orca.floSwitch to OrcaFlo from another tool
Moving from another WhatsApp or CRM tool? The Switch to OrcaFlo importer brings your contacts, tags, custom fields and lifecycle stages across, and, where your old tool can export them, your past conversations as read-only history. Open it from Contacts → Switch to OrcaFlo (admins and managers).
Updated
What each tool can bring
respond.io
Contacts, tags, custom fields and lifecycle, plus past conversations (Messages export).
WATI and Interakt
Contacts, tags, attributes and lifecycle. They don’t export conversations.
Trengo
Contacts, plus past conversations from a migration tool’s CSV.
HubSpot
Contacts from a CSV export with all properties, including lifecycle stage.
Any other tool or spreadsheet
Contacts from any CSV, and past conversations with one message per row.
Step 1: your contacts
Pick your old tool
OrcaFlo shows exactly where to find the export in that tool. For respond.io: Contacts → select → Export to CSV, or Settings → Data Export → Contacts.
Upload the contacts CSV
OrcaFlo recognizes the usual columns: contact ID, name, phone, country code, email, tags, lifecycle and custom fields. Anything it doesn’t know can become a new field.
Match lifecycle stages
Your old tool’s lifecycle values (for example “Hot Lead” or “Customer”) are listed with how many contacts have each. Choose the OrcaFlo stage for each one; anything you leave becomes your first stage.
Choose the options
Country code for numbers without one, what to do with people already in OrcaFlo (fill empty details, overwrite, or skip), and a tag for everyone imported (it suggests “from-respond-io”, for example).
Import
You see how many were added, updated and skipped. Rows without a phone number are skipped and listed.
Step 2: past conversations (optional)
Export the messages
respond.io: Settings → Data Export → Messages → choose a date range (up to a year per file) → Export, then download it from the export history.
Upload the messages CSV
Check the columns: date and time, the text, who sent it, and the contact ID (or phone / email). Say which time zone the times are in and whether dates are written day first (5/1 = 5 January) or month first.
Import
Each message is attached to the right contact using the contact ID from step 1, then the phone number, then the email. Messages for people who aren’t in OrcaFlo are skipped and counted.
Where the history shows up
Open a contact: Show past messages from respond.io lists the old conversation, newest first, and the Activity timeline shows a line for each day of imported conversation. The history is read-only: it isn’t part of your inbox, and the AI assistant doesn’t read it or reply to it.
Importing the same file twice doesn’t create duplicates, so you can import year by year. Imported history is included in your full data export.
If you don’t see this in your panel yet, email support@orcaflo-panel.com and we’ll switch it on for your business.
Questions
No. Nobody is messaged automatically because they were imported. The assistant and follow-ups only start when the person writes to you.
respond.io adds that apostrophe so spreadsheets don’t treat the number as a formula. Pick respond.io as your old tool and OrcaFlo removes it.
Yes, separately: connect your number in OrcaFlo by scanning the QR code. The importer only brings your data.