Any collection of users is a candidate for an InterAction user group. A good source for identifying user groups is to use the existing work groups, practice groups, and any other “collections” of users.
InterAction user groups can be automatically kept in sync with groups used by other systems, such as email applications and networks. For more information, see Active Directory and InterAction.
Groups are used for assigning access rights and permissions to features like duplicate merge and the data quality tools, sharing searches in the Windows Client, and setting visibility for activities. Maintaining a large number of user groups may be confusing to end users and generate maintenance work for administrators.
Note also that a group can only contain a list of users - you cannot include groups within a group. Therefore, “hierarchical” groups are difficult to maintain and should be avoided.
If necessary, you can identify the user groups you need and create those groups before you create user accounts and decide which users should be included in each group. Later, when the user accounts are ready, you can go back and fill in the groups with the appropriate users.
There are generally two main categories of user groups:
- Data Quality and Administration User Groups
- User Groups for End Users
Data Quality and Administration User Groups
The first set of groups you should identify are the data quality and administration groups. Use these groups to grant users permission to data quality functions such as data change management, data quality tools, duplicate merge, and others.
The data quality groups generally contain more users than the administrative groups, however the maintenance should still be light.
InterAction provides the following data quality and administration user groups:
Data Administrators
This group is used to give users access to use the Data Quality features, run Duplicate Merge, run Association Cleanup, manage folder templates, manage contact types, and run data quality searches. Because the use of these features can have a large impact on InterAction data, they should only be given to a select group of data stewards that are advanced users of InterAction. This group owns the Deceased, Out of Business, College/University, Charitable Organization, and Professional Organization contact types.
Marketing
This group owns the Prospect and Prospect Personnel contact types, and the Send No Marketing Communications mailing list. Any users in the Marketing group are responsible for maintaining information for these in InterAction.
Firm Personnel Administrators
This group owns the Our Personnel, Alumni, and Our Consultant contact types. Any users in the Firm Personnel Administrators group are responsible for maintaining firm personnel information in InterAction. Often, users in this group are also administrators or data stewards for your organization’s HR system and are members of the Human Resources department.
Client Administrators
This group owns the Client, Top Client, Former Client, and Client Personnel contact types by default. Any users in the Client Administrators group are responsible for maintaining client information in InterAction. Often, users in this group are also administrators or data stewards for your organization’s accounting or time and billing system.
Content Managers
This group is used to identify:
- The users who manage the set of contacts your organization wants to update with LexisNexis content. This group is automatically set with specific access rights to the following folders:
- LexisNexis Companies to Match
- LexisNexis Contact Submitted
- LexisNexis Matched Companies
User Groups for End Users
Because end users may use groups when determining the visibility of an activity they create, you should create groups that reflect the different collections of users at your organization. Plan on creating groups for each of the major functional groups within the organization that are assigned common access rights.
Possible groups include:
- Practice groups or work groups
- Divisions within an office
- Levels of users such as Partners or Associates
- Committees
Do not create an InterAction group for every logical group of people in your organization.
User Group Recommendations
| Do | Do not |
|---|---|
| Consider using the provided groups for data stewards before creating a new group. The users included in the Data Administrators group may be the exact collection of users you want to give the Merge All Duplicates Permission. | Create a separate group for each permission. Most data stewards and administrators should have access to all administrative functions. |
| Create a separate “Export” group if you plan to restrict export from the Windows Client. | Create groups that will not be maintained. Remember, every time someone joins or leaves the company, you may need to update the groups. Outdated groups can cause access rights mistakes! If you use Active Directory or Application Collaboration to populate your groups with users, this may be less of an issue. For more information on populating groups with users, see “Active Directory and InterAction. |
| Limit the number of groups you create. | Create many groups with similar names or members. Remember, end users will be using these groups when adding activities in the Web Client or through the e-Activity feature. Users may become confused if they must choose between several groups with similar names. |
| Remember that each group should be used for assigning permissions, granting access rights, sharing searches, and setting the visibility of an activity. If the group is not needed for any of these reasons, do not create it. | Inactivate a group without letting data stewards and administrators know. Remember, users who can create folders can also assign access rights and therefore use a group. Inactivating it will affect those users. |
| Let users know if you inactivate, rename, or change the meaning of a group. | Create potentially embarrassing or confidential groups. Windows Client users who can assign folder access rights to any folder can see the names and members of a group. |
| “Neutralize” inactive groups by removing all members. See Removing Unneeded Groups for more information. |