Duplicates occur when the same company exists multiple times in myconvento. This can happen, for example, due to manual entry, data imports, varying spellings, or legacy data. A duplicate is not always immediately obvious, as company names may be stored with suffixes, legal forms, abbreviations, or slight spelling variations.
Duplicate cleanup helps you identify these redundant company records and merge them into a single, clean target record.
Preparing the search
First, start a search in the My Data > Companies section. You can use a standard search, a similarity search, or another suitable search option.
Once the list of results appears, select the companies you wish to review. If you want to include all the companies found, use the checkbox in the table header; this selects all results in the current list at once.
Starting the duplicate search
Next, select More Actions > Find Duplicates. Depending on your choice, you can start the duplicate search either with or without taking the location into account.
Searching by location is more precise when comparing companies likely to be based at the same site. Searching without location may be useful if company data is incomplete, if locations differ, or if you intentionally want to cast a wider net for similar names.
Reviewing results
After the duplicate search is complete, myconvento displays potential duplicates side-by-side. These are companies with identical or very similar names.
Carefully review the suggested matches. Not every similar name is automatically a genuine duplicate; legitimate differences can exist, particularly with corporate groups, branches, subsidiaries, or media outlets that share similar names.
When comparing, pay attention to details such as the name, address, location, website, data source, and any assigned roles or linked individuals.
Merging companies
Select all the records that should actually be merged. Then select More Actions > Merge.
A new window displays the selected companies in detail. Here, you decide which record should remain as the target record. This target record becomes the surviving company record after the merge.
Choose the target record carefully. Generally, you should retain the record that contains the most complete, up-to-date, or reliable information.
What happens during the merge?
When merging, the roles associated with the company to be removed are transferred to the target company. This means that individuals previously linked to the duplicate company are reassigned to the selected target company.
This ensures that roles are not lost but are instead consolidated in the correct location. After merging, you should open the target record and verify that the transferred roles and information have been assigned correctly.
Points to consider
Only merge companies if you are certain they represent the same organization. A hasty merge can result in contacts being assigned to the wrong company.
Exercise particular caution with companies that have similar names but different locations or business units. Media outlets, publishing houses, and corporate groups can also have similar names without being identical.
If you are unsure, check the detailed views of the companies in question before proceeding with the merge.
Summary
The duplicate check allows you to identify and clean up duplicate company records. To do this, search for and select the relevant companies, start the check via More Actions > Find Duplicates, and then select the specific records you wish to merge.
During the merge, one target record is retained. The roles from the other company records are transferred to this target company. This keeps your data organized, clean, and more usable.
