and an office line, you get two contacts with the same name. Merging combines them so the full history sits in one place.
How Bectify finds duplicates
Bectify suggests a pair when two contacts have the same name and different phone numbers. Capital letters and extra spaces are ignored. Contacts with no name are never suggested.
You can only merge a pair that Bectify suggests. A matching name is a hint, not proof, so check both contacts before you merge. Two different people can share a name.
Merge a suggested pair
- Open Inbox › Contacts.
- Above the contact list, select Suspected duplicates. The number in brackets is how many pairs were found. If you do not see it, there are no suggestions right now.
- Each pair is marked Possible duplicate and shows both contacts side by side, with a few counts for each one, such as conversations and addresses. Select Merge on the pair.
- In Merge contacts, make three choices:
- Choose display name to keep — the name of Contact A or Contact B.
- Choose email to keep — the email of Contact A or Contact B.
- Survivor (whose phone is kept) — the contact that stays. Its phone number is the one kept.
- Select Preview merge.
- In Confirm merge, read the warning and check the "Keeping" line.
- Select Merge permanently.
To change a choice, select Go back. To leave both contacts as they are, select Keep separate.
What a merge does
- Everything linked to both contacts, such as conversations, appointments and addresses, is moved onto the contact you kept.
- The other contact is permanently deleted. Its phone number is not kept on the surviving contact.
- The name and email are the ones you chose, even if they came from the contact that was removed.
A merge cannot be undone
The confirmation says it plainly: "This cannot be undone". There is no way to split a merged contact back into two. If you are not sure the two contacts are the same person, select Keep separate. The pair stays in the list, and you can come back to it later.
If the merge fails
If you see "Couldn't merge these contacts. Try again.", nothing was changed. Select Merge permanently again.