Customer Engagement Customer Integration

Purpose: Use the Customer Engagement customer integration to keep customer information in Order Administration in sync with Customer Engagement when Customer Engagement is the system of record for customer information. This integration also keeps Order Administration in sync with an additional system, such as your e-commerce site or your point-of-sale application, if that system also integrates with Customer Engagement as its system of record for customers.

When does Order Administration communicate with Customer Engagement?

• Searching for a customer: When you search for an existing customer in an Order Administration menu option, Customer Engagement returns a list of customers matching the search criteria. See Notes on Searching for a Customer on Order Administration Screens for more information.
• Synchronizing customer information (add/update customer): Synchronization occurs when:

  • You create a new customer in Order Administration Classic View or Contact Center Order Entry. Order Administration sends a message indicating to create the new customer in Customer Engagement.

  • You retrieve an existing customer record from Customer Engagement. When Customer Engagement sends the current customer information to Order Administration, Order Administration creates or updates its customer record based on the information received from Customer Engagement. The creation or update occurs through both Classic View and Modern View.

  • You update an existing customer at an Order Administration Classic View or Modern View screen. Order Administration sends an update message to Customer Engagement.

  • You update an existing customer through the order API, in certain cases. See Customer Synchronization through the Order API for a discussion.

  • You use a periodic function to synchronize Order Administration customer records with Customer Engagement. Order Administration sends its current customer information to Customer Engagement and stores the Relate ID in the Customer Sold To table. See Synchronizing Customer Information through a Periodic Function for more information.

How are synchronized customers linked? A pair of synchronized Order Administration and Customer Engagement customer records are linked by matching customer numbers:

• Order Administration: the Relate Id in the Customer Sold To table identifies the customer ID in Customer Engagement
• Customer Engagement: the Alternate key in Customer Engagement identifies the customer number in Order Administration. The ORCE_ALT_ID_OROMS setting in Working with Customer Properties (PROP) defines the alternate key type for the Order Administration customer number in Customer Engagement.

E-Commerce site: If your e-commerce site also uses Customer Engagement as the system of record for customers, then the e-commerce customer ID is also stored in Customer Engagement as an alternate key. In this situation, the e-commerce site might pass its customer ID in the CWOrderIn message to help Order Administration identify the correct record when synchronizing customer information with Customer Engagement if the e-commerce site does not have the Order Administration customer number. The e-commerce site does not pass the Relate ID to Order Administration in the order API. See Customer Synchronization through the Order API for a discussion.

Setup for the Customer Engagement customer integration: Customer synchronization takes place if the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT. See Customer Engagement Integration Setup (Sales and Customer) for more information on required setup.

Order Administration initiates contact: In the Customer Engagement customer integration, Order Administration initiates all customer searches and add/update messages by sending these requests to Customer Engagement.

Customer Engagement version compatibility: The Customer Engagement customer integration in Order Administration, as described below, is compatible with version 10.5 or higher of Customer Engagement.

In this topic:

• Customer Engagement Customer Integration: Typical Information Flows

  • Customer Synchronization through the Order API

    • When the Customer Registers or Logs in at the E-Commerce Site

    • When the Customer Checks Out as a Guest at the E-Commerce Site or the E-Commerce Site Cannot Communicate with Customer Engagement

    • When Order Administration Cannot Communicate with Customer Engagement

  • When the Customer Contacts the Call Center

  • Additional Ways to Create or Update a Customer in Order Administration and Customer Engagement

• Notes on Searching for a Customer on Order Administration Screens
• Customer Data Mapping between Order Administration and Customer Engagement
• Updating an Existing Customer
• Synchronizing Customer Information through a Periodic Function
• Customer Engagement Customer Integration: Notes and Troubleshooting

  • Activities that do not Trigger Communication with Customer Engagement

  • Deleting Certain Information for an Existing Customer

  • Functions that are Inconsistent with the Customer Engagement Customer Integration

For more information: See:

• Customer Engagement Batch Customer and Sales Integration for more information on sending merchandise hierarchy, item, customer, sales and return information from Order Administration to Customer Engagement using a batch process. This section also includes Customer Engagement Integration Setup (Sales and Customer).
• Customer Engagement Purchase History Integration for more information on reviewing completed sales and return transactions from Customer Engagement on the Display Purchase History Screen in Order Administration.
• Customer Engagement Customer Wish List Integration for more information on how to review and modify a customer’s wish list from Customer Engagement using the Display Wish List Screen in Order Administration.
• Customer Engagement Loyalty Integration for more information on using the Customer Engagement Loyalty integration with Order Administration.
• The Customer Engagement Implementation Guide for more information on configuration settings for Customer Engagement.
• The Customer Engagement Batch Processing and Web Services Guide for more information on the Customer Engagement API interface.
• The Customer Engagement Database Dictionary for more information on the tables in the Customer Engagement database.
• The Customer Engagement User Guide and JET UI User Guide for more information on using the Customer Engagement application.

Customer Engagement Customer Integration: Typical Information Flows

Overview: Through the customer integration with Customer Engagement, information about the customer flows between the e-commerce site, the point-of-sale (POS) system, Customer Engagement, and Order Administration, so that the customer’s current name, address, and email address are synchronized across systems. Customer Engagement stores both the Order Administration customer number and the Xstore or e-commerce customer number as alternate keys. The ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value must be set to INTERACT.

Orders also flow between systems, such as between the POS system and Order Orchestration, and the customer information included in an order can trigger customer creation or update across systems.

Customer Synchronization through the Order API

Communication between Customer Engagement, the e-commerce site, and Order Administration through the Generic Order Interface (Order API) varies, depending on whether the customer registers and is logged in at the e-commerce site.

• Registered: If the customer registers or logs in at the e-commerce site, then the e-commerce site and Customer Engagement synchronize customer information in Customer Engagement before the e-commerce site sends the order to Order Administration. In this situation, Order Administration does not need to notify Customer Engagement to create the customer record, since the communication between the e-commerce site and Customer Engagement has already taken place; however, if the customer did not previously exist in all of the integrated systems or the customer information was not previously synchronized, Order Administration might need to update Customer Engagement with its customer number, and record the Relate ID in the Customer Sold To table. The most likely scenarios are described below.

Scenario	Can Occur When:	More Information:
Site has received OACS customer and Relate ID number from ORCE: The e-commerce site synchronizes customer information with Customer Engagement, where at that time there was a Order Administration customer number as an alternate key.	The customer has previously placed an order in Order Administration, either through the order API or through the call center, and Order Administration has already synchronized the customer information with Customer Engagement. In this scenario, Customer Engagement optionally provides the Order Administration customer number as well as the Relate ID to the e-commerce site, and the e-commerce site provides these numbers to Order Administration in the CWOrderIn message. In this case, Order Administration updates its own customer record with current name and address information, but does not need to communicate with Customer Engagement, since the e-commerce site has already done so. The relate_cust_sync_success flag is set to Y.	When the Customer Registers or Logs in at the E-Commerce Site
Site does not have OACS customer number: The e-commerce site synchronizes customer information with Customer Engagement, and at that time there is no Order Administration customer number in Customer Engagement as an alternate key.	A new customer registers on the e-commerce site and creates an order, and no previous communication has occurred between Order Administration and Customer Engagement. In this case, the e-commerce site providesthe ORCE customer ID in the CWOrderIn message, and Order Administration needs to synchronize its customer information with the current information that is already in Customer Engagement and the e-commerce site, including assignment of the current ORCE customer ID to the Order Administration customer record. The relate_cust_sync_success flag is set to Y.	When the Customer Registers or Logs in at the E-Commerce Site
E-Commerce site does not communicate with ORCE	The customer checks out as a guest or the e-commerce site is unable to communicate with Customer Engagement for any reason before submitting the order to Order Administration, even if the customer might already exist in either Customer Engagement or Order Administration, or both. In this situation, an ecommerce customer number is passed, rather than the Order Administration or the ORCE customer ID. Order Administration notifies Customer Engagement to create or update the customer. The relate_cust_sync_success flag is set to Y.	When the Customer Checks Out as a Guest at the E-Commerce Site or the E-Commerce Site Cannot Communicate with Customer Engagement

After Order Administration ships the order, it uses the Customer Engagement Batch Customer and Sales Integration to communicate sales information to Customer Engagement.

The communication flows described below are:

• When the Customer Registers or Logs in at the E-Commerce Site
• When the Customer Checks Out as a Guest at the E-Commerce Site or the E-Commerce Site Cannot Communicate with Customer Engagement
• When Order Administration Cannot Communicate with Customer Engagement

When the Customer Registers or Logs in at the E-Commerce Site

Registration (new account) or login (existing account): The registration or account login process involves communication between Customer Engagement and the e-commerce site. For example:

• When the customer logs into the e-commerce site or creates a new account, the e-commerce site:

  • searches Customer Engagement for the customer

  • if the customer does not exist in Customer Engagement, sends an add/update message to create the customer in Customer Engagement

  • if the customer does exist in Customer Engagement, sends an add/update message to update the customer in Customer Engagement with any changes to the customer’s name or address

• Customer Engagement:

  • creates the customer record if it does not exist, using the e-commerce site’s customer number as an alternate key; otherwise,

  • updates the customer record if it already exists, including adding the e-commerce site’s customer number as an alternate key, and updating the current name and address if necessary

  • acknowledges the e-commerce site’s request, including the e-commerce ID, the ORCE customer ID, and the Order Administration customer number if it already exists as an alternate key

Submitting the order for an existing Order Administration customer: The e-commerce site should include the Order Administration customer number and/or the ORCE customer ID, if they are available, in the CWOrderIn message. This could occur if:

• the customer has previously registered at the e-commerce site and used it to place an order; or,
• the customer has previously placed an order through the call center as well as registering through the e-commerce site, and Order Administration and Customer Engagement have synchronized the customer records independently of the e-commerce site.

In this scenario:

• the customer record in Customer Engagement includes:

  • the ORCE customer ID

  • the Order Administration customer number as an alternate key, with the type of key specified in the ORCE_ALT_ID_OROMS property.

  • the e-commerce ID as an alternate key

• the customer record in Order Administration includes:

  • the Order Administration customer number

  • the ORCE Customer ID

    Note:

    The e-commerce ID is used to synchronize the customer record with Customer Engagement. Once the records are synchronized , the e-commerce ID is not retained.
• the CWOrderIn message from the e-commerce site should include:

  • the current customer name and address

  • the Order Administration customer_number and/or the Relate ID, passed as the orce_customer_ID

  • the relate_cust_sync_success flag set to Y, indicating that the e-commerce site and Customer Engagement have been synchronized with current customer information

  • the sold_to_address_update flag set to Y, indicating that Order Administration should update the customer information from the message in the Order Administration database

• Order Administration updates the customer name and address using the information from the CWOrderIn message and does not communicate with Customer Engagement, since the e-commerce site has already communicated with Customer Engagement and the ORCE customer ID is already stored in the customer record.

Exceptions:

• If the customer record with the specified number does not currently exist in Order Administration (for example, as a result of a merge/purge), Order Administration uses its standard matchcode search logic (see Customer Creation, Matching and Update Logic in the Order API) to attempt to find the customer in the Customer Sold To table, creates or updates the customer as needed, and sends the current customer information, including the Order Administration customer number, to Customer Engagement.
• When the customer record exists in Order Administration and the relate_cust_sync_success flag is set to N, but no orce_customer_id is passed, Order Administration uses the customer’s email address to obtain the ORCE customer ID and update the existing customer record if the record did not previously have a ORCE customer ID and the CWOrderIn message does not include the name and address, but does include:

• A valid customer number and an email address, if the customer record did not previously have an email address specified, or

• A valid customer number, if the customer record did previously have an email address specified.

If the CWOrderIn message includes just a valid customer number, and the customer’s email address is not known, Order Administration does not update the customer record with the ORCE customer ID.

When it creates the order, Order Administration sends the CWORDEROUT message, including the Order Administration customer number, to the e-commerce site.

Note:

• If the e-commerce system submits multiple CWOrderIn messages for the same order (for example, if the payment information is sent after the initial message), it should include the Order Administration customer number or the ORCE customer ID each time.

•  The sold_to_address_update flag should be set to Y when the CWOrderIn message includes customer name and address information.

When it creates the order, Order Administration sends the CWORDEROUT message, including the Order Administration customer number and the ORCE customer ID, if known, to the e-commerce site.

When the Customer Checks out as a Guest at the E-Commerce Site or the E-Commerce Site Cannot Communicate with Customer Engagement

Unknown customer? If the e-commerce site has not synchronized the customer information with Customer Engagement, the CWOrderIn message does not include either the Order Administration customer number or the e-commerce ID. This situation could occur if:

• the customer has opted to check out as a guest, or
• communication is down between the e-commerce site and Customer Engagement.

In either case, the e-commerce site cannot determine whether the customer record exists in either Customer Engagement or Order Administration.

In this scenario:

• the CWOrderIn message from the e-commerce site should include:

  • the current customer name, address, and email address

  • the relate_cust_sync_success flag set to N, indicating that the e-commerce site and Customer Engagement have not been synchronized with current customer information

  • the sold_to_address_update flag set to Y, indicating that Order Administration should update the customer information from the message in the Order Administration database

Note:

In this scenario, the CWOrderIn message does not include either the Order Administration customer number or the e-commerce ID.

• To synchronize the customer records across the systems, Order Administration:

  • searches for the customer in Order Administration using its standard matchcode search logic; see Customer Creation, Matching and Update Logic in the Order API

  • if it finds a matching customer and that customer does not currently have an ORCE Customer ID:

    • updates the customer name and address with the information from the CWOrderIn message

    • sends an update to Customer Engagement including the Order Administration customer number to add as an alternate key and the current name and address information from the CWOrderIn message, and updates the Order Administration customer with the ORCE Customer ID

  • if it finds a matching customer and that customer already has a ORCE Customer ID

    • updates the customer with the information from the CWOrderIn message

    • sends an update to Customer Engagement, including the Order Administration customer number and the current name and address information

  • if there is no matching customer in Order Administration:

    • creates a new customer in Order Administration using the information from the CWOrderIn message

    • sends a message to search Customer Engagement based on the customer’s email address

    • if Customer Engagement returns any matching customers, selects the first customer in the response that does not currently have a Order Administration alternate key; sends an update to Customer Engagement, including the Order Administration customer number to add as an alternate key and the current name and address information from the CWOrderIn message; and updates the Order Administration customer with the Relate ID

    • if Customer Engagement does not return any matching customers, creates a new customer in Customer Engagement and synchronizes the current customer name and address, Order Administration customer number, and Relate ID between Order Administration and Customer Engagement

Note:

Order Administration searches Customer Engagement for a customer using email address only if the relate_cust_sync_success flag is set to N.

Exception: If Order Administration creates a new customer or selects an existing customer without a Relate ID, but Customer Engagement returns only customers that already have Order Administration alternate keys in the search response, Order Administration selects the first customer record returned in the search response and updates it with the current name and address information and the Relate ID.

Note:

Set the sold_to_address_update flag to Y when the CWOrderIn message includes customer name and address information.

When it creates the order, Order Administration sends the CWORDEROUT message, including the Order Administration customer number, as well as the ORCE customer ID, to the e-commerce site.

When Order Administration Cannot Communicate with Customer Engagement

If Order Administration cannot communicate with Customer Engagement during order API processing, it selects the Synchronize with remote DB flag for the customer sold to record. The next time you run the SYNCRDB periodic function, it attempts to synchronize the Order Administration customer record with Customer Engagement.

If an e-commerce ID was passed in the CWOrderIn message, this ID is stored in the Customer Sold To table until the record is synchronized.

See Synchronizing Customer Information through a Periodic Function for more information on the SYNCRDB periodic function.

What Does the relate_cust_sync_success flag Control?

The relate_cust_sync_success flag in the CWOrderIn message indicates whether the e-commerce site has successfully synchronized information about the customer with Customer Engagement when the ORCE customer ID is not passed.

If this flag is set to Y:

• When the system searches Order Administration for a customer using standard customer selection rules, if the selected customer already has an ORCE customer ID, the system creates a new customer for the order, since the existing Order Administration customer record is not consistent with the Customer Engagement customer record. The system then synchronizes the customer record with Customer Engagement, updating the ORCE_ALT_ID_OROMS in Customer Engagement as an alternate customer number as well as the ORCE_ALT_ID_WEB, if available, but not updating other fields such as the signup store or home store.
• When creating a new customer for the order, the system does not search Customer Engagement for a customer record based on email address; it only sends an update, as described above.
• The system does not send an update to Customer Engagement if the CWOrderIn message specifies a valid Order Administration customer by customer number or alternate customer number, and the customer already has an ORCE customer ID.

Otherwise, if this flag is set to N:

• When the system searches Order Administration for a customer using standard customer selection rules, if the selected customer already has an ORCE_ALT_ID_OROMS in Customer Engagement, the system uses this customer instead of creating a new customer for the order, and sends a name and address update to Customer Engagement if the information is different; however, it does not update the home store or signup store.
• The system searches Customer Engagement for a customer record based on the email address for the customer on the order when it creates a new customer because a customer does not match the name and address in the CWOrderIn message, or when it selects an existing customer that does not have a ORCE customer ID or e-commerce ID. In this case, if there is a match found in Customer Engagement, the customer record in Order Administration is updated with the alternate keys from Customer Engagement.
• The system always sends a create/update request to Customer Engagement that includes the customer’s name, address, and customer number. The request does not include other fields, such as the signup store or home store, if the customer is already assigned an ORCE customer ID.

• If the customer exists in Order Administration but does not already have an ORCE customer ID, Order Administration obtains the ORCE customer ID when the CWOrderIn message does not include the name and address, but does include:

  • A valid customer number and an email address, if the customer record did not previously have an email address specified, or

  • A valid customer number, if the customer record did previously have an email address specified.

Otherwise, if the CWOrderIn message includes just a valid customer number, and the customer’s email address is not known, Order Administration does not update the customer record with the Customer Engagement customer ID.

When the Customer Contacts the Call Center

Overview: A customer can also create an order by contacting the call center. When the customer contacts the call center to place an order, request a catalog, create a customer membership outside of order entry, or update name and address information, the CSR needs to first search for the customer in order to keep the Customer Engagement and Order Administration customer records in sync and prevent creating duplicate records. The process when a customer contacts the call center is:

• Search Customer Engagement first: When the CSR performs a search, Order Administration first checks in Customer Engagement for any matches. Unlike the process used for the order API, the customer search can send various criteria to Customer Engagement. If the CSR selects a customer from the search results and enters any updates, Order Administration syncs these updates with the Customer Engagement customer record.
• Search Order Administration second: If the CSR’s search does not find any matches in the Customer Engagement database, Order Administration checks for any matches in its Customer Sold To table. When the CSR selects and works with a Order Administration record, Order Administration sends the current information to Customer Engagement, creating the customer record there and stores the returned ORCE customer ID with the customer record.
• Create customer if no match: If there are no matches in either database, then the CSR can create a new customer, and Order Administration sends the new customer record to Customer Engagement, then stores the returned ORCE customer ID with the new customer record.

Examples of these processes are provided below.

Searching Customer Engagement for the Customer

When the customer contacts the call center to place an order, request a catalog, create a customer membership outside of order entry, or update name and address or other information:

Searching:

• The CSR enters the search criteria at the Customer Scan Screen.
• There is at least one customer record in Customer Engagement that matches the search criteria.
• The Results tab at the Customer Scan screen displays the names, home addresses, email addresses, and primary phone numbers of any customers in the Customer Engagement database matching the search criteria. The Results tab displays the error message Maximum search results exceeded, please refine your search if the number of matching records exceeds the Customer Lookup Limit system configuration setting in Customer Engagement. In this situation, you need to make your search criteria more specific to make sure that you can find the customer record you are looking for.

Selecting a customer from the Customer Engagement search results:

• If the CSR selects a record from the Results tab:

  • Order Administration requests information on the complete customer record from Customer Engagement

  • Customer Engagement sends the customer information, including the alternate key, if any, that maps to the Order Administration customer number.

  • If the alternate key identifies an existing customer in the Customer Sold To table, Order Administration updates the customer record with the current information from Customer Engagement. Also:

    • If more than one record in Customer Engagement is assigned the same alternate key mapping to the Order Administration customer number, Order Administration uses the information from the first matching record to update the customer record in the Customer Sold To table.

    • If the alternate key that identifies an existing customer in the Customer Sold To table has a different ORCE customer ID, Order Administration updates the ORCE customer ID for the customer record.

  • If there is not an alternate key that identifies an existing customer in Order Administration, Order Administration creates a new customer record.

Searching Order Administration for the Customer in Classic View

Searching:

• The CSR enters the search criteria at the Customer Scan Screen.
• There are no records in Customer Engagement that match the search criteria, but there is at least one match in the Order Administration Customer Sold To table.
• The Results tab at the Customer Scan screen displays the names, home addresses, email addresses, and primary phone numbers of any customers in Order Administration’s Customer Sold To table that match the search criteria.

Selecting a customer from the Order Administration search results:

• If the CSR selects a record from the search results:

  • Order Administration retrieves the current information from its Customer Sold To table.

  • When the CSR updates or accepts the customer information, Order Administration sends an add/update message to Customer Engagement.

  • Customer Engagement creates the customer record, assigning the Order Administration customer number as an alternate key, and sends the Customer Engagement customer number to Order Administration.

  • Order Administration updates the Customer Sold To record with the Relate Id.

Creating a New Customer

Searching:

• The CSR enters the search criteria at the Customer Scan Screen.
• There are no records matching the search criteria in either Customer Engagement or Order Administration.
• The results do not include any records.

Creating the customer:

• When the CSR enters the information on the new customer:

  • Order Administration creates the customer record in its Customer Sold To table.

  • Order Administration sends an add/update message to Customer Engagement.

  • Customer Engagement creates the customer record, assigning the Order Administration customer number as an alternate key, and sends the Customer Engagement customer number to Order Administration.

  • Order Administration updates the Customer Sold To record with the Relate Id.

Notes on Searching for a Customer on Order Administration Screens

Since the Customer Engagement customer integration is based on Customer Engagement acting as the system of record for customer information, searching on Order Administration screens always looks to Customer Engagement first for the customer unless the menu option is related to existing orders.

Customer Scan screen availability: Order Administration provides the Customer Scan Screen to search for a customer in order entry, customer maintenance, customer membership creation, and catalog requests if the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT. When you search using this screen, the system first calls Customer Engagement when searching for customers, and checks the Order Administration Customer Sold To table only if Customer Engagement does not return any records that match your search criteria.

You cannot use the Customer Scan Screen when searching for a customer in regular or streamlined order inquiry, order maintenance, or return authorizations, because these options are related to existing orders for the customer in Order Administration. In these options, if you scan on a field related to customer name or address, you advance to a subsequent scan screen that displays customer records from the Order Administration database.

Note:

If the CSR creates a new customer without first searching, this indicates to create the customer in Customer Engagement regardless of whether any duplicate customers exist there. To avoid creating duplicate customers in Customer Engagement, it is important to search first.

For more information: See the Customer Scan Screen for more information on searching for customers at Order Administration screens.

Customer Synchronization through Modern View

Searching for a Customer at the Home Page

If the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT, when you search for a customer in Modern View, Order Administration submits the search to Customer Engagement.

Customer(s) found in Customer Engagement? If Customer Engagement returns any customer records, they are displayed in the customer search results:

• If a customer returned in the response is selected, but did not previously exist in Order Administration, the customer record is created, and an Order Administration customer number is assigned.

• If a customer returned in the response is selected and did previously exist in Order Administration, but was not assigned a Customer Engagement ID, the customer record in Order Administration is updated with the ID passed from Customer Engagement, as well as the name and address information from Customer Engagement

• If a customer returned in the response is selected and previously existed in Order Administration with a Customer Engagement ID assignment, the customer’s name and address information are updated with the information from Customer Engagement.

Customer not found in Customer Engagement? If there are no matches returned from Customer Engagement, any matching records in the Order Administration Customer Sold To table are displayed. If there is only one matching record, Order Administration sends the customer information to Customer Engagement. Customer Engagement creates a record for the customer and sends the new Customer Engagement ID to Order Administration, and Order Administration updates the customer record with the ID.

The page indicates whether the search results were found in Customer Engagement or in Order Administration.

Search based on Customer Engagement ID? The Use Oracle Retail Customer Engagement Customer Number on Search flag in Work with Contact Center controls whether to submit your entry in the customer number search field as the Order Administration customer number or the ORCE Customer ID. If you enter a customer number, any other search criteria you enter are ignored. If this flag is selected and the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT, Modern View screens display the Customer Engagement customer ID rather than the Order Administration customer number.

Contact Center Order Entry

If the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT, you can create or update a customer in Customer Engagement through Contact Center Order Entry in Modern View.

In Contact Center Order Entry, if the customer is:

• New in both Order Administration and Customer Engagement: If you enter the name and address for a new customer, or update the information for an existing customer, the customer information is created or updated in Customer Engagement after you complete this step and advance to the Items step.

• New in Order Administration but exists in Customer Engagement: If the information you enter to create a new customer in Order Administration matches an existing customer in Customer Engagement, the customer record in Customer Engagement is updated, including assigning the Order Administration customer number.

• Exists in Order Administration but new in Customer Engagement: If the information you enter to create a new customer matches an existing customer in Order Administration and you select that customer at the Duplicate Customer Found window, but the customer is not already assigned a Customer Engagement ID, the customer record in Customer Engagement is created, and the new Customer Engagement ID is assigned to the customer in Order Administration.

• Exists in both Order Administration and Customer Engagement: If the information you enter to create a new customer matches an existing customer in Order Administration and you select that customer at the Duplicate Customer Found window, and the customer is already assigned a Customer Engagement ID, the update applies to both the Order Administration and the Customer Engagement customer records.

•  If communication fails between Order Administration and Customer Engagement, the customer information is synchronized the next time you run the SYNCRDB periodic function. See Synchronizing Customer Information through a Periodic Function for more information.

Additional Customer Updates through Modern View

You can also update a customer in Modern View through the Edit Customer Information panel when searching for an order or customer, and the Edit Sold-To panel from the Order Summary page. In this case:

• Exists in Order Administration but new in Customer Engagement: If you update a customer that is not already assigned a Customer Engagement ID, the customer record in Customer Engagement is created, and the new Customer Engagement ID is assigned to the customer in Order Administration.

• Exists in both Order Administration and Customer Engagement: If you update a customer that is already assigned a Customer Engagement ID, the update applies to both the Order Administration and the Customer Engagement customer records.

• If communication fails between Order Administration and Customer Engagement, the customer information is synchronized the next time you run the SYNCRDB periodic function. See Synchronizing Customer Information through a Periodic Function for more information.

Additional Ways to Create or Update a Customer in Order Administration and Customer Engagement

In addition to order entry, you can search for, create, or update a customer through the additional options listed below. If the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT:

Option	Description	For more information, see:
Interactive catalog requests (WCAT)	When you select Customer at the Create Catalog Request Screen to search for an existing customer, you advance to the Customer Scan Screen. Otherwise, if you create a new customer to receive the catalog, Order Administration sends the customer information to Customer Engagement and the customer records are linked by customer numbers so that they stay synchronized.	Entering Catalog Requests (WCAT)
Catalog request interface (WCRU)	When you create a customer through the catalog request interface, the new customer information is also created in Customer Engagement.	Working with the Catalog Request Interface (WCRU)
Customer maintenance (WCST)	When you select the Work with Customers option, you advance to the Customer Scan Screen. When you: search for or retrieve an existing customer, the information is provided by Customer Engagement if the customer record exists there create a new customer or update customer name, address, email, phone, or preferences, the customer information is sent to Customer Engagement so that the records are synchronized	Work with Customers (WCST)
Work with Customer Memberships (WWCM)	When you prompt on the Customer # field at the Create Customer Membership Window, you advance to the Customer Scan Screen. If you: search for or retrieve an existing customer, the information is provided by Customer Engagement if the customer record exists there create a new customer or update customer name, address, email, phone, or preferences, the customer information is sent to Customer Engagement so that the records are synchronized	Working with Customer Memberships (WWCM)
Customer API	When you receive the Inbound Customer Message (CWCustomerIn) to create a new customer or update customer name, address, email, phone, or preferences, the customer information is sent to Customer Engagement so that the records are synchronized. For more information see the Order Administration Web Services Guide on https://support.oracle.com My Oracle Support (ID 2953017.1). Note: Resubmitting a customer API request through Working with Customer API (WCAI) is not currently implemented.	Generic Customer API For more information see the Order Administration Web Services Guide on https://support.oracle.com My Oracle Support (ID 2953017.1).
Order Orchestration Integration	When submitting a new order to Order Orchestration, the ORCE customer ID is sent as the customer_no in the SubmitOrder request if: The Send ORCE Customer ID to OROB (M71) system control value is selected, and an ORCE customer ID is assigned to the customer, and the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT. Receiving from Order Orchestration: When creating new orders based on the fulfillments response message, if: The ORCE Customer ID in OROB Fulfillment (M72) is selected, and The ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT. The customer_no passed in the fulfillments response maps to the ORCE customer ID rather than the Order Administration customer number. When updating an existing customer through a retail pickup or delivery order, the updated customer information is sent to Customer Engagement for synchronization if the Sold to Email Update for Orders Brokered to OROMS (K96) or Sold to Address Update for Orders Brokered to OROMS (K97) system control values are selected.	Retail Pickup (including Ship-for-Pickup) or Delivery Orders
Creating or selecting an order recipient	When you: search for or retrieve an existing customer as an order recipient, the information is provided by Customer Engagement if the customer record exists there create a new customer as an order recipient, or update customer name, address, email, phone, or preferences for the recipient, the customer information is sent to Customer Engagement so that the records are synchronized Note: Only sold-to and recipient customers are synchronized with Customer Engagement. Order ship-tos and permanent ship-tos are not included in the integration with Customer Engagement.	Adding a Recipient Order in Order Entry
Order maintenance	When you: update the customer name, address, email, phone, or preferences for the customer placing or receiving the order (recipient customer but not a permanent ship-to or order ship-to), the updated customer information is sent to Customer Engagement. This update occurs regardless of whether the customer was previously synchronized with Customer Engagement.	Work with Order Screen in Order Maintenance

Customer Data Mapping between Order Administration and Customer Engagement

Overview: The table below lists the fields that are mapped between Order Administration and Customer Engagement in the customer integration.

Note:

• When Order Administration creates or updates a customer, it puts alphanumeric information in all uppercase. If the customer name and address in Customer Engagement is not all uppercase, this indicates that Order Administration has not created or updated the customer. The exception is the email address, which can be upper and lower case in both Customer Engagement and Order Administration.
• Not all mapped fields are the same length in both systems. When Order Administration imports information from Customer Engagement, it truncates certain fields as indicated in the table below, and updates the corresponding fields in Customer Engagement with the truncated information.

Reviewing the customer in Customer Engagement: Use the Customer Lookup / Edit option in Customer Engagement to search for, review, or update a customer.

Which tables? Customer records are stored in:

• Order Administration: the Customer Sold To table, except where noted below.
• Customer Engagement: the CST_CUSTOMER table.

For more information: See the Information that is not mapped for a listing of some of the fields that are not mapped as part of the Customer Engagement customer integration.

OACS Field	ORCE Field	Comments
Customer numbers
Displaying in Customer Engagement:	Order Administration customer number: select Alternate Key. Relate ID: labeled the Customer Id.
Customer number	Alternate key OROMS_ID	Indicates the Alt Key Type of the alternate key in Customer Engagement that maps to the Order Administration customer number. This field is available for display in Customer Engagement by selecting Alternate Key in the Customer Lookup /Edit option. Customer Engagement automatically creates this entry for a customer when you send the customer to Customer Engagement interactively or through the Customer Engagement Add or Update Customer Message if it does not already exist based on the ORCE_ALT_ID_OROMS setting in the Customer Engagement Properties file. In this situation, Customer Engagement also adds a row to the CST_ALT_KEY_TYPCODE table in the Customer Engagement database if it does not already exist.
Relate id	Customer ID	Note: The Relate id: is not displayed on any screen in Order Administration is an alphanumeric field in the Order Administration Customer Sold To table
Name	Displaying in Customer Engagement: Under Customer.
Prefix	Prefix	Truncated in Order Administration to 3 positions. Any trailing spaces are removed.
First name	First name	Truncated in Order Administration to 15 positions. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Middle initial	Middle name	Truncated in Order Administration to 1 position. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Last name	Last name	Truncated in Order Administration to 25 positions. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Suffix	Suffix	Truncated in Order Administration to 3 positions. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Company	Business Name	Truncated in Order Administration to 30 positions. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Customer-level information and permissions	The customer-level permissions in Customer Engagement are informational only.	Displaying in Customer Engagement: Included under the Customer option. See above.
Retail Store ID	Signup Store Home Store	The value defined in the Default Location for ORCE Integration (K69) system control value is passed if the relate_cust_sync_success flag is set to N in the CWOrderIn message, indicating that the e-commerce site has not yet successfully synchronized information about the customer with Customer Engagement. Otherwise, if the relate_cust_sync_success flag is set to Y, the location ID is not passed, in order to prevent updating the existing store locations in Customer Engagement.
N/A	Source	Contact Center defaults when a new customer is sent to Customer Engagement.
Mail flag	Mail contact permission flag	Order Administration to Customer Engagement: Y defaults if the Mail flag is selected Customer Engagement; otherwise leave blank. Order Administration does not automatically update the setting sent from Customer Engagement.
Opt in/out setting for primary email address	Email contact permission flag	Order Administration does not automatically update the setting sent from Customer Engagement.
Day or Evening phone number	Phone contact permission flag	Order Administration does not automatically update the setting sent from Customer Engagement.
Do not fax	Fax contact permission flag	Order Administration to Customer Engagement: Y defaults if the Third Phone Number Type (L53) system control value is set to FAX and the Do Not Fax field for the customer in Order Administration is unselected; otherwise leave blank. Customer Engagement does not send this setting to Order Administration.
Rent	Rent contact permission flag	Order Administration does not automatically update the setting sent from Customer Engagement.
Birth Month and Birth Date	Birth date	Order Administration to Customer Engagement: The month and date defined in the Birth month and Birth date fields for the customer. The year passed to Customer Engagement defaults to 1900; however this year is not used if a birth year has already been defined in Customer Engagement. Note: If you remove the Birth month and Birth date from the customer in Order Administration, the Birth date defined in Customer Engagement is retained. Customer Engagement to Order Administration: The date defined in the Birth date field, including the actual month, day, and year defined.
Address Note: Only the customer’s HOME address in Customer Engagement is mapped to Order Administration. If more than one HOME address exists in Customer Engagement, the system uses the primary HOME address. This information is required in order for Order Administration to create the customer record correctly. Customer Engagement automatically creates an Address type of HOME when it receives a customer from Order Administration interactively or through the Customer Engagement Add or Update Customer Message. In this situation, Customer Engagement also adds a row to the CST_ADDR_TYPCODE table for ADDRESS_TYPECODE HOME in the Customer Engagement database if it does not already exist.	No address validation in Customer Engagement: Unlike Order Administration, Customer Engagement does not require an address for a customer, and does not validate that the address includes certain required components; for example, no address lines are required. To prevent problems in Order Administration, it is important that any other means you use to create customers in Customer Engagement, such as through your e-commerce site, always creates a home address when you use the Customer Engagement customer integration. If a home address does not exist in Customer Engagement, Customer Engagement displays the customer in Order Administration without an address. Also, if certain fields for the home address are not defined in Customer Engagement, these fields will be blank when you display the customer in Order Administration. However, when you update the customer’s address in Order Administration so that is passes validation, the system will also update the customer’s home address in Customer Engagement	Displaying in Customer Engagement: Select Address.
N/A	Primary	Set to Yes in Customer Engagement.
Street	Address line 1	Truncated in Order Administration to 32 positions. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Apt/Suite	Apartment	Truncated in Order Administration to 32 positions. If deleted in Order Administration, also deleted in Customer Engagement. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Address (lines 2-4)	Address lines 2-4	Truncated in Order Administration to 32 positions. Stored in the Customer Sold To Extended table. If deleted in Order Administration, also deleted in Customer Engagement. Any trailing spaces are removed.
City	City	Truncated in Order Administration to 25 positions. Any trailing spaces are removed.
State	State	Truncated in Order Administration to 2 positions and validated against the states in the Country table. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Postal code	Postal code	Truncated in Order Administration to 10 positions and validated against the SCF table. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Country	Country	Must be a 2-position country code; validated in Order Administration against the Country table. Note: Use the two-position ISO country code; for example, use US instead of USA. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Mail	Contact permission/opt in setting (address level)	Order Administration to Customer Engagement updates: Y in Order Administration = Y in Customer Engagement N in Order Administration = N in Customer Engagement Customer Engagement to Order Administration updates: Y or any setting starting with Y in Customer Engagement = Y in Order Administration N or any setting starting with N in Customer Engagement = N in Order Administration Note: The mail permission setting in Customer Engagement must consist of or start with the letters Y or N; otherwise, synchronizing the customer with Order Administration results in an error when validating the customer in Order Administration because the only valid settings in Order Administration are Y and N.
Phone numbers The phone numbers in Order Administration map to the soft-coded Telephone types based on the Customer Engagement Properties. Customer Engagement automatically creates the Telephone type codes of HOME, BUSINESS, and FAX or MOBILE when it receives a customer from Order Administration interactively or through the Customer Engagement Add or Update Customer Message. In this situation, Customer Engagement also adds rows to the CST_PHONE_TYPCODE table for types of WORK, HOME, and FAX or MOBILE in the Customer Engagement database if they do not already exist. Note: Phone number extensions are not mapped between Customer Engagement and Order Administration.	Phone numbers in Order Administration are stored in the Customer Sold To Phone # table. Any formatting is removed from the phone number before sending to Customer Engagement. Removing a phone number: If you delete a phone number in either Customer Engagement or Order Administration, the system deletes the associated phone number in the other system.	Displaying in Customer Engagement: Select Phone. Optionally, highlight a phone number to open the Phone Detail window.
Day	varies	The ORCE_DAY_PHONE_LABEL setting in the Customer Engagement Properties file indicates the Telephone Type in Customer Engagement that maps to the daytime phone number in Order Administration; this setting should be set to BUSINESS. Any trailing spaces are removed from the phone number. Primary? If there is a daytime phone number, this phone number in Customer Engagement is flagged as Primary by default after synchronizing customer information with Order Administration.
Eve	varies	The ORCE_EVE_PHONE_LABEL setting in the Customer Engagement Properties file indicates the Telephone Type in Customer Engagement that maps to the evening phone number in Order Administration; this setting should be set to HOME. Any trailing spaces are removed from the phone number. Primary? If there is no daytime phone number, then the evening phone number in Customer Engagement is flagged as Primary by default after synchronizing customer information with Order Administration. Also, if you delete the daytime phone number in Order Administration, then the evening phone number is flagged as Primary in Customer Engagement.
Mbl or Fax	varies	The ORCE_FAX_PHONE_LABEL setting in the Customer Engagement Properties file indicates the Telephone Type in Customer Engagement that maps to the third phone number in Order Administration; this setting should be set to FAX or MOBILE. Any trailing spaces are removed from the phone number. Note: The Third Phone Number Type (L53) system control value controls whether the third phone number is labeled as the mobile or fax number in Order Administration. Primary? If there is no daytime or evening phone number, then the fax/mobile phone number in Customer Engagement is flagged as Primary by default after synchronizing customer information with Order Administration. Also, if you delete the daytime and evening phone number in Order Administration, then the fax/mobile phone number is flagged as Primary in Customer Engagement.
N/A	Contact permission/opt in setting (phone-level)	For the day and evening phone numbers: Y defaults if a corresponding phone number is defined; otherwise N defaults. If the Third Phone Number Type (L53) system control value is set to FAX: N defaults if the Do Not Fax field is selected for the customer. Y defaults if the Do Not Fax field is unselected for the customer. If the Third Phone Number Type (L53) system control value is set to MOBILE: Y defaults if a mobile phone number is defined; otherwise, N defaults.
Email address In Order Administration, the primary email address is stored in both the Customer Sold To table and the Customer Sold To Email table. Additional, non-primary email addresses are stored only in the Customer Sold To Email table. Only the HOME email address that is flagged as primary in Customer Engagement is eligible to be included in the integration.	Customer Engagement automatically creates an Email type of HOME when it receives a customer from Order Administration interactively or through the Customer Engagement Add or Update Customer Message. In this situation, Customer Engagement also adds a row to the CST_EMAIL_TYPCODE table for EMAIL_TYPECODE HOME in the Customer Engagement database if it does not already exist.	Displaying in Customer Engagement: Select Email. Optionally, highlight the email address to open the Email Detail window.
N/A	Primary	Set to Yes in Customer Engagement.
Email address	Email type: HOME	Only the HOME email address that is flagged a primary is eligible to be included in the integration. If the customer has any other email type in Customer Engagement, but not a HOME email type, the email address(es) are not passed to Order Administration. Any trailing spaces are removed.
Opt in/opt out	Contact permission/opt in setting (email level)	Order Administration to Customer Engagement updates: O1 in Order Administration = Y in Customer Engagement O2, O3, or O4 in Order Administration = N in Customer Engagement Customer Engagement to Order Administration updates: Y in Customer Engagement = O1 in Order Administration N in Customer Engagement = O2 in Order Administration any other value in Customer Engagement = no change in Order Administration
Format	Format preference	H in Order Administration = HTML in Customer Engagement T or blank in Order Administration = TEXT in Customer Engagement
Profile data In Order Administration, profile data is stored in the Customer Profile table.	Included in the integration? The Send Profile Data to ORCE (L51) system control value controls whether to include demographic profile data when synchronizing customer information. Required setup: You need to complete the setup described under Order Management System Customer Profile > Customer Engagement Attribute Definition in order to synchronize the information between the systems. Examples are provided below.	Displaying in Customer Engagement: Select Attributes.
Profile description	Attribute name	Use the Setting Up Customer Profiles (WPFL) option in Order Administration to set up the type of demographic information you are capturing, and also use the Attribute Definition screen in Customer Engagement to create a corresponding attribute definition for each Order Administration profile code. Example: To capture marital status, you can set up: Order Administration: a profile category with a description of MARITAL STATUS Customer Engagement: an attribute name of MARITAL STATUS and a description of MARITAL STATUS with a data type of Character
Profile data description	Attribute value	Use the Setting Up Customer Profiles (WPFL) option in Order Administration to set up each valid profile data value that you can capture. It is not necessary to set up valid data in Customer Engagement; Customer Engagement stores the data as a text string. Example: In the Setting Up Customer Profiles (WPFL) option in Order Administration, set up profile data options such as: Code = M Description = MARRIED Customer Engagement stores an attribute value of MARRIED.
Additional information
user ID	Create user	For new customers, set to OROMS-USERID, where USERID is the user ID of the person who performed the customer create, if the customer record originated in Order Administration.
user ID	Update user	Set to OROMS-USERID, where USERID is the user ID of the person who performed the customer update, if the customer record was most recently updated by Order Administration.
N/A	Create date	The date when the customer record was created in Customer Engagement.
N/A	Update date	The most recent date when the customer record was changed. Activities in Order Administration that change the Update date include: selecting the customer for an order as the sold-to or order recipient viewing the customer in customer maintenance selecting the customer for a catalog request selecting the customer for a customer membership in Working with Customer Memberships (WWCM) The above activities change the Update date in Customer Engagement, even if there is no change to the information about the customer or if you reject the order in order entry. Note: Creating an order for the customer through the order API changes the Update date in Customer Engagement if the sold_to_address_update flag in the CWOrderIn message is selected and no customer_number is passed, even if there is no change to the customer’s name and address information.
ORCE_SECURITY_USER_ID	Security ID	The Customer Engagement user ID with security group permission defined in the ORCE_SECURITY_ USER_ID setting in the Customer Engagement Properties file. Note: This value does not display on any screen in Customer Engagement.

Information that is not mapped

• From Order Administration:

  • PO Box

  • Delivery code: From the Default Delivery Code for New Order Entry Customers (D13), but you can override this default. Not related to the Address type in Customer Engagement, although only addresses with a type of HOME are used as part of the integration.

  • Class: From the Default Customer Class in Order Entry (D63), but you can override this default.

  • Alternate customer number: However, if a third system, such as the e-commerce site, synchronizes with Customer Engagement, then its customer number might also be stored in Customer Engagement as an additional alternate key. Also, select the Enable Xstore Alt Key Creation system configuration setting in Customer Engagement if the integration to Customer Engagement includes Order Administration and XStore. Selecting this field will assign an XSTORE_ID to the customer if one does not already exist.

• From Customer Engagement:

  • County: If the county is populated in Customer Engagement, this information is cleared when the customer record is synched with Order Administration.

  • Address type: Only the address with a type of HOME is used as part of the integration. If the customer record in Customer Engagement does not have a HOME address, then the address you enter for the customer in Order Administration is created as the HOME address in Customer Engagement.

  • Email address: Only the email address with a type of HOME is used as part of the integration.

  • Class: The Default Customer Class in Order Entry (D63) defaults in Order Administration

Updating an Existing Customer

Overview: In general, the integration keeps existing Order Administration and Customer Engagement customer records synchronized when you update customer information through either system. A few things to note are listed below.

Deleting customer information through screens in Order Administration:

• If you delete address lines 2-4 or apartment in Order Administration, these address lines are also deleted in Customer Engagement.
• Deleting other data in Order Administration does not delete the corresponding fields in Customer Engagement; as a result, this data is repopulated when the customer information is resynchronized. This occurs if you delete the customer’s prefix, middle initial, suffix, company name, phone numbers, and primary email address in Order Administration.

Deleting customer information through Customer Engagement: Deleting prefix, first name, middle initial, suffix, last name or business name, address lines 2-4, apartment, phone number extensions, or email address in Customer Engagement deletes the corresponding fields in Order Administration. However, deleting phone numbers in Customer Engagement does not delete the phone numbers in Order Administration; as a result, the phone numbers are repopulated in Customer Engagement when the customer information is resynchronized.

Phone number extensions: If you add an extension to an existing phone number:

• if you add the extension in Order Administration, the extension is not added to Customer Engagement.
• if you add the extension in Customer Engagement, the extension is not added to Order Administration and is removed when the customer information is resynchronized.

For more information: See Customer Synchronization through the Order API.

Synchronizing Customer Information through a Periodic Function

Overview: The SYNCRDB periodic function (Program Name = PFR0105) sends current customer information to Customer Engagement. You can use this periodic function:

• if communication has failed for any reason during normal operations, so that customer information was not synchronized interactively
• to initially export customer information from Order Administration to Customer Engagement

Synchronization trigger: If the Synchronize with remote DB flag in the Customer Sold To table is set to Y, the SYNCRDB periodic function attempts to synchronize the customer record with Customer Engagement. Order Administration sets this flag to Y automatically when communication with Customer Engagement fails. To initially export existing customer information to Customer Engagement, you can use a SQL statement to set this flag to Y for all customer records if you do not use the conversion periodic function.

Synchronization updates: The SYNCRDB periodic function:

• sends current customer information from Order Administration to Customer Engagement, including creating an alternate key in Customer Engagement using the Order Administration customer number; see Customer Data Mapping between Order Administration and Customer Engagement for details
• populates the Relate Id field in the Customer Sold To table if the field is currently blank
• clears the Synchronize with remote DB flag for the Customer Sold To record
• clears the E-commerce ID for the Customer Sold To record if the order API has saved this information to use when synchronizing the customer; see Customer Engagement Customer Integration: Typical Information Flows for more information

The periodic function does not retrieve information from the Customer Engagement customer record to update the Order Administration customer record, with the exception of populating the Relate Id.

Note:

The periodic function synchronizes customer records only if the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT.

Information used for matching: The SYNCRDB periodic function uses the following information to match customer records between Order Administration and Customer Engagement:

• Relate Id: Customer Engagement customer number = Relate Id in the Order Administration Customer Sold To table
• Customer number: Customer Engagement alternate key record whose Alt Key Type matches the ORCE_ALT_ID_OROMS setting in Working with Customer Properties (PROP) = the Order Administration customer number
• E-commerce ID: Customer Engagement alternate key record whose Alt Key Type matches the ORCE_ALT_ID_WEB setting in Working with Customer Properties (PROP) = the e-commerce site’s customer number. From the ecommerce_id passed in the CWOrderIn message, and saved as the E-commerce ID in the Customer Sold To table only if the order API was unable to synchronize the Order Administration and Customer Engagement customer records
• Primary email address: an email address for the customer in Customer Engagement = the customer’s primary email address in Order Administration

Matching rules: The SYNCRDB periodic function uses the following rules:

• If a Relate Id or an e-commerce ID is specified in the Customer Sold To table and the Synchronize with remote DB flag is set to Y, Order Administration sends the current Order Administration customer number, e-commerce ID (if any), and customer name and address, including phone numbers and the primary email address.

Customer Engagement returns its Customer Engagement customer number; if this number is different from the current Relate Id in the Customer Sold To table, Order Administration updates the Relate Id. The current Relate Id might be different if, for example, a merge/purge took place in Customer Engagement.

• If no Relate Id or e-commerce ID is specified in the Customer Sold To table, and the Synchronize with remote DB flag is set to Y, Order Administration first searches Customer Engagement based on primary email address. If Customer Engagement returns:

  • any matching customers, Order Administration synchronizes the customer with the first customer returned that is not already assigned a Order Administration alternate key; if all matching customers already have Order Administration alternate keys, it selects the first customer returned in the response

  • no matching customers, Order Administration sends an add/update message to create a new customer in Customer Engagement

Troubleshooting: The SYNCRDB function always creates a new customer in Customer Engagement if the Order Administration customer does not have an email address, e-commerce ID, or valid Relate Id. The function does not match customers based on name, address, or phone number.

Customer Engagement Customer Integration: Notes and Troubleshooting

Things to note:

• Must search before creating a customer at Order Administration screens: Because the Customer Engagement customer integration is based on using Customer Engagement as the system of record for customers, you need to use the Customer Scan Screen to search for a customer and make sure that the record does not already exist before creating a new record to avoid the possibility of creating a duplicate. Creating the customer without searching first indicates that you want the customer created, regardless of any existing duplicates.
• Customer Engagement customer ID: The Customer Engagement customer ID is stored in the Order Administration Customer Sold To table, and may be included in web service requests or used for customer matching as described above, but is not displayed on any screens in Order Administration.
• Logging: The information passed between Order Administration and Customer Engagement is written to the Trace Log if its logging level is set to DEBUG or ALL.
• If customer information returned from Customer Engagement is masked: If the customer information returned from Customer Engagement displays as asterisks instead of the actual data, there may be an authority problem with the ORCE_Security_User in Customer Engagement. In this situation, verify that the Default View Where No Security Group is Assigned property is set to Read/Write. If the default view cannot be changed, assign the ORCE_Security_User to the system admin role.
• If communication fails: If for any reason the communication fails between Order Administration and Customer Engagement and the synchronization cannot be completed, the Synchronize with remote DB flag in the Customer Sold To table is set to Y. You can use the SYNCRDB periodic function to synchronize the customer records; see Synchronizing Customer Information through a Periodic Function for more information.
• Customer Lookup Limit: The Results tab at the Customer Scan Screen displays the error message Maximum search results exceeded, please refine your search if the number of matching records exceeds the Customer Lookup Limit system setting in Customer Engagement. In this situation, you need to make your search criteria more specific to make sure that you can find the customer record you are looking for.

• Narvar integration: If the Send ORCE Customer ID to Narvar (M70) system control value is selected, the ORCE customer ID, if assigned to the customer, is sent in the Narvar Order Request message.

• Web services using the ORCE customer ID: See the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT, the ORCE customer ID is included in various web service messages rather than the Order Administration customer number. See that system control value for more information

• Order Orchestration: The Send ORCE Customer ID to OROB (M71) system control value controls whether to send the ORCE customer ID in the SubmitOrder request, and the ORCE Customer ID in OROB Fulfillment (M72) controls whether the customer_no passed in the fulfillments response maps to the ORCE customer ID rather than the Order Administration customer number. See these system control values for more information.

Additional data from Customer Engagement not passed to Order Administration: Not all customer information in Customer Engagement is sent to Order Administration. See the Customer Data Mapping between Order Administration and Customer Engagement for details on the information that is mapped.

Additional data in Order Administration not passed to Customer Engagement: Not all customer information in Order Administration is passed to Customer Engagement. For example, permanent ship-to addresses, bill-to accounts, and contract pricing information are not passed. See the Customer Data Mapping between Order Administration and Customer Engagement for details on the information that is mapped.

Email addresses never deleted from Customer Engagement: Even if you change or delete a customer’s email address, this information is not visible on the screen but is retained in the Customer Engagement database. For this reason, searching on the deleted or overwritten email address still finds the customer, and customer matching logic described under Customer Synchronization through the Order API uses the deleted or overwritten email address as it would use a current email address.

Phone number extension: Phone number extensions are not passed between Customer Engagement and Order Administration.

Customer Engagement customer changed to uppercase by synchronization: When a Customer Engagement customer record is updated from the corresponding Order Administration customer record, the alphanumeric characters in Customer Engagement change to all uppercase. This occurs because Order Administration stores customer information in all uppercase. The exception is the email address, which is stored in upper and lowercase in both systems.

Company/business name: When you use the Customer Engagement customer integration, you cannot search for customer by name if the customer has a company/business name but not a last name.

No address validation in Customer Engagement: Unlike Order Administration, Customer Engagement does not require an address for a customer, and does not validate that the address includes certain required components; for example, no address lines are required.

Setup information: See Customer Engagement Integration Setup (Sales and Customer) for information on the required setup for integration with Customer Engagement.

Activities that do not Trigger Communication with Customer Engagement

Functions that do not request or update customer information from Customer Engagement include:

• generating backorder cards
• generating soldout notifications
• generating return or shipment confirmations
• pick slip generation
• membership order generation
• reviewing an order in order inquiry, including displaying the customer
• maintaining an order, unless you change information about the customer
• billing an order
• creating an order for the customer through the ChannelAdvisor integration

Deleting Certain Information for an Existing Customer

Certain information deleted in Order Administration is not deleted in Customer Engagement, and becomes repopulated in Order Administration after resynchronization. The information that persists in this process is:

• name fields, including the company/business name
• email address

Example: You delete the customer’s middle initial in Order Administration, but this does not delete this field in Customer Engagement. The next time the Customer Engagement and Order Administration customer records are resynchronized, the middle initial is repopulated in Order Administration.

Address fields: If you delete additional address fields in Order Administration, such as the second through fourth address lines and the apartment/suite, this information is also deleted in Customer Engagement and does not reappear after resynchronization.

Email and phone: If you change the email address and phone numbers in Order Administration, the previous information persists in the Customer Engagement database, although it is no longer displayed on the screen and does not repopulate the Order Administration customer record at resynchronization. However, if you search for a customer using the previous email address or phone number as a search criterion, the customer is eligible to be included in the search results.

Functions that are Inconsistent with the Customer Engagement Customer Integration

Customer search API: The generic customer inquiry (search) API does not support searching Customer Engagement for customers. This API searches across Order Administration customer records only.

Mass customer updates: Updates using NCOA or similar options in Order Administration are not recommended if you use the Customer Engagement customer integration.

Cannot delete a customer if using the Customer Engagement customer integration: If the ORCE Customer Integration (L37) system control value is set to INTERACT, you cannot delete a customer in Order Administration customer maintenance.