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  • This document will outline the steps necessary to get your platform integrated with the Connector platform, which will 'connect' your platform with multiple other 3rd-party platforms with no additional effort.
  • This document assumes you know what the Connector is and does not include an overview of it (please see “Connector – Overview.docx”)
Table of Contents

Notes/Questions

  • The Connector is currently (as of April 2012) considered to be in stage version 1 complete.  This means that the system should be stable, but there will be missing features that are scheduled to be implemented in future stages (see appendix). Email me (Collin) if you encounter any issues. Thanks.
  • Currently (April 2012) there is no security (i.e. username/password) on the web service calls. This will obviously change soon but for now it is simply ‘security through obscurity’ in the sense that the GUIDs provide a level of security because they effectively cannot be guessed

Introduction

In order to get your platform integrated with the Connector the following steps will occur

  • Agreement between parties InTouch and you on what level of functionality will be provided.  Note that in order for the Connector to support sending information to your system, it must support the necessary API calls, and work must be done to add support to the Connector to make those web service calls.
  • Support for the following options is available in the Connector
    • Data In (i.e. Your system making web service calls to the Connector)
      • Contacts (prospects and members) - the Connector has one call to save both prospects and members. There is a user_type field which is used to differentiate between the two.
      • Staff
      • Lead sources
    • Data Out (i.e. Connector making web services calls to your API)
      • Contacts
        • Creation of a prospect/member in your system when a prospect/member is added to the Connector from another system
        • Update of a prospect/member in your system when a prospect/member is updated in the Connector by another system
        • Note: Conversion of a prospect to a member is handled on a case-by-case basis
      • Staff - Note: Please see the section below on the staff synchronization process
      • Lead Sources - Note: Please see the section below on the lead source synchronization process
  • Connector is built using ReST web services and currently supports XML payloads. JSON might be supported in the future if requested.  
    • Note: When calling your web services the Connector will obviously use whatever technology is required
  • A Java library is available to communicate with Connector to ease your development should you be a Java shop
  • Our QA environment which you can use to develop against is http://qa.intouchfollowup.com/connector/api/2011-11/user
    • Note: Before actual web service calls can be made, work must be done in order to support your platform as per the details above.
    • Email cpeters@intouchfollowup.com to get set up. The process is that you will need to give us the club/location IDs on your side and we will match them to a test club/location in the InTouch system. Once that information has been entered into InTouch you can start making web service calls

Technical Discussion

Connector -> Your System

This section is about what it will look like when the Connector makes web service calls to your system

Getting Started

In order to get your system integrated with the Connector the following steps must occur

  1. Prospects - Your API must implement the following methods in order to allow the Connector to create prospects
    1. Create prospect
    2. Update prospect
    3. Note: A single 'Save prospect' method is also acceptable
  2. Members - Your API must implement the following methods in order to allow the Connector to create members
    1. Create member
    2. Update member
    3. Note: A single 'Save member' method is also acceptable
    4. Note: The process of converting a prospect to a member is unique per system. 
  3. Staff - Your API must implement the following methods in order for the Connector to sync staff 
    1. Fetch list of staff - The email address must be accessible in order for the Connector to associate certain records together
    2. Create staff
    3. Update staff
  4. Lead Sources - Your API must implement the following methods in order for the Connector to sync lead sources
    1. Fetch list of lead sources
    2. Create lead source
    3. Update lead source

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Your System -> Connector

General Info

The Connector is built on the concept of one fitness club (i.e. one physical location) belonging to one client.  One client may have many clubs (i.e. a 10 location chain).  All of the entities that the Connector works with (prospects, members, staff, lead sources) must belong to one client, and one club within that client.  It is important to note that all communication with the Connector is done using the IDs from YOUR SYSTEM.  While you can track the GUIDs that the Connector returns to you, you should not communicate with the Connector using these GUIDs.  Think of this way, when you make a call to the Connector you are saying: I am 'PROVIDER X', here is a prospect record that has the ID 123456 in my system, and it belongs to club 123 within the client 456.

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Security will be built into phase 2 of the Connector.  Each system making calls to the Connector will require a username & password.  It is yet to be determined if per client (or per club) access will be required (i.e. club must sign waiver to gain access)

Future Phases

Version 2

  • Security