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Scrubbing Lists Against Each Other

Introduction

Creating a Master Scrub List

Scrubbing Against the Master List

Introduction

With ListMaker, it is possible to remove duplicates from a csv or text file that is being imported to create a new list on the Dialer. However, this does not prevent duplicate phone numbers from existing between two different lists that have been imported with ListMaker. And, if the data source is not removing duplicates before you receive the new csv or text files to import, this can cause customers to be called multiple times as their phone number may be in multiple lists on the Dialer.
This article explains how to use the nocall database scrubbing feature built into ListMaker Pro to create a "master list" that is in a nocalls format and can be used to scrub new lists against the phone numbers of all the other lists that have been loaded onto the dialer.

The regular nocalls list that is on the Dialer and that stores phone numbers of customers that have asked to be removed from your calling lists is a global database. Global, meaning that any list that is being dialed, is being checked (in real time) against that nocalls database while a Campaign is running. So once a phone number has been added to the nocalls database, it will never be dialed again, even if it is on every list you load on the Dialer. However, this nocalls database is typically not best used to store customers who have been spoken to and/or resulted in a sale, appointment, etc. This is because it may be necessary to be able to call those customers again at some point because you are calling for a different product presentation, etc.

However, by creating a master list of phone numbers that are in a nocalls database format, we can use an option of ListMaker that allows us to point the nocall scrubbing feature to a different database (other than the nocalls) which could store all phone numbers previously loaded onto the Dialer.

Creating a Master Scrub List

The first step in this process is to export all of the phone numbers from the currently loaded lists on the Dialer to text files that can then be imported into a master list that will be in a nocalls database format. This step is quite labor intensive, especially the more lists that you have, but after this is done, the maintenance of that master list is much easier.

1. To export the data in a list to a text file, first open the list in ListMaker and click on Utilities-->Export List.

2. This will bring you to the Select fields to export window. The only field that is required for this process is the Voicephone field. Click on it to select it.

3. Click Start Export to proceed to the Export window. Select Export to Text file, check the All Records box and click the white sheet of paper icon to create the new text file.

4. Create a new folder on the Desktop or somewhere else that is easy to find and give it a name like List Exports. This is where you will export all the text files that you will create during this process.

5. Save your export text files into this folder to keep them all in one place.

6. Now click Export and it will show you the number of records exported in the Records: field of the Export window.

7. Repeat these steps for each list and eventually, you will have several text files in the folder that you created in step 4.

8. Now we must import all of those text files into a new nocalls database. Start by clicking on Utilities-->Import NoCalls.

9. On the Import NoCalls window, click Comma for the Field Seperator and then click the yellow folder to browse to where the exported text files are.

10. Click Next and then Import.

11. For the first list to import, you would select Create new list and type in the name. A good name for this would be master_list. Click Save and then Finish when done importing.

12. Repeat Steps 8 through 11 for each text file in the folder you created earlier. But instead of creating a new list each time, go to the Migrate to existing list to add to the master_list.

Once this process has been completed, you would just need to import any new lists in the Master List, AFTER you have imported the list in the normal way. This way it would be added to the Master List of phone numbers that will be used for scrubbing against in the next section of this article.

Scrubbing Against the Master List

Now that there is a master list of all the phone numbers that have been loaded onto the Dialer, it is now possible to scrub against this list when importing any new lists.

1. The basic procedure for importing a new list is the same as before. See THIS article for basic list importing instructions.

2. Before clicking the green traffic light button to start importing the new data, click the yellow folder to the right of the Nocalls Filename field.

3. This allows you to change the default nocalls database that the list will be scrubbed against on import, to the master list you created that has all phone numbers from all of your lists.

This process then removes any records from the new list that are also in the master list. This will not cause a problem with scrubbing against the actual nocalls database because that process also happens in real-time, as the Campaign is dialing the list. By default, the Campaign software checks against the nocalls list before it actually dials any phone number from any list.