The components of the InterAction system include:
- InterAction Database. The contact and relationship intelligence data that InterAction manages is stored in a SQL relational database. InterAction supports Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle database platforms.
InterAction Windows Client. This is the component of InterAction used by marketing users, data stewards, and other power users to manage firm contacts. These users typically run the Windows Client from their desktop workstation, which connects to the InterAction database.
You use the Windows Client extensively when configuring InterAction.
InterAction Web Client. This is the tool that professionals and their proxies use to uncover and maintain the relationship intelligence about the contacts in which they have an interest. The Web Client is a collection of Web pages that users connect to via their Web browser. Professionals can also manage their user contacts from the Web Client.
Most configuration changes are aimed at altering the way the Web Client displays data to professionals.
InterAction Administrator. This is a Windows application that is used to configure and manage the InterAction environment. It is normally installed on only a few workstations and is used only by system administrators.
You use InterAction Administrator extensively when configuring InterAction.
InterAction Application Server. This is an XML-based application server designed to deliver Relationship Intelligence to Web browsers, portals, wireless devices, and other platforms. This server works with a Web server (Microsoft Internet Information Server) and retrieves information from the InterAction database.
The main purpose of the Application Server is to provide content from the InterAction database to the InterAction Web Client. The underlying architecture of the Application Server, however, allows it to generate content to other delivery platforms. It is also used to provide content for the InterAction Objects used with InterAction Desktop Integration (described below).
- InterAction Application Collaboration. This application allows you to bring data from other sources into InterAction. Typical sources of data that are useful to bring into InterAction include accounting and human resources systems.
InterAction Desktop Integration. This component allows professionals, secretaries, and administrative assistants to access InterAction data from their word processors, fax software, and other applications.
This integration is accomplished via the use of InterAction Objects. InterAction Objects allows programmers and macro developers to call InterAction data programmatically through a COM interface. The InterAction Objects communicate directly with the InterAction Application Server, which passes data to the calling program via the objects.
Certain functionality within the Web Client requires components installed with Desktop Integration. It is therefore recommended that you install Desktop Integration on your users’ machines.
- InterAction for Microsoft Outlook. IMO provides the ability to synchronize user contacts with Microsoft Outlook.
- InterAction Mobility. Mobility provides a simple application for accessing InterAction data via tablet or smartphone. The cloud-based application requires only a browser.