Populating the Devices and Subscriptions import template

SECURITY  Security level with Admin permission to configure Devices. Refer to Admin security settings.

NAVIGATION   > Admin > Features & Settings > Devices > Utilities > Device Import > click Import

NAVIGATION  To export and update existing devices, go to > CRM > Search > Devices > button bar > Export > In Import Template Format.

NAVIGATION  To download a template that includes subscription fields, go to > Admin > Features & Settings > Application-Wide (Shared) Features > Downloads > Device

BEFORE YOU BEGIN  Please review the general instructions for importing and updating data in Autotask in this topic: Importing or updating data.

Please note the following:

  • The former Location column is now called Area. A separate Location column tracks the Organization Location with which the device is associated.
  • If you are importing a device and its associated product does not exist in your Autotask instance, be sure to include the product name, material code, and any required user-defined fields in your device CSV file. Autotask will automatically create the product.
  • If a device has no associated contract, you can associate a contract via an import update (Device ID is required). A contract that is already associated with a device cannot be updated via an import. It must be manually updated or disassociated from the device.
  • When importing devices, you can also create subscriptions for the imported items. For a subscription to be created, you must populate all required fields for devices and subscriptions. The device will not be created if the creation of the subscription fails.
  • Subscriptions can also be created when devices are updated with an import. If a match with an existing device is found, Autotask will create a new subscription based on the imported subscription data.
  • To access the subscription fields for import, the template should be downloaded from Admin > Features & Settings > Application-Wide (Shared) Features > Downloads. Subscription fields are not available when the template is generated from the Devices > In Template Format export.

NOTE  If you see a check mark in the Must be looked up in Autotask instance? column, it means that, in the Autotask user interface, a value is selected from a list. You may use selections that are currently inactive, but they must exist. Navigate to the page shown in the Description column and look up the valid options.

*= required field

Field Must be looked up in Autotask instance? Description
Device Fields
Device ID [updates only]   For use with updates only: This field contains the unique system identifier for the device. A row that contains a value in this field will never create a new record.

The field is not required, but when a value is provided, it must match an existing device ID, and it is the primary match for the row, regardless of whether any additional fields match.

When there is a match, the setting under When a match is found, selected when configuring the import, will determine whether an update is performed.
Product Name*   Enter the name of the product the device is based on.

If you are importing a device and its associated product does not exist in your Autotask instance, be sure to include the product name, material code, and any required user-defined fields with your device CSV file and Autotask will automatically create the product.

NOTE  If the device was created from a stocked item, the Product Name cannot be updated, and the import will fail.
Organization* Yes Enter the name of the organization the device is associated with.
To find a list of your customers, navigate to > CRM > Search > Organizations.

Device Category

Yes

You can find a list of valid device categories here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Devices > Device Categories. If this field is left blank, it is assigned the default device category. For more information about Device Categories, refer to Managing categories.
Device Type Yes You can find a list of valid device types here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Devices > Device Types. For more information about Device Types, refer to Device types.
Install Date*   Enter the date that you want to record as the installation date for the device.
Warranty Expiration   Enter the date the warranty expires.
Serial Number   These fields are not required but provide useful information that appears on any ticket created for the device. You can also report on these fields using standard or LiveReports (refer to Reports on products that are associated with customer organizations as devices).

If the item you are installing is a printer associated with the Xerox PageConnect/XPPS program, the Serial Number is required.
Reference Number  
Reference Name  
Number of Users   Enter the number of users using the item.
Contact Yes Enter the name of a contact associated with the organization entered above.
Location Yes If the device is associated with an organization location, enter the location .
Area   Enter the on-site area where the device is located.
Contract Yes If you would like to use a specific contract for the support of this device, enter the name of a contract associated with the organization.

NOTE  You cannot update a device's contract via import. It must be done manually.
Service or Service/Bundle Yes If you selected a recurring service contract, enter the name of a service or service bundle.

The service/bundle must exist as an item on the associated contract's list of services/bundles. If not, the contract will be associated with the device, but the service/bundle will be ignored. No error is generated.

If you selected a recurring service contract in the Contract field and a service or bundle that will cover the support of the device, Autotask will check if the number of devices is higher than the number of units in the service or bundle that covers them. If it is, you are given the option of updating the number of units in the service or bundle to match, or you can continue without updating (not recommended).

  • If you click OK, the number of units will be incremented, and a pro-rated billing item will be added and documented with a contract note.
  • If you click Cancel, the number of units will not be incremented, but the contract will be set Out of Compliance. It will be up to the contract manager to update the number of units.

Note that the device will be associated with the contract either way.
Billing Product Yes The billing product must be set up on the > Admin > Products, Services, & Inventory > Products page.
Billing Product Effective Date   Defaults to the current date.
Billing Product Expiration Date   Defaults to blank.
Vendor Yes If you enter a vendor, the organization must exist in your Autotask instance, and the organization type Vendor must be applied to it. For more information, refer to Adding an organization.
Service Level Agreement Yes Enter the name of an existing service level agreement.

NOTE  This SLA will override any SLA associated with the device's contract.
Parent Device Serial Number   Enter the serial number of the parent device that is related to this device.
Description   Enter a description for the device.
Hourly Cost, Monthly Cost, Daily Cost, Per-Use Cost, Setup Fee, Organization Link   Information entered here can be reported using Autotask LiveReports.
Material Code (required if creating product) Yes This field is normally inherited from the product's material code. If you choose a different material code for an existing product, it will disassociate this field from the product's material code, and Autotask will not update the subscription's material code if the product material code is ever changed in Admin.

If you are creating a new product, the material code is required. Valid Material Codes can be found here: > Admin > Features & Settings > Finance, Accounting & Invoicing > Billing Codes > Material.
Active/Inactive   When you import new items, enter the word Active to activate and Inactive to inactivate. Leaving the column blank will also activate.

When you update existing items when importing, enter the word Active to activate, Inactive to inactivate, and leave the column blank to do nothing (the current Active/Inactive status will not change). If the column contains any text other than Active or Inactive, the import will fail. Refer to Lookup Fields in the table Duplicate criteria for imports.

IMPORTANT  Devices, new and existing, will be set to active when the Active/Inactive column is deleted from the Import Template. For existing inactive devices, this would lead to the activation of those devices.
Domain (Required if Category = Domain)

 

 This field is required if the category is equal to Domain. The import will fail if:

  • The category is equal to Domain and no value is provided

  • A value is provided, but the category is not equal to Domain

This field cannot be updated via the importer, or in the UI.
SSL Source (Required if Category = SSL Certificate)

 

 This field is required if the category is equal to SSL Certificate. The import will fail if:

  • The category is equal to SSL Certificate and no value is provided

  • A value is provided, but the category is not equal to SSL Certificate

This field cannot be updated via the importer, or in the UI.
Additional fields to import if you are creating a billing subscription for the device
If you populate one or more Subscription columns, the import tool will assume that you intend to create a subscription and will validate that you enter data into all fields that are flagged as required.
Subscription Name   Not required here, even though it is required in the UI. If this field is left blank, we will use the product name. The subscription name is limited to 100 characters.
Reviewed for Contract   On import, this field is automatically set to Yes if a value is provided in the Contract field. Refer to Contract review for devices.
Subscription Description   Enter a description. The description can appear on invoices. Refer to Designing an invoice template.
Subscription Period Type* Yes Enter a valid period type: Monthly (default), Quarterly, Semi-annually, Yearly and One-Time. For a straight product sale, you select One-Time.
Subscription Effective Date*   Enter the date that the subscription will start. This date must be less than or equal to the Subscription Expiration Date. This date will populate the First Billing Date field, and the day of the month will be the billing day used for each billing item thereafter.
Subscription Expiration Date*   Enter the date that will be the last day of the subscription. This date must be greater than or equal to the Subscription Effective Date.

NOTE  When billing the entire purchase price (subscription period type is One-Time), the Effective Date and Expiration Date can be the same.

If you would like to generate a subscription for one year, the expiration date for the subscription needs to be one year from now minus one day. Otherwise you will end up with an additional subscription billing item.
Subscription Period Price*   Enter the amount billed to the customer for each installment.
Must be a positive number or 0. Accepts up to 2 decimal places. Max value is 999,999,999.99.
Subscription Material Code* Yes This field is normally inherited from the product's material code. If you choose a different material code for an existing product, it will disassociate this field from the product's material code, and Autotask will not update the subscription's material code if the product material code is ever changed in Admin.

If you are creating a new product, the material code is required.
Subscription Purchase Order Number   Optionally, enter a purchase order number. The purchase order number will be assigned to all of the subscription's billing periods. If the subscription is renewed, the purchase order number will be carried over but can be changed.

Purchase order numbers appear on invoices and a separate invoice is generated for each purchase order number. For more information, refer to Working with purchase order (PO) numbers.
Subscription Period Cost   Enter your cost for each subscription period.
Subscription Active   To import a subscription as:
  • Active: Leave the field blank, enter Active or enter any characters.
  • Inactive: Enter Inactive.
  • Canceled: Enter Canceled.
Subscription Vendor Yes A vendor specific to the device subscription, for example, a third-party vendor responsible for support of a device during the subscription period.

If you enter a vendor, the organization must exist in your Autotask instance, and the organization type Vendor must be applied to it. For more information, refer to Adding an organization
Subscription Division > Line of Business   This column is available only if Organizational Structure is enabled.

Users can import any line of business, not just the ones they are associated with.

Device User-Defined Fields (Device Type Name)   User-defined fields for all entities that support them can be imported and exported, with one exception: UDFs of type List (Multi Select) cannot be exported or imported. Inactive list options can be imported and exported as well. Required UDFs cannot be left blank, or the import will fail. UDFs are identified as such and appear after all system field columns.To learn more about how to set up and use UDFs, refer to Managing user-defined fields

To find out how to reverse an import, refer to Rolling back an import.