Understand duplicate contacts

Summary

Learn how Box+Dice identifies duplicate contacts based on matching name and contact details, and how system alerts help prevent duplicate entries when adding new records.

This article covers:

• About duplicate contacts
• Duplicate contact alerts

About duplicate contacts  

Box+Dice uses matching rules to determine whether a new Contact record may already exist in the system. This helps prevent unintentional duplicate records while allowing legitimate contacts to be created.

By default, a Contact is considered a duplicate if it has:

• The same first name,
• The same last name, and
• Either the same phone number or the same email address

This rule is designed to catch intentional matches while avoiding unnecessary false positives.

There is also a setting that allows clients to customise how duplicate detection works. When enabled, duplicate detection can be based on email address only or mobile number only, and ignore first and last names entirely.

This option is useful for businesses that rely on unique contact details rather than name matching.

The duplicate contact detection setting can be configured under:

• Settings > CRM > Manage Duplicate Contacts

Example of a Duplicate Contact

A Contact with the same first name, last name, and matching phone number or email address will be flagged as a duplicate. 

Duplicate contact alerts

When you attempt to create a Contact that matches duplicate criteria, Box+Dice displays an alert.

 
This gives you the opportunity to:

• Review existing records
• Prevent duplicate contact creation
• Decide whether to continue or delete an existing contact