Question

What are Contact External IDs, and how are they generated in Everbridge Suite?

Answer

External IDs are unique identifiers that prevent duplication of Contacts and allow customization for individuals with the same name. External IDs are required for Contact Uploads and can be customized as desired; Everbridge will not generate External IDs.

While External IDs cannot be identical, they can contain similar information when different capitalization rules are applied. For example, a Contact named "Jane Smith" could have two profiles created using the same name, but slightly different External IDs, such as "Jane_Smith" and "Jane_smith".

External IDs can be any unique identifier, including email addresses or other alpha, numeric, or alphanumeric combinations, as long as they are unique to each Contact and do not exceed 80 characters. For instance, you can use email addresses as external IDs when uploading Contacts to Everbridge.