A Classification data set populates InterAction’s classifications. A classification is a simple field for categorizing contacts. A classification is either applied or not applied. Users apply classifications by selecting check boxes in the Classifications view in the Windows Client.
When transforming a classification data set, Application Collaboration does the following for each classification harvested from the external system:
- Find the contact to update in InterAction. You can choose the method used to do this.
- Match the harvested classification to an existing InterAction classification and apply the classification to the contact.
You can use a classification data set to update any existing InterAction contacts - both those that also came from the external system, and native InterAction contacts entered by users or through a normal import.
Deciding Which Classification Data to Bring In
If you are using Application Collaboration for ongoing integration with another system, you need to decide which InterAction classifications you want to populate. You also need to identify where the corresponding data is stored in the external system.
Bringing in many classifications can clutter the system with data that users don’t really need. Therefore, you should only bring in the data that the users actually need and use in some way.
Before choosing to include a particular classification, ask the following questions:
- Is the classification used as criteria for searches or in reports printed from InterAction?
- Does the classification relate to a contact, not a matter, department, or project?
If the data is not used for searches or reports, it probably should not be included in InterAction.
Although classifications in InterAction can be global or folder-specific, they are typically used only within folders. Contact types and folders are used to categorize or classify contacts at the global level. Therefore, consider whether the items you want to populate should actually be contact types or folders in InterAction instead.