How to use automatic duplicate detection in Simple CRM?

Searching for duplicates in Simple CRM can be done manually (see this page).

Simple CRM can also search automatically:
duplicates of contacts on the basis of surname and first name
duplicates of companies, either on the basis of the name, or on the whole name + postal code

Configuring the Duplicate Search

The company duplicate search is configured in the CRM Admin (top menu -> CRM Admin -> tab "13. Settings".

If you want company duplicates to be searched on the company name, in the "Deduplication of companies" field, choose "Deduplication on company name".

If you want company duplicates to be searched on the company name + postal code, in the "Deduplication of companies" field, choose "Deduplication on company name and postal code".

Then click on the "Save" button.
List and merge potential duplicates

Duplicate searches are performed once a day. Duplicates created during the day will therefore be detected the next day.

To access the list of potential duplicates, open the application launcher, click on the "Tools" tab, then click on the "Contact duplicates" or "Company duplicates" icon.

The list of potential duplicates appears.

Each line in the list represents a pair of potential duplicates detected by Simple CRM.
If it is not a duplicate (case of homonymous persons, or two different companies with the same name), tick the "Ignore" box on the line concerned, then click on the "Save" button at the bottom of the list.

If it is really a duplicate, click on the "Duplicate" button on the line concerned.

The next screen shows the pair of side-by-side duplicates. For each field, you can choose if you keep the data of the first duplicate, or the second, by checking the box of the data to keep.

Once you have checked the data to be kept on either side, click the "Merge contacts" button (or "Merge companies" as appropriate).

The elements are then merged, you then arrive on the duplicated element.


Why doesn't Simple CRM merge duplicates automatically?

Simple CRM can offer you lists of potential duplicates, but the decision to merge duplicates is only possible by a human person.

Indeed, two contacts with the same name can be two different people. Simple CRM cannot know if these two people are the same.

It is the same for corporations. Two companies may have the same name (or sign) and be two different companies.

On the other hand, for each detected duplicate, if for example 2 different postal addresses are present, no software will be able to decide which address is correct.
This is why you have to merge the duplicates one by one, by checking what you want to keep on one element and on the other.