Is there any way to get cell value history?

[Mr_Kav]

Hi guys,

I’m looking for a way to extract the changes from a specific column (string).

I have a base with client names and each client has its account manager (each account manager can handle more than one client).
We work in a dynamic environment, and the account managers’ responsibility changes frequently.

Given the above background, I want to create new automation using Zapier/Integromat to inform the previous account manager via email that he doesn’t own this account anymore.

The problem:
I can create a last modified field and use it to trigger Zapier/Integromat, but how can I extract the old value from this cell?

Example:

1. Current A.M name: Dan

2. I’ve added a new A.M named Stan

3. Now the trigger has been activated, but the cell value is Stan

How can I get the previous cell value in order to send the previous A.M an email?

Any idea would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance for helping!

[kuovonne]

Once a cell value has changed, there is no way programmatically to obtain the previous value. Instead you need to hold onto the current value in a different field in some way before the change happens.

In this case, you could store the account manager’s email in a text field for {emails to notify upon account manager change}. When the linked field for the account manager changes, the text field won’t have changed yet, so you can grab that email to send the message. Then after sending the message, update that same text field to the new account manager’s email, so that it is ready for the next change.

Example:

1. Current A.M. is Dan. The {notify on AM change} field has Dan’s email.

2. You add new AM Stan. The automation emails Dan using the address in the {notify on AM change} field. The automation also changes the {notify on AM change} field to Stan’s email address.

3. The current A.M is now Stan, and the {notify on AM change} field now has Stan’s email.

The logic can get a bit tricky, especially if there can be multiple AMs for a single account or if at some time there may be no AM (even if for only a split second during the change). But this is the general idea.