The Omnilert Subscriber Import utility is used to import subscriber data via CSV upload files.
Two CSV file layouts are available. The "simple upload" layout is used to upload subscribers using a bulk list, commonly found in spreadsheets.
Unlike the Command-Driven Upload, this simple upload format is used to add new subscriber information only. (There are no deletion or update commands in this upload format.)
Please Note: CSV files must use UTF-8 character encoding.
Simple CSV upload fields
The only required field is the "user_name", which must be the first field in the CSV file and must include a unique ID (username) for each subscriber. The first row of the CSV file must be a header row with field names described below.
Other fields can be in any order with the exception of "Carrier_1" and "Carrier_2", which must follow their corresponding "Phone_1" or "Phone_2". (For SMS, the phone and carrier information needs to be together.)
It is OK to omit unused fields.
CSV Field Header |
Description |
Example |
User_Name |
The subscriber's login username. This field must be the first column in the CSV file and must be a unique username for each subscriber account. |
jdoe |
First_Name |
The first name ("given name") of the subscriber. |
Jonny |
Last_Name |
The last name ("surname") of the subscriber. |
Doe |
Password |
Optional password for the subscriber. Include this value if you intend to allow subscribers to access the Subscriber Portal to self-manage their contact information. |
UsrP@55wordGoesHere |
Expire_Date |
The subscriber's account expiration date. The Omnilert system will accept any standard numerical date format, such as 12/31/2021, 12-31-2021, or 12.31.2021 |
12/31/2021 |
Phone_1 |
The first mobile device for SMS delivery. A corresponding "Carrier_1" field must be present if there is a mobile number in "Phone_1". |
+12125551234 |
Carrier_1 |
The mobile carrier for Phone_1. |
Default |
Phone_2 |
The second mobile device for SMS delivery.Must include 10-digit US number. input masking (slashes or dashes) are not required. |
+12125553210 |
Carrier_2 |
The mobile carrier for Phone_2. If unknown, insert "Default" for the carrier name. |
Verizon Wireless |
Email_1 |
First email address |
user@domain.com |
Email_2 |
Second email address |
user2@domain.com |
Voice_1 |
First voice call phone number. Can include any 10-digit US number that can receive voice calls. (Dashes, dots, or slashes in formatting will be stripped.) |
2125554321 |
Voice_2 |
Second voice call phone number. |
2125552345 |
Group_1 |
Assigns the subscriber as a recipient for the specified Group. Note: Groups must exist in Omnilert before subscribers can be added to them. |
North Campus |
Group_2 |
Assigns the subscriber as a recipient for the specified Group. Note: Groups must exist in Omnilert before subscribers can be added to them. |
South Campus |
Tags |
Includes any tags associated with this user. If multiple tags are present, this field must be in quotes and must be a comma-separated list. Note: Tags must exist in Omnilert before importing subscribers. |
"Employee,Part-Time, IT Manager" |
Languages |
Optional language preferences. The language chosen must be from the list provided in the Languages settings and configured in the account before import. Multiple languages can be included in a comma-separated list. |
"en,sp" |
CSV file formatting and encoding preferred
The CSV (Comma Delimited Text) file format using plain-text/ASCII (ISO 8859-1) encoding. Individual CSV fields may or may not be quote-encapsulated.
Other spreadsheet formats like Excel's .xlsx may work OK for a quick import. However, we recommend using CSV files with quote-encapsulated text fields to avoid anomaly issues and formatting problems from MS Excel.
Example simple upload file
The following is an example of a simple CSV file to upload subscribers into Omnilert.
CSV files can be easily viewed and/or edited in a simple spreadsheet editor, such as Excel. Here is what our sample file appears in Excel:
Not that each field is in its column of the spreadsheet with the items in row one being the field headers described previously.
As you can see, our subscriber data doesn't include all possible fields. Instead, we only include the data fields needed, with the "user_name" column first.
The first row is the header row. The header row tells Omnilert which fields are in each subsequent column.
If a given subscriber doesn't have data for a field, that's not a problem. You can leave that field blank for that subscriber record.
We'll use "Save As..." and set the file type to "Comma Delimited Text (CSV)". The resulting file is a plain-text CSV file. (Omnilert can process .xlsx formatted spreadsheet files, but CSV is preferred. )
If opened in a plain-text editor, like Notepad, the file will appear as:
As you can see, this simple text file uploads subscribers into Omnilert.
The text fields are quote-encapsulated in this sample. This is optional, unless the field may contain data that has commas in it, such as last names with suffixes. (We recommend always using quote-encapsulated text for clarity.)
In the above example, the "Tags" column has multiple tags and commas, so the CSV format requires quotes around that text field.
Note: It's preferred to quote-encapsulate data fields in the CSV file. However, do not quote-encapsulate entire rows in the CSV file, as that will appear as one big field and thus will not import into Omnilert properly.
When should you use the "simple upload" format?
This simple layout is best used for bulk-loading data into the system. This upload format may be the easiest option when importing subscriber data from another system, such as payroll or another database.
Since this simple upload only adds new data to the system, it's not designed to update or delete existing subscriber records.
To update/delete data, use the Command-Driven Upload format.
What will happen if a username in my Simple Upload file already exists in Omnilert?
Omnilert will not allow duplicate usernames. If the username being added is already in use by another subscriber within your account, no new subscriber will be added. You'll receive an error in your upload log indicating "Username in use" for that row and the file will then continue to process.
The existing subscriber will remain. If any SMS, Email, Voice, or Groups listed in the row can be added to the subscriber, they will be added.
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