Account Matching Setup

Account matching automatically detects matching accounts and groups these accounts together. The Account Matching Setup form stores default settings for Collect! to use when matching accounts. These settings determine how Collect! looks for matches and what it does if it finds them.

Account Matching Setup form

Account matching handles two basic conditions - first, when new accounts are entered, and second, when existing accounts are grouped together arbitrarily.

When entering new accounts, Collect! checks for matching entries such as name, or social security number. When you exit from a field after typing something, Collect! checks if there's another account with a matching or close value. If there is, it displays a list and lets you choose one.

When adding accounts to an existing group, the current settings in the Account Matching Setup form are set on added accounts. When creating new group, the current settings are set on all accounts.

Accessing Account Matching Setup

The Account Matching Setup form may be accessed in many ways. Providing you have access to the various menus and forms, you can use one of the following ways to get to the Account Matching Setup form.

1. Using the menu bar at the top of Collect! select System to display the drop-down menu. Select Preferences from this menu and the System Setup menu will display. Select the Plans and Reference Tables button to display the Plans, Tables and Defaults menu. Select the button labeled Account Matching Setup to display the Account Matching Setup form.

2. Or, you can also gain access to Accounts Matching from the Main Menu. Select the System Administration button to display the System Setup menu. Select the Setup and Configuration button to display the System Setup menu. Select the Plans and Reference Tables button to display the Plans, Tables and Defaults menu. Select the button labeled Account Matching Setup to display the Account Matching Setup form.

Options

This section contains account matching options. The selections are explained below.

Enable Account Matching

This switch turns on the account matching feature. When you turn the switch off, account matching is disabled.

Disable Account Matching

You can enable or disable account matching using the 'Enable account matching' check box.

Prompt Before Cascading Changes

Turn ON the Prompt before Cascading Changes switch with a check mark to have Collect! verify before copying data.

It is important to switch this ON if you have any doubts about the data you may be copying.

Prevent Cascade When Closed

Switch this ON with a check mark to prevent cascading of data to group members where the account has a Closed Mode. Collect! will still show matching records if the account is closed, but it will not cascade any data or changes to closed accounts. This switch is in the Group Member Setup form as well.

Cascade Phone Deletions

Switch this ON with a check mark to cascade phone deletions. With this switch ON, you can delete a phone number for one group member and Collect! will delete the number from the other group members, as well.

Any phone number deleted by this process will be logged to the Debtor's Notes.

Prompt On Phone Deletes

Switch this ON with a check mark to alert the user before cascading phone deletions.

If this switch is ON, the user will be warned only when a phone number is about to be lost due to a blank cascading across the group. This prompt will only occur once per set of group members. If the user selects NO, blanks will not cascade across, otherwise they will.

Any phone number deleted by this process will be logged to the Debtor's Notes.

This switch is visible only when "Cascade phone deletions" is switched ON.

Check And Prompt

Check and Prompt on Near Matches controls which fields are automatically checked for matching debtors as you enter information. You will be prompted when near matches are found. The settings are explained below.

Match Name

Enabling this switch causes Collect! to try to match newly entered or newly edited accounts based on information in the Name field.

Match Contact

Enabling this switch causes Collect! to try to match newly entered or newly edited accounts based on information in the Contact field.

Match Phones

Enabling this switch causes Collect! to try to match newly entered or newly edited accounts based on information in any of the phone fields.

Match SSN

Enabling this switch causes Collect! to try to match newly entered or newly edited accounts based on information in the SSN field.

Match DOB

Enabling this switch causes Collect! to try to match newly entered or newly edited accounts based on information in the DOB field.

Match DL

Enabling this switch causes Collect! to try to match newly entered or newly edited accounts based on information in the DL field.

Copy When Creating

The Copy When Creating New Records controls whether or not you will copy a particular field's information. When you pick a matching account, you can have Collect! automatically copy information from the original account. This will save you time, should the information be identical.

WARNING: Data in the new debtor will be overwritten by the data in the matching existing account. Normally, you won't have any data in a new account, but be aware of the danger.

The options in this section control what Collect! will copy when copying relevant data. The choices are explained below.

Copy Name

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in the Name field to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Copy Contact

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in the Contact field to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Copy Phones

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in all phone fields to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Copy SSN

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in the SSN field to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Copy DOB

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in the DOB field to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Copy DL

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in the DL field to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Copy Address

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in the address fields to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Copy POE

When this switch is ON, Collect! will copy the information in the POE field to a newly entered account from the original account, if there is a match.

Cascade Data To Other

The Cascade Data to Other Group Members controls how the accounts in a group are synchronized with respect to shared fields.

WARNING: Do not switch on Cascading data unless you are sure of what you are doing. These switches automatically change field data on matching accounts. If used by mistake, you can corrupt your data resulting in a long manual process of straightening out information!

If you change a field on one account in a group, you can have the field updated automatically on other group members when you turn on the Cascade check box for the field.

It is safe and advisable to cascade the Worked Date by switching ON the Worked switch in the 'Cascade data to other' column. However, the other switches in this column MUST be used with extreme caution.

Each group member has its own cascade settings, so you can share information across some members of a group, but still have other group members remain independent.

Override the Cascade data setting for an individual member by using the Group Member Setup form.

The choices to control cascading data are explained below.

Cascade Name

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in the Name field across all matching accounts.

Cascade Contact

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in the Contact field across all matching accounts.

Cascade Phones

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in any phone fields across all matching accounts.

If you want to cascade deleting phone numbers, you must switch ON "Cascade phone deletions."

Cascade SSN

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in the SSN field across all matching accounts.

Cascade DOB

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in the DOB field across all matching accounts.

Cascade DL

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in the DL field across all matching accounts.

Cascade Address

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in the address fields across all matching accounts.

Cascade POE

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade any information entered in the POE field across all matching accounts.

Cascade Worked

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade the Worked Date of an account across all matching accounts.

WORKED

The Worked Date on grouped accounts is always kept up to date on all group members, and is shown in red if someone worked the account already today. In this way, you can be sure you won't be calling the same account in one day.

Cascade Status

When this switch is ON, Collect! will cascade the Status Code of an account across all matching accounts.

Advanced Match Conditions

The Account Matching Batch Setup section enables you to set advanced match conditions to use when grouping accounts. Select the criteria for the match conditions from the pick lists on the fields. Press F1 for details when this section is highlighted.

Commit

Select this button to commit your changes. In progress.

OK

Selecting this button will save any data you have entered and return you to the previous form.

Cancel

Select this button to ignore any changes you may have made and then return to the previous form.

Help

Select this for help on the Account Matching Setup form and links to related topics.

See Also

- Matching Accounts
- Using Account Matching
- How To Setup Account Matching