Answers.Body: <p>Use the <a href="https://civicrm.org/extensions/api-csv-import-gui" rel="nofollow noreferrer">API CSV Importer</a> and import to the Phone entity which will always add new entries.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-10-26T14:44:18.910Z
Answers.Text: Thank you! Perfect.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jamie
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-10-23T22:03:01.813Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-10-23T22:03:01.813Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Andy Burns
Answers.Body: <p>Andy's answer is correct, but perhaps the more correct answer is &quot;you don't want to&quot;.  When you have multiple phones of the same location/phone type, saving one overwrites the others.</p>
  <p>There's been a lot of debate about this, but ultimately, having multiple of the same phone/location type means that some can't ever be exported/found in reports.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-10-26T14:48:04.440Z
Answers.Text: I think you are right in most work flows. In this case, the group is working with a population that cycles through cell phones without much clarity on which ones are no longer in use and which ones are. The other half of this request is finding a report that simply concatenates all available phone numbers into a column.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jamie
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-10-26T22:12:51.330Z
Answers.Text: if on drupal the latter could be done via a View - may be of no help to you though
Answers.UserDisplayName: petednz - fuzion
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-10-27T14:06:04.863Z
Answers.Text: Jamie - if your organization has a unique need that isn't easily met out of the box, it may be worth building a custom report or similar.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-10-24T01:03:16.280Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-10-24T01:03:16.280Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Body: <p>If I import a spread sheet with contacts and phone numbers and:</p>
  <ul>
  <li>I choose to update duplicate contacts</li>
  <li>I choose the same phone location and phone type of an existing, matching contact</li>
  </ul>
  <p>Then, the existing phone number will be replaced with the one I'm importing.</p>
  <p>That is reasonable for many workflows - but what if I want to add the number to the record and not overwrite anything? I know I can create more and more phone types but maybe there is a better way?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-10-23T22:01:44.127Z
Comments.Text: I'm really not sure whether the answer is: that's a feature request - to add a "Add as new" checkbox to the import screen or whether there is a way to do this that I'm not thinking of.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Jamie
Tags: <import><phone>
Title: How do I import contact records with phone numbers without overwriting existing phone numbers?
ThreadText: # How do I import contact records with phone numbers without overwriting existing phone numbers?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2020-10-23)
  
  If I import a spread sheet with contacts and phone numbers and:
  
  * I choose to update duplicate contacts
  * I choose the same phone location and phone type of an existing, matching contact
  
  Then, the existing phone number will be replaced with the one I'm importing.
  
  That is reasonable for many workflows - but what if I want to add the number to the record and not overwrite anything? I know I can create more and more phone types but maybe there is a better way?
  
  **Tags:** import, phone
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I'm really not sure whether the answer is: that's a feature request - to add a "Add as new" checkbox to the import screen or whether there is a way to do this that I'm not thinking of.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2020-10-23. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  Use the [API CSV Importer](https://civicrm.org/extensions/api-csv-import-gui) and import to the Phone entity which will always add new entries.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thank you! Perfect.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2020-10-24. Score: 1
  
  username_1's answer is correct, but perhaps the more correct answer is "you don't want to". When you have multiple phones of the same location/phone type, saving one overwrites the others.
  
  There's been a lot of debate about this, but ultimately, having multiple of the same phone/location type means that some can't ever be exported/found in reports.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I think you are right in most work flows. In this case, the group is working with a population that cycles through cell phones without much clarity on which ones are no longer in use and which ones are. The other half of this request is finding a report that simply concatenates all available phone numbers into a column.  
  > **username_3**: if on drupal the latter could be done via a View - may be of no help to you though  
  > **username_2**: username_0 - if your organization has a unique need that isn't easily met out of the box, it may be worth building a custom report or similar.  
  
  ---
  
  