VipeCloud checks incoming contacts, accounts, and opportunities against identifiers you control, so an existing record is updated instead of created twice. Email and mobile phone are checked by default, and you can add unique fields or Unique Rules that treat a combination of fields as one record.
How Does VipeCloud Handle Duplicate Contacts?
VipeCloud uses a contact's email address and mobile phone number to determine whether that contact already exists. These two fields are unique by default, so you cannot have two contacts with the same email address or the same mobile phone number unless you turn this off or a Unique Rule changes the match.
You can also mark other fields as unique in the field's settings. When a field is unique, a new record is not saved if another record already has that value. See Custom Fields 101.
Duplicates can still occur in edge cases, such as someone changing their email or phone number before being re-added.
What Happens When an Existing Contact Is Imported or Submits a Form
Imports and sign-up form submissions follow the same logic. When the email or mobile phone matches an existing contact, no new contact is created:
Import - if every value matches the existing record, the row is skipped. If other fields differ, the existing contact is updated with the new data.
Sign-up form - the existing contact is updated with any submitted values that differ from what is on file.
This is why every sign-up form should require a unique identifier. For the full import walkthrough, see How to Import Contacts.
How to Create a Unique Rule
A Unique Rule requires a combination of 2 to 3 fields to be unique together. Records only count as duplicates when every field in the rule matches. For example, a rule on Email + Brand lets one person have a separate record for each brand, but never two for the same brand. Only admins can manage Unique Rules.
Click the gear icon in the bottom-left navigation.
Click Customize under the Account section.
Expand the object the rule is for, such as Contact.
Click Fields.
Click the Unique Rules tab.
Click Create Unique Rule.
Enter a Rule name.
Under Fields that must be unique together, choose two fields. Click Add a third field if needed.
Under Applies, choose an option.
Click Save.
Across the account - only one record in the account can have that combination.
Per owner - each owner can have one record with that combination.
Rules can use standard fields and Text, Text Area, Number, Link, Dropdown, and Lookup custom fields from the same object. Picklist, Checkbox, Date, Currency, and Percent fields cannot be used.
What Happens When a Record Breaks a Unique Rule?
Forms, imports, parsing, API calls, and integrations - the existing record is updated instead of a new one being created.
Creating or editing a record by hand - the save is blocked with: You already have [item] with a matching [field + field] field that exists in your account. A link opens the existing record.
Existing duplicates when you save a new rule - saving is not blocked. A warning shows how many records already share values, and the button changes to Save anyway. Existing records are not changed or merged.
Key Notes
A blank field counts as a value, so two records with the same email and no brand match. Email and phone are the exception: in a rule that includes one, a contact with that field blank never matches another.
Each object can have up to 5 Unique Rules.
A field in a Unique Rule cannot be deleted or have its type changed until it is removed from the rule.
Being on multiple contact lists does not create duplicate contacts.