1. Inventory what you use
Before choosing a new tool, write down what the old one does for you.
- Channels: the support email addresses, the chat widget, any forms.
- Macros or saved replies, and which ones people actually use.
- Automations: triggers, auto-assignment, auto-close, SLA timers, notification rules.
- Integrations: billing, ecommerce, CRM, Slack, bug tracker.
- Reports someone relies on.
- Help center articles.
- Who has admin access and API credentials.
2. Decide what history to move
You rarely need every ticket. A common choice is everything from the last year, plus open tickets, plus the customers and macros. Keep a full export of the old system either way; you will want it for audits and the odd old thread.
3. Run a trial import first
Import into a trial account, not production. Open a dozen tickets you know well and compare them: messages in order, attachments present, tags and assignees right. Read the import report for anything that did not map, and decide whether each gap matters.
4. Rebuild the automations that matter
Most migrations do not carry over every rule, and some vendors do not expose them at all. Rebuild the five that save you the most time, and ignore the rest until someone misses them. Check the tool you are moving to says plainly what it imports.
5. Cut over email
Forward your support address to the new help desk and keep a copy in the old mailbox. Send a test email from a personal account and confirm it creates a ticket. Then test a reply: it should arrive from your support address, in the same thread. Set up the DNS records your new tool asks for so replies are not marked as spam.
6. Cut over chat and forms
Swap the chat script on your site, and point contact forms at the new address. Do this at a quiet time, and test from a signed-out browser.
7. Run both for a week
Leave the old help desk read-only. Anything still arriving there is a rule or form you missed. When a week passes with nothing new, you are done.
8. Retire the old one safely
Download a full export, including attachments, before you cancel. Store it somewhere your team can find. Then cancel, and tell your team the date.