This article describes the user interface (UI) of the Duplicate Management function of the CRM.
Overview
The Duplicate Management function is designed to find and prevent duplicate records by comparing contact information across different companies. When you save a contact for the company you're currently working on, the system automatically checks all enabled companies for duplicates. You can choose which companies to check, and then the system compares against the selected companies to ensure the contact is unique before allowing the save.
For example, a user is modifying settings for Company “B” and enables Company “C” and Company “D” but not Company “F”. When a user under Company “B” saves a new contact record, we check for duplicates across Company “B” and Company “C” based on the key field (email, phone, ssn, etc) but not Company “F”.
This function gives an account holder/parent company the ability to have affiliates check against each other when saving a contact.
How to Set Up Duplicate Management Settings
This duplication management function is available by clicking HERE or via the Admin tab of the Forth CRM. Select “Settings” from the Navigation Bar.
Then, select “Duplicate Management” from the Navigation Bar of the “System Settings” page.
The Duplicate Management page will then open and look like the image shown below.
From this page, hover over the “Select a company” dropdown, which is located at the top middle of the page (see red highlighted area above).
You may select available companies by clicking on the checkbox(es) located on the left of the various company names. From this dropdown menu, you can select all companies available by clicking on the checkbox to the left of the “Company” search field (see the red highlighted area in the image below). You may also search/filter the list of companies by typing within the search field (identified with the small magnifying glass). The search fields selected will appear in the company title bar so that users can instantly see what is being checked (see the green highlighted area in the image below).
NOTE: Depending on if you use a Mac or a PC, you may be able to select companies by holding down the “shift” button and then clicking the “down” arrow button.
IMPORTANT: The list of companies the user sees as available is based on the company hierarchy (the parent account would see all companies available).
Once you select the companies to review, click the “Add Company” button, which is located on the right side of the page (see the red highlighted area below).
The page will change to reflect that a company may now be added.
Once you select a particular company or multiple companies, the four directional buttons activate, in several possible combinations, in the middle of the page (see the example in the image below).
Go to the “Search “field” to select up to four criteria (by clicking the appropriate checkbox as shown in the image below) that will be used during the duplicate checking. These criteria may include Date of Birth (DOB), Email Phone Number, Social Security Number (SSN), and/or TPid (External ID). Use the directional buttons to choose from the list of available companies that will be cross-checked.
If there are no issues, you should receive a banner like that shown below, indicating that your changes have been saved.
Duplicate Management in Action
Once your settings have been saved, you will only see the Duplicate Management function working when creating a new contact. After saving, attempting to save a new contact will fail if it shares the same value(s) as one of the fields that you configured the duplicate management tool to check against. You will see a yellow banner appear, like the one shown below. This warning banner indicates that the duplicate SSN/phone number/email address/etc. is already in use, and it reports the contact that already uses that information.
NOTE: The Duplicate Management function does not eliminate duplicates retroactively. It only prevents you from making duplications when creating new users.
Besides making the user interface (UI) more intuitive, with tools such as additional dropdown menu options for filtering, the Duplicate Management page now accommodates multiple companies being added by adding a new setting for “Checking across companies.” This allows the selection of a particular company to compare with the company the user is modifying the settings for. This is particularly useful when working with a “parent company” and related “child companies”.
Some additional minor updates related to this release include:
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Disabling the “Save Changes” button while the save is happening or if the user unselects all search fields,
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Not refreshing the entire page when a company is saved or deleted. This will keep companies not yet saved on the “Companies Cross Checked” list.