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About SSSE Contact Record Matching

During the extract process that synchronizes Siebel data and Microsoft Exchange data, SSSE carries out a number of checks to determine whether a contact record designated for synchronization matches an existing contact record or not. This topic describes how SSSE performs contact record matching, and describes the following parameters, which affect the SSSE contact record matching process:

• Visibility Type setting
• IgnoreContactMatching parameter

About the Visibility Type Setting

The Visibility Type setting determines which records a user can synchronize, and therefore which records SSSE searches when attempting to determine if a contact record is a duplicate or not. When the Visibility Type setting is set to All, the user can synchronize any of the data that is visible to them and that is enabled for synchronization. If the Visibility Type setting is set to Sales Rep, the user can synchronize data that is associated with the user's position; this data is visible to the user in the My Contacts view.

When resolving contact records, if a user's visibility is set to Sales Rep, SSSE only checks the Siebel records associated with the user's position for duplicate contact records.

For information on the Visibility Type setting, see Setting User-Level Synchronization.

About the IgnoreContactMatching Parameter

The SSSE configurable parameter, IgnoreContactMatching, determines whether or not SSSE attempts to match contact records during the ongoing synchronization extract process.

If the IgnoreContactMatching parameter is set to FALSE (the default value), SSSE compares Microsoft Exchange and Siebel records to determine whether or not a contact record that is being synchronized matches an existing contact record. If a matching record is not found, SSSE creates a new contact record. If a matching record is found, SSSE creates an association between the records and overrides the existing contact record field values with the field values of the record that is being synchronized, unless the field values of the record being synchronized are Null or blank. Setting the IgnoreContactMatching parameter to FALSE helps to ensure that duplicate contact records are not created during the synchronization process.

If the IgnoreContactMatching parameter is set to TRUE, SSSE does not attempt to match a contact record that is being synchronized with existing contact records. Disabling contact record matching optimizes the performance of the synchronization process but can result in duplicate contact records being created, which must be resolved manually.

For information on specifying values for the IgnoreContactMatching parameter, see Enabling and Disabling Contact Record Matching.

About the Contact Record Matching Process

In determining whether or not a contact record designated for synchronization matches an existing contact record, SSSE first tries to match the contact record using the email address; if the record does not have an email address, SSSE then attempts to match the contact record using first and last names.

SSSE performs the following steps in determining how to treat a contact record that is designated for synchronization:

1. When a contact is designated for synchronization in either Microsoft Outlook or the Siebel application (Application X), SSSE first attempts to match the record using the email address.

   If the contact record that is designated for synchronization does not have an email address, then SSSE performs Step 2.

   If the contact does have an email address, SSSE queries the other application (Application Y) for a contact with the same email address, then performs one of the following steps:

   • If an individual contact record is found with the same email address, and if the record is not already mapped to a record in Application X, SSSE creates an association between the newly designated record in Application X and the matching record in Application Y and merges field values.
   • If a number of contact records are found with the same email address, SSSE queries the other application (Application Y) for a contact with the same first name, last name, and email address combination.
     • If an individual record is found with the same combination of first name, last name, and email address, and if the record is not already mapped to a record in Application X, SSSE creates an association between the newly designated record in Application X and the matching record in Application Y, and merges field values.
     • If no records are found with the same combination of first name, last name, and email address, SSSE creates a new contact record.
     • If a number of records are found with the same combination of first name, last name, and email address, SSSE creates an association between the newly designated record in Application X and the first matching record located in Application Y, and merges field values.
   • If no records are found with the same email address, SSSE queries the other application (Application Y) for a contact with the same first name and last name.
     • If an individual record is found with the same first and last name combination, and if the record is not already mapped to a record in Application X, SSSE creates an association in the Siebel application between the newly designated record in Application X and the matching record in Application Y, and merges field values.
     • If no records are found with the same first and last name combination, SSSE creates a new contact record.
     • If a number of records are found with the same first and last name combination, SSSE creates an association between the newly designated record in Application X and the first matching record located in Application Y, and merges field values.
2. If the contact record that is designated for synchronization does not have an email address, then SSSE queries the other application (Application Y) for a contact with the same first and last name combination.
   • If an individual contact record is found with the same first and last name combination, and if the record is not already mapped to a record in Application X, SSSE creates an association in the Siebel application between the newly designated record in Application X and the matching record in Application Y, and merges field values.
   • If an individual contact record is not found with the same first and last name combination, SSSE creates a new contact record.
   • If a number of records are found with the same first and last name combination, SSSE creates an association between the newly designated record in Application X and the first matching record located in Application Y, and merges field values.

NOTE:  Contact record matching is case insensitive when Siebel contact records are synchronized with Microsoft Exchange and case sensitive when Microsoft Exchange records are synchronized with the Siebel application.

Related Topics

About Synchronizing Records During Initial Extract

About Synchronizing Records During Ongoing Extract