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Identify Duplicate Emails and Phones

This guide explains how to identify duplicate emails or phone numbers that may be scattered across different fields using custom formula fields and specialized matching types.

The Problem​

Sometimes duplicate emails or phone numbers may be scattered across different fields, making it challenging to identify them using single-field matching methods.

For example:

  • Email addresses might be in both Email and Person_Email__c fields
  • Phone numbers might be in Phone, Mobile, and Home_Phone__c fields
  • Standard matching methods only check one field at a time

The Solution​

Use a Custom Formula (Text) field that combines emails or phones in a single field using a semi-colon as delimiter, in conjunction with:

  • Email List [Formula Field] matching type for emails
  • Phone List [Formula Field] matching type for phone numbers

This approach allows the system to check multiple fields simultaneously and find duplicates across all of them.

Implementation​

Step 1: Create a Formula Field​

  1. Create a new Formula (Text) field
  2. Name it Email List (or Phone List for phone numbers)

Step 2: Configure the Formula​

  1. In the formula editor, input API names of the email fields separated by semi-colon character ;

    Example for emails:

    Email + ';' + Person_Email__c

Formula For Email List

Example for phones:

Phone + ';' + Mobile + ';' + Home_Phone__c
  1. Save the formula field

Step 3: Use in Matching Rules​

Use Of Email List

  1. Select the Email List (or Phone List) field as a matching field
  2. Choose the Email List [Formula Field] (or Phone List [Formula Field]) matching type
  3. Click Save & Continue button

How It Works​

  • The formula field combines values from multiple fields into one field
  • The matching type checks if any value in the combined field matches any value in the other record's combined field
  • This allows finding duplicates even when the same email/phone appears in different fields across records
tip

Best Practice: Include all relevant email or phone fields in your formula to ensure comprehensive duplicate detection.