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Date:               June 8, 2011

Last Updated: May 7, 2012

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About

This document will outline the steps necessary to get your platform integrated with the Connector platform, which will 'connect' your platform with InTouch and 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 the companion document "Connector – Overview.pdf" for an overview.

There are two sub-documents within this guide.  Based on the features of the integration that are agreed upon, you will require either one or both

  • Connector 3rd Party Integration Guide - This guide is required if you plan on receiving data from the Connector.  This is the most common use case (i.e. users created in InTouch are sent to your system)
  • Connector API Guide - This guide is required if you plan on sending data to the Connector (i.e. users created in your system are sent to InTouch)

Integration Options

Before any technical details can be discussed, there needs be agreement on what level of functionality will be provided in the integration between InTouch and your system via the Connector.   This is extremely important as it has large implications on what the technical requirements will be.  

The main questions that need answering are

  1. Is the integration going be a two way synchronization, or one way?  i.e. will you be receiving data, sending data, or both.  The most common and simple integration is usually one-way where users created in InTouch are automatically created in your system. 
  2. What data is going to be included?
    1. Prospects (a.k.a. leads) 
    2. Or Members
    3. Or both
  3. If prospects, is any additional data included
    1. Staff Owner of Lead
    2. Lead Source of Lead
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General Information

This section outlines some common information about the Connector.

Synchronizing Staff

This information only applies if your integration with the Connector is going to support including a staff owner for new prospects. Please see the sub-documents within the guide for additional staff notes when sending, or receiving, prospects

When a new client is launched on the Connector, it is more than likely that they have been using one or more of the systems being integrated for awhile.  This means that each system may already have staff in it.  This presents a problem for integrations that will support assigning a staff owner to a prospect or a member.  The question is, how do we synchronize the staff list so that the staff in system A are mapped to the staff in system B?  Note that the Connector does not attempt to create staff in any remote system. It only tries to associate existing staff records with each.  The reason for this is the complexity, overhead, and restrictions surrounding staff.  For example, in most system the process of creating staff is not simple and requires setting attributes that the Connector knows nothing about (for example, roles or permissions).

The Connector attempts to associate existing staff records as follows:

  • Your API MUST provide a call to get a list of staff. If your system does not provide this call, we cannot support staff synchronization with your system
  • The Connector will make a call to fetch the list of all staff, and then attempt to make a match on the email address.
    • Note: If your system provides the ability to look for a specific staff by email address then we can use that as well
  • If the Connector cannot make a match on email address, then the look up fails.  At this point, any leads created that are assigned to the failed staff will be sent to your system with no staff assigned.  Your system must be able to handle receiving leads that do not have an owner and assign them correctly as you desire
  • If the Connector can make a match on the email address, then the staff synchronization is complete, and prospect records can be sent to your system with the correct staff ID
Synchronizing Lead Sources

This information only applies if your integration with the Connector is going to support including a lead source for new prospects. Please see the sub-documents within the guide for additional staff notes when sending, or receiving, prospects

Synchronizing lead sources is very similar to synchronizing staff except if there is the ability to create a lead source, the Connector will use it.

  • Your API must provide a call to get a list of lead sources. 
    • If this is not provided, and only a create call is provided, then InTouch will need to be considered the 'master' of the lead source list and all lead sources will be defined there and sent to your system
  • The Connector will make a call to fetch the list of all lead sources, and then attempt to make a match on the lead source name. 
    • Note: The comparison will be case in-sensitive.
  • If the Connector cannot make a match on name, then the look up fails.  
    • If your API provides a method to create a lead source, the Connector will then make a call to create the lead source in your system
    • If your API does not provide a method to create a lead source, then any leads created that are assigned to that failed lead source will be sent to your system with no lead source assigned.  Your system must be able to handle receiving leads that do not have a lead source
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