External Systems and IDs

External Systems and External IDs have been added to Enterprise to allow storing of unique identifiers for use with other systems. This is particularly useful when you have any integration using an API or other system integrations. External systems and IDs can be added to accounts/contacts, event opportunities and events. Using these fields negates the requirement to store this information in User Defined Fields, which have been used in the past. 

To use external systems and IDs you should:

1. Configure an External System and External System Subjects
   • Add an External System and Subject(s)
   • Add a Subject to an Existing External System
   • Inactivate or Retire a Subject from an External System
   • Delete a Subject from an External System
2. Enter an External ID
   • Enter an External ID for an Account/Contact, Event Opportunity or Event
   • Edit an External ID for an Account/Contact, Event Opportunity or Event
   • Delete an External ID for an Account/Contact, Event Opportunity or Event
3. Access Privileges

Once added to accounts/contacts, event opportunities or events, External IDs can be viewed from the following locations:

• External IDs tab of accounts/contacts, event opportunities or events.
• Account External IDs page.
• Contact External IDs page.
• Event External IDs page.
• Event Opportunity External IDs page.

External Systems

Use the External Systems master table to define the systems available and the parameters of the corresponding ID (such as data type and length) for a subject.

Add an External System and Subject(s)

1. Navigate to the External Systems page and click Add. The Add External System window opens.
2. Enter the name of the external system in the Description field.
3. On the External System Subjects tab, click Add. The Add External System Subject window displays.
4. Select a Subject from the drop-down. Note: Additional subjects will become available with future enhancements.
   • All Individual Accounts: use this option when configuring ID parameters for a person or contact
   • All Organization Accounts: use this option when configuring ID parameters for an organization or account
   • Event Opportunities: use this option when configuring ID parameters being added to an event opportunity.
   • Events: use this option when configuring ID parameters being added to an event. 
5. (Optional) Enter a description or notes related to the ID usage and parameters in the Summary field. 
6. Select a Data Type from the drop-down.
   • Numeric: select when ID is entirely numeric.
   • Text: select when ID contains any combination of letters, numbers and/or special characters.
7. If Data Type is Text, the Max Length field displays. Enter the maximum number of characters.
8. Click OK. The subject displays on the External System Subjects tab.
9. Repeat steps 4-9 to configure ID parameters for an additional subject.
10. Click OK.

Repeat this process for each external system.

Add a Subject to an Existing External System

1. Navigate to the External Systems page and right-click the external system.
2. Click Add External System Subject. The Add External System Subject window opens.
3. Select a Subject from the drop-down. 
   • All Individual Accounts: use this option when configuring ID parameters for a person or contact.
   • All Organization Accounts: use this option when configuring ID parameters for an organization. or account
   • Event Opportunities: use this option when configuring parameters for an event opportunity.
   • Events: use this option when configuring parameters for an event.
4. Enter a description or notes related to the ID usage and parameters in the Summary field. This is an optional field.
5. Select a Data Type from the drop-down.
   • Numeric: select when ID is entirely numeric.
   • Text: select when ID contains any combination of letters, numbers and/or special characters.
6. If Data Type is Text, the Max Length field displays. Enter the maximum number of characters.
7. Click OK. The subject displays on the External System Subjects tab.

Inactivate or Retire a Subject from an External System

1. Navigate to the External Systems page and click to select the external system being retired. The details window for the selection displays.
2. On the External System Subjects tab, uncheck the Active check box of the subject to be retired.
3. Click Save (diskette).

Delete a Subject from an External System

1. Navigate to the External Systems page and click to select the external system being deleted. The details window for the selection displays.
2. On the External System Subjects tab, right-click the subject for deletion.
3. Click Mark for Delete.
4. Click Save (diskette).

External System IDs

At the account and contact levels, a new section for External IDs is available to define the IDs for an account/contact.

Enter an External ID for an Account/Contact, Event Opportunity or Event

1. Navigate to the Accounts/Contacts, Event Opportunity or Event page and add or edit the required record.
2. Click the External IDs tab. This may need to be added to the layout.
3. Click Add. The Add [feature] External ID window opens.
4. Select the External System from the drop-down. The Text ID or Numeric ID field displays depending upon the data type configured for the external system subject.
5. Enter the ID.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 4-7 to enter additional external system IDs for the same account/contact.

Edit an External ID for an Account/Contact, Event Opportunity or Event

1. Navigate to the Accounts/Contacts, Event Opportunity or Events page and select the record which requires editing. The detail page will open.
2. Click the External IDs tab.
3. Right-click the ID to be deleted and select Edit. The Edit [feature] External ID window opens.
4. Make the required edit.
5. Click OK.

Delete an External ID for an Account/Contact, Event Opportunity or Event

1. Navigate to the Accounts/Contacts, Event Opportunity or Events page and select the relevant record where the External ID needs to be deleted.
2. Click the External IDs tab.
3. Right-click the External ID to be deleted and select Mark For Delete.
4. Click Save.

Access Privileges

The following explicit access privileges are available for user security and access management related to external systems and IDs.

Ability to Add/Edit External Systems

This access privilege controls who can add or change external systems. Any roles/users assigned to the privilege can add or edit external systems while any roles/users not assigned to the privilege cannot add or edit external systems. If no roles/users are assigned to the privilege, it is considered inactive, and no roles/users can add or edit external systems.

Ability to Delete External Systems

This access privilege controls who can delete external systems. Any roles/users assigned to the privilege can delete external systems while any roles/users not assigned to the privilege cannot delete external systems. If no roles/users are assigned to the privilege, it is considered inactive, and no roles/users can delete external systems.

Ability to Add/Edit External IDs

This access privilege controls who can add or change external IDs. Any roles/users assigned to the privilege can add or edit external IDs while any roles/users not assigned to the privilege cannot add or edit external IDs. If no roles/users are assigned to the privilege, it is considered inactive, and no roles/users can add or edit external IDs.

Ability to Delete External IDs

This access privilege controls who can delete external IDs. Any roles/users assigned to the privilege can delete external IDs while any roles/users not assigned to the privilege cannot delete external IDs. If no roles/users are assigned to the privilege, it is considered inactive, and no roles/users can delete external IDs.