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ID962 Autotask PSA sync with e-automate - Customers

This process will sync customers from e-automate to Autotask. This alert is in development.

Jump to: Overview | Samples | Set Up | Variables | Testing | Alert Functionality | Best Practices & Tips |  Related Alerts

 

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Overview

Overview

This process will sync customers from e-automate to Autotask. The e-automate customer record will be the master record and changes will be pushed to Autotask. Customers will be linked between the two systems by the e-automate customer number in the Account Number field in Autotask. This alert is currently in development.

The sync can run in several different modes (Variable 1) and has the ability to do updates only or to create companies in Autotask as well.

The information that is updated on the Autotask customer record is the company name, address, city, state, zip code, phone, fax and website. We do have the ability to turn off the updating of any of these fields, just let us know which ones to turn off. 

 

Run Schedule:  Every 15 minutes

Type of Output: Sync/Email

 

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Sample

Sample

Jump to: Customer Information Updates | EA Sales Rep and On-hold code | Email Sample

Customer Information

Customer Information

EA customer example.pngAT customer example.png

  1. The customer name from e-automate updates the company name in Autotask.
  2. The address field from e-automate updates the Address 1 and Address 2 fields in Autotask.
  3. The city in e-automate updates the city in Autotask.
  4. The state from e-automate updates the state in Autotask.
  5. The zip code field from e-automate updates the zip code in Autotask
  6. The phone number 1 field updates the Phone field in Autotask.
  7. The fax number from e-automate updates the Fax field in Autotask.
  8. The website field from e-automate updates the Web field in Autotask.

**We can turn off updates to any of these fields if needed**

EA Sales Reps and On-hold Code

EA Sales Reps and On-hold Code

EA fields to update UDF.pngAT UDF.png

1. The on hold code from e-automate will populate the ZCJ_OnHoldCode field when the customer is put on hold in e-automate. When the customer is removed from hold, the field will update and show as blank.

2. The sales rep assigned to the customer record in e-automate will update the two sales rep user-defined fields, one for the email address and one for the name.

Email Sample

Email Sample

Each time the sync updates or inserts a company in Autotask, you will receive an email alert:

email sample.png

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Setup

Setup

The first question for the setup of ID962 is to determine what mode you want the sync to run in, to do updates only, create companies in Autotask, or not make any updates in Autotask at all. Once you've decided the behavior for the sync, you can move on to the needed set up in e-automate and Autotask and then subscribe to the alert.

Jump to: EA Settings | AT Settings | Subscribe to Alert

EA Settings

EA Settings

1. Determine if you want all customers from e-automate to sync to Autotask or if you want to filter the set of customers for the sync. You can filter the customers by customer type, contract type, or branch. 

AT Settings

AT Settings

1. If you have existing companies set up in Autotask, do they have the e-automate customer number in the account number field? Existing customers need to be linked between the two systems prior to testing to ensure no duplicate companies are created in Autotask.

2. Create the user-defined fields for the on-hold code and sales rep information. Details on how to create those are here.

Subscribe to Alert

Subscribe to Alert

1. Once you have the settings in Autotask and e-automate determined, subscribe to ID962 on our website.  If you don't have a login to our subscription site, you can email help@ceojuice.com to have us set you up with a login. 

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Variables

Variables

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Variable 1: Customer Sync Type - Choose from the drop-down the type of sync you want to have in place:

Update Customers only - Only push customer updates from e-automate to Autotask.

Update Customers and Locations - Push updates for both customers (Parent in e-automate) and locations. 

Insert/Update Customers only - Customers from e-automate will be inserted into Autotask as companies. Only parent accounts will be inserted and updated.

Insert/Update Customers and ALL Locations - Both Parent and Child customers from e-automate will be inserted/updated to Autotask. Locations will be inserted/updated regardless of whether they meet any filtered criteria for customer type or contract type. 

Insert/Update Customers and filtered Locations - Both Parent and Child customers from e-automate will be inserted/updated to Autotask. Only locations that meet any filtered criteria will be inserted/updated in Autotask. 

No updates - The sync will attempt to match customers from e-automate to companies in Autotask, where a match is found, the custom property in e-automate will be updated with the Company ID from Autotask. No changes will be made to the information in Autotask.

variables 2.png

Variable 9: Customer Type - Filter the customers updated/inserted into Autotask to those that match a customer type, enter the customer types from e-automate to sync over. Separate multiple values with commas. Details on customer type are here.

Variable 10: Contract Type - Filter the customers updated/inserted into Autotask to those that match a contract type. Only customers that have an active contract of the type(s) specified will sync. Separate multiple values with commas. Details on contract types are here.

Variable 11: Branch Filter - Filter the customers updated/inserted into Autotask to those that match a branch. Only customers with the specified branch will sync. Separate multiple values with commas. Details on branch are here.

variables 3.png

Variable 2: Company Type - If inserting companies into Autotask, enter the company type to be used. Must be a valid company type from Autotask. See more details on the Autotask company type here.

Variable 12: AT Credentials - If you have multiple sets of Autotask API credentials entered on the CEO Juice website, enter the set to be used with ID962.

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Testing

Testing

There are a few steps to testing the customer sync: getting the testing databases set up, mapping the customers, and testing the functionality of the sync.

Jump to: Testing Setup | Customer Mapping | Testing Checklist

Testing Options

Testing Setup

1. API Keys in Autotask – Details on creating API keys here.

2. CEOJuice test database – Required for the testing setup. See this link for notes on creating a test CEOJuice database.

3. e-automate test Database – The test database used should be one that will not be refreshed over the course of the testing. See this link for notes on creating a test e-automate database.

Customer Mapping

Customer Mapping

1. Existing companies in Autotask that match customers in e-automate will need to be mapped, the mapping is done by either having the e-automate customer number in the account number in Autotask, or by adding the company ID from Autotask to the custom property ZXCJ_AT_CompanyID in e-automate. More details on customer mapping are here.

Testing Checklist

Testing Checklist

To test the functionality of ID962, follow these steps:

1. Update the customer information in e-automate and verify that the matching changes are made in Autotask.

2. If using the insert functionality, create a new customer in e-automate and verify that the company is created in Autotask.

3. Check that all user-defined fields are populating: on-hold code, sales rep name, and sales rep email. 

Once the testing steps have been completed, please let us know and we will move the sync fully to production.

Alert Functionality

Alert Functionality

The sync runs every 15 minutes and checks for records in e-automate that have been updated since the last run of the sync.

Customer information only flows from e-automate to Autotask; no updates or changes that you make to a company record in Autotask will push back to e-automate. If you do change any of the information that is updated by the sync, that change will stay in Autotask until the customer record is updated in e-automate. At that point, the sync will "see" the customer record and update Autotask to match back to e-automate.

Jump to: Sync Mode | Customer Mapping | EA On Hold Code | EA Sales Rep | EA Customer Type | EA Contract Type | EA Branch | AT Account Type | AT Account Manager

Sync Mode

Sync Mode

There are several different modes that the sync can run in:

Update Customers only - Only push customer updates from e-automate to Autotask. This option will only update Companies in Autotask when the sync logic can make a match between a customer record in e-automate and a company in Autotask. Any customer records in e-automate that are location (child) customers will NOT be processed.

Update Customers and Locations - Push updates for both customers (Parent in e-automate) and locations (Child in e-automate). The sync will only update Companies in Autotask that are matched between the two systems. Customer records from e-automate that are not matched will not update in Autotask. 

Insert/Update Customers only - Customers from e-automate will be updated and inserted into Autotask as companies. Only parent accounts will be inserted and updated. No child locations from e-automate will be considered. The sync will first attempt to match the e-automate customer to a company in Autotask, if no match is found, the sync will create a new company in Autotask. 

Insert/Update Customers and ALL Locations - Both Parent and Child customers from e-automate will be inserted/updated to Autotask. Locations will be considered regardless of whether they meet any filtered criteria based on variables 9, 10, and 11. The sync must be able to determine the company to set as the parent, otherwise it will not insert or update the location record from e-automate.

Insert/Update Customers and filtered Locations - Both Parent and Child customers from e-automate will be inserted/updated to Autotask. Only locations that meet any filtered criteria from variables 9, 10, and 11 will be inserted/updated in Autotask. The sync must be able to determine the company to insert/update the site for, otherwise it will not insert or update the location record from e-automate.

No updates - The sync will attempt to match customers from e-automate to companies in Autotask, where a match is found, the custom property in e-automate will be updated with the Company ID from Autotask. No changes will be made to the information in Autotask. This option allows for the needed custom properties and background tables to be populated, and can be used when it is not desired to have the Autotask company records match e-automate. 

Customer Mapping

Customer Mapping

Customers are mapped between the two systems in one of two ways:

1. The e-automate customer number is stored in the account number field in Autotask.

2. The Autotask ID number is stored in the custom property ZCJ_AT_CompanyID on the customer record in e-automate.

customer linking AT.png

customer mapping ea.png

The sync will first attempt to match the customer from e-automate to the company in Autotask by looking for the e-automate customer number in the account number field in Autotask. If a match is found, the sync will update the custom property in e-automate with the company ID from Autotask.

If no match is found, the sync will next check for a value in the ZCJ_AT_CompanyID field and attempt to match that value to a company ID in Autotask. If no match is found, and the sync is set to one of the insert modes, a new company will be created in Autotask. If no match is found, and the sync is set to only updates, no changes will be made in Autotask.

EA On Hold Code

EA On Hold Code

When the customer record in e-automate is placed on hold, the sync will update the user-defined field ZCJ_OnHoldCode with the name of the on-hold code. The sync will NOT update the status of the company in Autotask, it will simply update the user-defined field.

EA on hold code.pngAT on hold.png

EA Sales Rep 

EA Sales Rep

The sync will update the user-defined fields for the sales rep name and email based on the sales rep assigned to the customer in e-automate.

EA sales rep.pngAT sales rep.png

EA Customer Type

EA Customer Type

If you would like to filter the customers from e-automate that insert or update to Autotask, you can do so by using the customer type in e-automate. Enter the Customer Type(s) into the variable, the value highlighted in yellow in the screenshot below.

ea customer type example.jpg

Only customers matching the customer types set in variable 9 will be processed by the sync. Customer types are set in e-automate in Tools - Lists and Codes - Customer Types:

ea customer type.jpg

EA Contract Type

EA Contract Type

If you would like to filter the customers from e-automate that insert or update to Autotask, you can do so by using the contract types in e-automate. Enter the value from the contract type column into the variable, highlighted in yellow below.

ea contract type example.jpg

Only customers with an active contract of one of the types set in Variable 10 will be processed by the sync. Contract types are set in e-automate in Tools - Lists and Codes - Contract Type:

ea contract type.jpg

EA Branch

EA Branch

If you would like to filter the customers from e-automate that insert or update to Autotask, you can do so by using the branch in e-automate. Enter the branch number into the variable, the value highlighted in yellow below.

ea branch example.jpg

Only customers that have the branch set in variable 11 will be processed by the sync. The list of branches in use can be found in Accounting - Branches:

ea branches.jpg

AT Company Type

AT Account Type

The account type field is required when creating a new company in Autotask. If you are going to have the sync create companies in Autotask, you'll need to specify the account type to use for all created companies:

account type.png

These options are set in Autotask and not able to be changed:

Customer

Lead

Prospect

Dead

Cancelation

Vendor

Partner

AT Account Manager

AT Account Manager

When accounts are created in Autotask, the API requires a Resource ID of a user with the security permissions to create companies. The CEO Juice API user is not able to be used for account creation, so you will need to specify a Resource ID to be used for all account creation. 

You can find the list of users in Admin - Accounts Settings & Users - Resources/Users:

AT resource settings.png

Enter the Resource ID in the variable of the user to be used for account creation:

AT users.png

This user will also be listed as the Account Manager of the account in Autotask:

account manager.png

 

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Best Practices & Tips

Best Practices & Tips

Jump to: EA Custom Properties | Assigning Custom Properties | AT User-Defined Fields

EA Custom Properties

EA Custom Properties

There are two custom properties used with the sync, both will be created by CEO Juice as part of the install of the sync.

1. ZCJ_AT_CompanyID: To store the company ID from Autotask.

2. ZCJ_SyncToAT: Yes/No field. Set to No to stop a customer from syncing and set to Yes to override any filters in place to force the customer to sync.

ZCJ_AT_CompanyID

ZCJ_AT_CompanyID

Attribute name: ZCJ_AT_CompanyID

Description: Autotask Company ID

Data type: Numeric

ZCJ_AT_CompanyID.png

ZCJ_SyncToAT

ZCJ_SyncToAT

Attribute name: ZCJ_SyncToCW

Description: Sync Customer to CW

Data type: Yes/No

ZCJ_SyncToAT.png

If ZCJ_SyncToAT = "Yes", that Customer will sync, even if it doesn't pass the other filters.
If ZCJ_SyncToAT = "No", that Customer will not sync, regardless of any other settings on ID962.

Assigning Custom Properties

Assigning Custom Properties
When creating new customers in e-automate, make sure that you are assigning the custom property configuration to the customers so that these custom properties are on the customer record so the sync can update them!
You are able to assign custom properties in bulk if needed. To bulk assign the customer custom property configuration, in e-automate go to Lists and Codes, Configurations (Customer properties) (1), and click on the Assign button (2):
bulk assign.jpg
The tracking configuration assignment window will pop up (3) and you can use the QuickSearch to find customers that do not currently have a custom property assigned. It's very important to NOT assign the custom property configuration to customers that have a configuration in place, as you will overwrite the current data stored in the custom properties.

AT User-Defined Fields

AT User-Defined Fields

There are three user-defined fields used with the Autotask customer sync:

1. ZCJ_OnHoldCode: to store the on-hold code from e-automate.

2. ZCJ_SalesRepName: to store the sales rep name that is assigned as the sales rep on the customer record in e-automate.

3. ZCJ_SalesRepEmail: to store the sales rep email that is assigned as the sales rep on the customer record in e-automate.

To use these fields, you'll need to create the user-defined fields in Autotask, and then un-hide the fields using the Account Categories.

To create user-defined fields in Autotask, go to the Admin menu, then Application-Wide (Shared) Features and click on User-Defined Fields:

UDF 1.png

In the Account tab, click on the New button to create the user-defined fields:

UDF 2.png

ZCJ_OnHoldCode

ZCJ_OnHoldCode

Name: ZCJ_OnHoldCode

Description: On hold code from EA

Field Type: Text (Single Line)

udf OHC.png

ZCJ_SalesRepName

ZCJ_SalesRepName

Name: ZCJ_SalesRepName

Description: EA Sales Rep Name

Field Type: Text (Single Line)

udf name.png

ZCJ_SalesRepEmail

ZCJ_SalesRepEmail

Name: ZCJ_SalesRepEmail

Description: EA sales rep email address

Field Type: Text (Single Line)

udf email.png

Unhide fields

Upon creation of the user-defined fields in Autotask, the fields are hidden on the company record. To make the fields visible, you'll need to go to Admin, Accounts and Contacts and click on Account Categories:

udf 3.png

Next, click on the menu for the category and select Edit:

udf 4.png

On the details tab, find the User-Defined Fields section and select the Edit Section option from the menu:

UDF 5.png

The newly created user-defined fields will be in the hidden section, on the menu option for the field, choose the Make Field Visible option:

udf 6.png

 

 

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Related Alerts

Related Alerts

 

ID913 - Autotask PSA sync with e-automate - Contracts

ID914 - Autotask PSA sync with e-automate - Service Calls

ID915 - Autotask PSA sync with e-automate - Sales Orders

 

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